Hundreds of people from all over the nation gathered April 3, 1968, at Mason Temple in Memphis to hear what would be Martin Luther King Jr.’s last public speech. Thirty-five years later, King’s closest confidants and supporters will reunite in his honor.
The National Civil Rights Museum will join Major Broadcasting Cable (MBC) Network and C-SPAN to host a commemorative tribute to celebrate King’s life and achievements Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Mason Temple, 930 Mason Street.
The tribute, “Martin Luther King Jr.: 35 Years —Past, Present, Future,” will feature a panel discussion, with audience participation, about the nation’s past and current civil and human rights struggles. Representatives of MBC are scheduled to tape the event, which will air nationally on the MBC network.
Rhonda Turner, public relations and marketing manager for the National Civil Rights Museum, said the event would reiterate the important changes Memphis has undergone since the Civil Rights Movement.
“Memphis has a major place in the history books, unfortunately, because we are the place where Dr. King was assassinated,” Turner said. “But it is also a place where people look to and see how change can and is being brought about.”
Turner also said she believes student attendance for the tribute is extremely important and encouraged University of Memphis students to attend. She urged students to express their opinions about national civil and human rights issues.
Students, Turner said, should not only listen to the experiences of past civil rights leaders, but they need to learn from them, as well.
“This event will give an opportunity for their voices to be heard in the community and across the nation,” Turner said. “Young people really need to have an active role in not only hearing from past leaders of the movement, but take a way from that what they can do individually to make society better for themselves, their families, and their community.”
In order to provoke audience participation, MBC has enlisted several key civil rights leaders to act as panelists for the event. The panelists include Benjamin Hooks, former director of the NAACP; Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition; Rev. Samuel Kyles, civil rights activist and pastor of Monumental Baptist Church; Joseph Lowery, former Southern Christian Leadership Conference national president; William Lucy, national secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; and Beverly Robertson, executive director of the National Civil Rights Museum.
King’s tribute is part of MBC Network’s critically acclaimed television program, “The Future of Black America.”
For more information about the national taping of King’s tribute, log on to the Civil Rights Museum’s Web site, www.civilrightsmuseum.org, or call the museum at 529-9699.
