Memphis rally embodies king's activist spirit

pulse

April 5, 2018 2:58 AM

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — They waved signs that said “I Am.” They came as labor leaders and politicians, retail workers and teachers. Most of all, they came with a pointed declaration: The struggle continues.

Thousands of people descended on this impoverished southern city on Wednesday in a show of force that was as much a commemoration as a call to action, as the nation remembered the 50th anniversary of the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

An emotional crowd gathered around the Lorraine Motel balcony here where King was slain by an assassin’s bullet, observing a moment of silence while a bell tolled at 6:01 p.m., the time he was shot. The balcony was draped in a black sheet with a wreath of red and white flowers attached to it. While many celebrated the achievements of the civil rights icon, they also lamented the country’s continuing struggles with poverty, racism and inequality.

“There’s something wrong in our nation, where we live, where a minimum of 48 million people are living in poverty,” said Martin Luther King III, King’s oldest son, his voice roaring like his father’s at a rally. “That’s unacceptable. We must do better.”

Many activists expressed concern that King’s legacy might be sanitized as someone who simply advocated peace. They said they hoped that this moment would provide a chance to highlight the forceful lengths to which he was willing to go — like resistance through civil disobedience — to overcome racism.

There are racist elements in the country, the younger King said, “and some of the things that have been said by the president have given rise to this behavior. And so we got to find a way to work on the president’s heart, like we worked on George Wallace’s heart years ago and changed him.”

The rally Wednesday morning, organized by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Church of God in Christ, drew a crowd carrying signs with messages like “Fight Poverty” and “We got nothing to lose but our chains.” A banner hung high above a stage that read “#I AM 2018,” a nod to the “I Am a Man” slogan that Memphis sanitation workers used when they were striking in 1968, a cause that prompted King to travel to Memphis a half-century ago.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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