Tag: Lorraine Motel

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“Remembering MLK: The Man. The Movement. The Moment.”

Rev. Jesse Jackson (second from right) and members of the clergy gather to lay the ceremonial wreath on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel where Dr. King last stood. Jackson was present at the Lorraine on that fateful day.

The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel will present a commemoration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and legacy on Thursday, April 4, the 56th anniversary of his death. Martin Luther King III, wife Arndrea Waters King, and daughter Yolanda. Renee King will participate in the ceremony, which will be live streamed for those who cannot attend in person. This year, the Museum introduces a youth component with the performing winners of its Youth Poetry and Spoken Word Competition.


The event entitled “Remembering MLK: The Man. The Movement. The Moment.” will be held in the Museum’s courtyard at 4:00 pm Central with a musical prelude followed by the commemorative service at 4:30 pm. Participants can also join the live stream via the museum’s website, YouTube and Facebook platforms.


Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, will deliver the keynote address. Mr. King is a civil rights advocate and global humanitarian, focusing on addressing the most pressing social justice issues of today. Amplifying his father’s work, Mr. King has devoted his life to promoting global human rights and eradicating racism, violence, and poverty, earning a reputation as a respected international statesman and one of the world’s most passionate advocates for the poor and oppressed.


As chairman of the Drum Major Institute (DMI), a nonprofit rooted in his father’s work over 60 years ago, Mr. King collaborates closely with his wife, Arndrea Waters King and daughter, Yolanda Renee King, to advance Dr. King’s vision of a more just and equitable world. Founded in 1961, the organization focuses on continuing the King legacy through education, action, engagement with world leaders, and collaboration with socially conscious organizations.


Arndrea Waters King, social justice activist and President of Drum Major Institute (DMI), has championed several nonviolence, anti-hate and social change initiatives throughout her life, designing programs to advance understanding and activism. She is a strong supporter of youth activism and believes in helping young people take a peaceful, effective stand for the world issues that concern them most. As president of DMI, she plays a critical role in creating strategic partnerships and managing the daily operations of this active social justice organization.


At 15 years old, Yolanda Renee King, the only grandchild of Dr. King, is an activist and children’s book author having recently published We Dream A World, a tribute to her grandparent’s legacy. Having appeared on the world stage and in national media interviews, she uses her voice to speak up on key issues including gun violence, climate change, and racial equality.


As a teen creative, Yolanda King will lead the youth segment of the commemoration with words of inspiration and introduction of the “I AM the Legacy” poetry and spoken word winners to be announced this month. The competition is designed for high school students to use the performative art of poetry on topics that identify their thoughts, solutions, or designs on how they envision freedom, equality, and justice for their future. The competition is made possible by The Memphis (TN) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.


“This year, the commemoration is poignant as we elevate the ‘drum major instinct’ Dr. King expressed, but with the fierce urgency of now,” said Dr. Russ Wigginton, Museum President. “Given today’s climate, we recognize we all must move toward greater justice, peace, and righteousness from wherever we stand,” he said.


Each year, the Museum commemorates the tragic event that occurred on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in 1968. This year’s event features a keynote speaker, special performances, fraternal tribute, and changing the balcony wreath with a moment of silence at 6:01 pm Central when Dr. King was slain.


Rev. Dr. Dorothy Sanders Wells, the Rector of St. George’s Episcopal Church, will give remarks. Wells has recently been elected the first woman and first Black person elected as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi.

W. Crimm Singers AKA Wakanda Chorale, a professional ensemble-in-residence of Tennessee State University’s Big Blue Opera Initiatives, will perform music of the Black experience throughout the diaspora and every genre connected to it with major emphasis on the Negro Spiritual, African American operatic, and concert repertoire, hymnody, and anthems.


During the 4:00 prelude, recorded speeches by Dr. King will broadcast in the museum courtyard. In the event of rain, the event will be held inside the museum’s Hooks Hyde Hall. For more information, visit April4th.org.

Members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. gather to present a wreath in memory of their fallen brother. Dr. King was a member of the fraternity.

This article is sponsored by National Civil Rights Museum.

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Opinion Viewpoint

Fight For $15

CREDIT: Basheeradesigns | Dreamstime.com

I grew up not far from the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed 49 years ago while supporting black sanitation workers who were on strike.

Since Dr. King’s death, my hometown has been remembered as a civil rights milestone. But the story of black and brown workers in Memphis linking arms with advocates for racial justice is not just a chapter of our past — it’s a real part of this city’s present, and I’m proud to be on the front lines.

On April 4th — the anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination — I’m joining thousands of other workers who, like me, are fighting for a $15-an-hour wage and union rights, as we join forces with the Movement for Black Lives to lead a two-dozen-city Fight Racism, Raise Pay protest. The nationwide protests will conclude with a march here in Memphis ending at the Lorraine Motel, where workers, national civil rights leaders, clergy, and elected officials will hold a moment of silence to remember Dr. King’s sacrifice and reflect on our own struggles.

Basheeradesigns | Dreamstime.com

Our movements are joining together because the fight for economic and racial justice remains as linked today as it was during Dr. King’s time — and I’ve seen firsthand how these two movements share a deep bond. My mother spent her whole life working in the fast-food business to support our family. When I was 14 and my brother was 11, our father left and our mom did what she could to make sure we had everything we needed. Like my mom, I now work as a cashier at Checkers. I have a second job as a housekeeper at a local hotel but still struggle to pay my rent and afford even basic necessities on $7.35 an hour.

I joined the Fight for $15 nearly three years ago because I realized the only way I would have a real shot at a better life is by organizing and going on strike to demand $15 an hour and union rights. But just as it was in the time of Dr. King, when black and brown people speak out, we face harassment and intimidation from those in power, including the police. In Memphis, the Fight for $15 chapter that I am part of recently filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city, following years of illegal surveillance by the police in an effort to stifle our protests.

And we have no choice but to protest. Today more than half of black workers and nearly 60 percent of Latinos in America are paid less than $15 an hour. And as black and brown communities continue to face poverty wages, police brutality, and efforts to suppress our right to organize, the Fight for $15 and Movement for Black Lives have emerged to fight civil rights-era racism with 21st century activism.

It would be easy to look at history and think that things can never change, and we do still have a way to go here in Memphis and across the country. But in just a few years since I’ve joined the Fight for $15, we’ve convinced many — from voters to politicians to corporations — that raising pay is a good idea, in the process, winning wage hikes for 22 million workers across the country, including more than 10 million workers who are on their way to a $15-an-hour wage.

In what was ultimately his last speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” Dr. King said “The greatness of America is the right to protest for right.” Those of us marching on April 4th know we have the right to protest and won’t be intimidated or silenced. At a time when communities of color are facing attacks — from the White House down to local police departments —  joining together is more important now than ever.

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News The Fly-By

Fresh Look at History

CREDIT: Alexandra Pusateri

Alexandra Pusateri

The Civil Rights Museum’s renovated lobby

On April 5th, after more than a year of renovations, the National Civil Rights Museum will open the Lorraine Motel doors to the public once more.

The motel section of the museum has been closed, but the exhibits across the street, through the tunnel of the Legacy Building, have remained open for self-guided tours.

Major additions to the Lorraine Motel section include upgrades and expansions to existing exhibits, and utilizing as much of the space of the motel’s structure as possible, according to Tracy Lauritzen Wright, director of administration and special projects.

“We’ve tried to maintain the basic architecture of the motel — some of our beams, along with the carpet, outline where the original rooms were positioned — so you can tell each of these spaces was originally [the] motel,” she said.

The previous museum exhibit about the slave trade has been expanded to incorporate more visuals and include more information, with expansion work done by 1220 Exhibits, Inc. of Nashville. One addition is that visitors can now see and experience the cramped space of the ships that once transported slaves from Africa.

Alexandra Pusateri

exhibit

Lauritzen Wright said by expanding the slavery exhibit, a more complete foundation can be laid for visitors to understand the civil rights movement.

“You can understand the late 19th century and early 20th century better if you understand the legal progress that embedded slavery into the nation’s laws and economy,” she said. “We wanted to do a better job of interpreting the words of the movement, which begin the moment people are taken from their families and homes, never to be returned.”

Inside the new Brown v. Board of Education exhibit, a courtroom setting provides seating for visitors to watch a short documentary about the decision. Across the room, a touchscreen hangs on the wall across from a few old-fashioned school desks. The touchscreen explores how desegregation unfolded in the United States.

The museum has updated various areas with multimedia stations, either in theater-like settings, such as the Brown v. Board of Education exhibit, or in the space itself, as with a documentary playing against the side of a 1960s sanitation truck in the Memphis sanitation workers exhibit. Previously, the sanitation truck could be seen from a balcony, but the updated display lets visitors closer to the vehicle.

According to Lauritzen Wright, making the museum more immersive was important. “Here, we’re walking on the street. We’re walking alongside the sanitation workers. We’re a part of it,” she said.

On April 4th, the day before its reopening, the National Civil Rights Museum will hold a candlelight vigil in the courtyard for the 46th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination.