Mrs. Ava, by Austin J., Harding Academy

My interviewee name is Mrs. Ava. At the time time she was 4 years old. She lived in a low income house surrounded by people who believed in taking care of each other. Living in Memphis for her she said it really wasn't any peace at this time. A typical day consisted of her playing outside. She was very young at this time and couldn't remember what all she did. What she remembers about the day King was assassinated was people was scared, sad , and in disbelief because they couldn't believe he was actually dead. After King died people started rioting, looting, and other terrible things. She felt frighten for her life and fearful. She thought she was going to die. She was so scared because she was aware of how chaotic it had become. When she heard King was shot she was outside playing and told to immediately come inside. She was con- fused and didn't know what was going on at this time. The people around her reacted by being very angry and scared, they didn't know what to do. The people around her felt hopeless. The things that changed throughout the night that she was told of was that you couldn't be outside everybody had a curfew and if you were outside you needed I.D. and was told to go right to where you were suppose to go, but throughout that night so much chaos happen. After the night King was shot she was in her house and everything was still and quiet. The city was in complete chaos. Before and after King's death she thought of him as a role model one of the greatest leaders and that he changed people perspective as time went on. Life changed drastically after his death, people became violent in protest when King wanted peace. In this time after King's death black people believed that they had nobody to represent them, so they stood up for their own rights.