It was a normal day in 1968 in the Cherokee Heights area of Memphis. Memphis was a whole lot different back then. Most dads went to work, moms did housework, everybody knew their neighbors, and nobody was afraid to go anywhere day or night. Barney, a normal 19 year- old, went to work at the printing press while still waiting to be called into active duty for the Vietnam War. Back then, guys either went to college or enlisted in the military. But soon the phones started ringing and the three TV stations made the announcement. Martin Luther King Jr. had been shot downtown. Now Barney knew he was coming to Memphis but he never really knew much about him or feel a connection with him; because, everyone was saying he was coming to "stir thing up," and even after it happened all he worried about was how it was going to "mess up" his plans for the evening. His family was calling him to see where he was and to ask if he had heard the news. Well that night, Barney went to his girlfriend's house, and while he was there they heard there was going to be a curfew of 10:00 PM (which lasted for two weeks or so). After the fact, some people were willing to change their racial ideas while some were not. Emotions were still high and people on both sides of the debate became argumentative and sometimes violent. Barney says even today, we still have the same issue today of people's emotions escalating quickly and sometimes turning violent in debates that should be civil. Even though he didn't feel a connection with Dr. King then, Barney says he still feels a connection today to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a calmer and more peaceful advocate of racial issues that those today.