By Sandra Long Weaver
Tribune Editorial Director
I was lying across my bed listening to music on my white transistor radio when the DJ broke in with the news of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. nearly 53 years ago.
I couldn’t believe it! I was 15 and Dr. King was a hero. How could this be? Just the night before, I had watched him give his speech from
Memphis about going to the mountaintop. “I may not get there with you,” he told the crowd.
And he didn’t. But he was supposed to lead all of us there.
I quickly ran downstairs see if it was on TV. My mother said it was true. He was a good man, she said. And now there were riots in some cities. People were angry about his violent death.
I got on the rotary phone with my friends and started talking about what all of this meant. Why did this happen?
We talked about it in school the next day too but no one had answers. But everyone was upset. What could we do? We didn’t want to be involved in the looting and burning. But we wanted to do something. We ended up watching TV and writing an essay in English class.
Do you remember where you were on that fateful day and what you were doing when you learned Dr. King had been assassinated?
Watching the violent attempted takeover of the Capitol Building on Jan.6 and following the analysis for the last week, I can’t help but wonder if Dr. King were alive, how would he bring us together?
I know he would lead us in prayer. But what else would he do?
We still don’t have all of the answers as to why Dr. King was murdered. And none of us knows what all of his reactions would be to the deadly riots.
But I am glad we have his birthday to celebrate. It has been a national holiday celebrated in all 50 states since 2000.
Let us honor Dr. King who preached non-violence and led peaceful protests against injustice. Let us reflect on what we can do to make the world a better place.
The post How Will You Make the World a Better Place? appeared first on The Tennessee Tribune.