I've never been there myself, I'm not much a tourist. It was well worth the visit. The Museum is the Lorraine hotel, and it weaves in and out with a deep history of the civil rights movement. From slavery and the rum trade, to the Civil War, and Brown vs the board of education. It follows the Jim crow laws, and a bus ride with Rosa parks, and then we see a burning bus for the freedom riders, that take us to the Washington workers march where Martin Luther King shared his dream. At the end we find ourselves in Room 306 where the civil rights icon spent his final night. Across the street is the room where his life was taken.
As we left the museum, a few 100 onlookers gathered in remembrance of Martin Luther King, and spent the afternoon commemorating his life. This should lead to the entire MLK50 event. They did not make this easy, I can only post the video to Facebook, so I have to link the whole page from channel 5. I will guide you through this, go to the second video, its just above the caption Elementary students march. Its 2 hours 19 minutes, go to 40 minutes, and listen to the Speech by Rev Dr. Gwendolyn Boyd. She is a fantastic speaker, and she captures the spirit of Martin Luther King as she speaks, its that same fire in the belly southern spiritual cry for human rights. Its one of those moments, you have to experience to feel, she was chosen with good reason.
At 6:01 a reef was placed at door 306, and there was a moment of silence. And then an invitation was left to sign the MLK50 Pledge
A Call to Peace and Action
No Justice, No peace;
Know Justice, Know Peace”
is our rallying cry.
On this day, we, in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. call for peace. A peace that is more than the absence of war. We call for a just peace. A peace where all humans have the rights of security, prosperity, good and free education, accessible and plentiful food, clean water and a planet free from disastrous pollution to calamitous climate change.We call for a just peace. A peace where people are able to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence. A peace committed to understanding, celebrating and learning from difference. A peace grounded in what Dr. King called the Beloved Community.
It takes more than words to bring about peace. It takes action. Action that decreases hostility between people and actions that promote trust so that our words have meaning. Action, must occur within a vision.
We call on ALL people to imagine a world without poverty, hunger and homelessness. Imagine a world where we reject racist ideologies and replace them with an all-inclusive spirit of love for ALL people. Imagine a world where we resolve disputes by peaceful conflict-resolution and true reconciliation. Imagine a world, where love and justice triumph.
No Justice, No peace;
Know Justice, Know Peace”
is our rallying cry.
But, it will take more than vision to bring peace. We must face the injustices of the past and acknowledge the injustices of the present no matter how painful. This means we must find a way to talk WITH each other instead of AT each other. It will take all of us searching deep within our own souls, taking what some call the “inward journey of self-reflection.” It will take all of us to name those things we would rather hide-those things that stop us from being our better selves. We must not only name them, but also begin the process of purging those things that stifle our growth and the growth of others. This will lead us to form and develop communities of understanding that will walk, talk and stand with us. It is in this spirit-with humility and mutuality-that we will come together with one another and build a community of peace and goodwill for all humankind.
No Justice, No peace;
Know Justice, Know Peace”
is our rallying cry.
Contributed by:Assistant Professor Andre E. Johnson,
Department of Communications,
University of Memphis.
