Harold B. by Rhys D., Harding Academy

Harold B. was sixteen in year of 1968. He lived in Memphis in a time where everything was more tense with the garbage worker strike and the civil rights movement. Memphis was safer place in 1968, it was more like a typical Southern Christian town. A typical day for Mr. B. was his family waking up and eating breakfast together. His mom would take him to school while his dad would go to work. He would usually have football, basketball, or baseball practice after school. He would then hang out with friends after school and sit with the family watching television. On the day Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, there was a 7:00 p.m. curfew in the city. One of his baseball games was cancelled and there were African- American riots throughout night. On the night King was shot, everything was pretty much the same except that everyone was more apprehensive of the situation and everyone was talking about it. Before King died, Mr. B. thought that he was simply a man trying to help. However, after King's death, Mr. B. realized that Martin Luther King Jr. was a pioneer in civil rights and in relations between African-Americans and white people. After the death of Martin Luther King Jr., the people around Mr. B. became more aware of the inequality between black people and white people. Also after King's assassination, discussion started concerning civil rights. King's assassination affected the lives of many people in Memphis.