The assassination of Martin Luther King affected many people all around the world. For those living in Memphis at the time, this event is forever etched in their memory. Beverly M. is one of the thousands who has a story to tell from this event. In 1968, the year of the assassination, Beverly was 28. She had just moved back to East Memphis with her husband Jerry after spending two years away while he served in the military. They had been settled back in Memphis for about a month before King was shot. She recalls that Memphis had a much more "small town" feel to it than it does today. "The whole city back then was about as big as the distance from the river to White Station road now." Her husband piped in on the interview and added, "There was much less driving." They walked to nearby grocery stores, and were surrounded by many small service stations. Daily life for Beverly then was very much like her daily life now. She still gets up, cleans the house, and looks after her family. At the time, Beverly only had one young child and she was a stay at home mom. Now she has three grown children and eight grandchildren, and she works part time at the family dental office. She said, "Because I stayed at home with the kids, I felt like I knew all of our neighbors better than I do now."
Though she lived in Memphis at the time, Beverly was not in town on the day of King's assassination. She was visiting her parents in Paragould, Arkansas. She heard the news on television. When asked about how she felt she said, "I was shocked and sad. Everyone in Memphis was hoping that the assassin was not someone from there." Her husband was in Memphis that night and he told her that throughout the night, the city was tense. Though nothing like the situation in Ferguson Missouri, there was a lot of unrest in Memphis. "Like Jerry said, there was a six p.m. curfew. Police cars were all around, with four officers per car dressed in helmets. People were nervous and wondering.", said Beverly. Before King's death, Beverly had great respect for him because of his emphasis on peaceful change. Though Beverly did not support the sanitation strike, she still had respect for King. Beverly felt terrible about his unnecessary death, and continued to keep her respect for him after he died. When asked about her feelings she said, "I think his death was the beginning of some good changes." Because most churches and schools weren't racially integrated and that was the normal way of life for her, she said that she was kind of unaware of the need for change and didn't give a lot of thought to it. King raised awareness about racial segregation for Beverly and many others.