I remember like it was yesterday, the assassination of Martin Luther King. My husband and I were living in Baton Rouge, La. We were driving to Port Allen to look at a puppy someone had for sale to give as a gift to our children. It was two days before my birthday, so, I think it was probably somehow a gift for me also! I can remember the view out the window of the car when the news came on the radio. Shock, dismay, disbelief.
We immediately turned the car around and went home. We never saw or got the puppy. I had been raised in a family of civil rights strong belief. I had seen my parents persecuted because of their belief in equal rights for all and I was so devastated at the death of a man who believed in demonstrating in a non-violent and peaceful way for the rights of his people.
Who could have believed that on June 5th of the same year that Robert Kennedy too would be assassinated? 1968 was a tragic year. I think it impacted who we are as a generation forever. My children were 3,5 and 7 at the time.
I pray and hope that my belief in equal rights for all peoples is the legacy I have left to my family, if nothing else.
Where were you on April 5, 1968? How did it affect your life?
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