Letter from Dr. Martin Luther King J.r.
Dear Journal,
Just after 6:00 pm, April 4th, 1968 in, Memphis, Tennessee, I, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot. Just one bullet to the neck at "The Lorraine." About an hour later, I was pronounced dead at, St. Joseph's Hospital. Had I been hated so much to have someone shoot me? To take the life of my young children's father? To take away someone's husband? My poor family will be horrified by my death, their love one gone way too soon. The nation will shake, my death will cause riots, people will react in unnecessary ways. "A white male, about 36 years old, 5 feet, 8 inches tall, 150 to 160 pounds, black or dark brown hair," a description fitting many people in Memphis. James Earl Ray was the man who shot me. But, it took over a month for police officers to figure that out. Finally, on June 8th, Ray was arrested in, Heathrow Airport in, London, on his way to Rhodesia. He was extradited to the U.S. to face his trial. Will my family finally receive justice? or will it just be another one of us left to die. On March 10, 1969, Ray pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. It's time for my soul to rest in peace but, before I go I hope "that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream... I have a dream that one day Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today... I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight. And the glory of the lord will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood..."
Good Bye,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Just after 6:00 pm, April 4th, 1968 in, Memphis, Tennessee, I, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot. Just one bullet to the neck at "The Lorraine." About an hour later, I was pronounced dead at, St. Joseph's Hospital. Had I been hated so much to have someone shoot me? To take the life of my young children's father? To take away someone's husband? My poor family will be horrified by my death, their love one gone way too soon. The nation will shake, my death will cause riots, people will react in unnecessary ways. "A white male, about 36 years old, 5 feet, 8 inches tall, 150 to 160 pounds, black or dark brown hair," a description fitting many people in Memphis. James Earl Ray was the man who shot me. But, it took over a month for police officers to figure that out. Finally, on June 8th, Ray was arrested in, Heathrow Airport in, London, on his way to Rhodesia. He was extradited to the U.S. to face his trial. Will my family finally receive justice? or will it just be another one of us left to die. On March 10, 1969, Ray pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. It's time for my soul to rest in peace but, before I go I hope "that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream... I have a dream that one day Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today... I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight. And the glory of the lord will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood..."
Good Bye,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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