Mr. Larry, by Naomi C., Harding Academy

He was 25 living in east Memphis, preparing for a move closer to his school. Memphis at this time, as he thought it was very tense, the tension starting back in February he thought. He was a student at University of Memphis, he worked part time and was married for two years, his wife Kay worked full time. It was very different from now a days, he couldn't even begin to describe it. The technology, were he worked, are very different now. On this particular day Larry was working on his new apartment, painting it for their move in a little while, it started out slightly differently, not for him. But for the city, 22,000 kids stayed home from school as an act of rebellion against racial barriers, and there were riots. He'd been busily painting all day when Larry heard that Martin Luther King jr. had been assassinated, he wasn't sure what would change at first, then there was a curfew at 7:00pm, and with their painting they had to rush home every night and it was stressful Larry thought and Kay agreed. Everyone was fearful of certain areas in the city because no one was sure of what would happen next, mobs would come and hurt innocent people and that scared Larry and Kay. Before King had died Larry as thought of him as a man of peace, a good string leader, he believed in his cause, committed until death, a good speaker and his speeches were excellent. But after he died, Larry saw he was even greater than he'd originally thought. And later on after the event of his death, the working conditions got better, increase in pay, and the event brought leaders to Memphis. Larry knew things could only keep getting better. Mayor Lobe had to call in special help to calm everyone down. Larry saw this whole event as good, not his death, but the events after with racial barriers slowly going down.