In 1968, I was 26 years old. I lived in Memphis and at the time it was very peaceful and was one of the cleanest cities in America. A typical day for me consisted of staying home with my two children and taking care of the house while my husband worked at Arnold's Hearing Aids. On March 28, 1968, sanitation union riots in Memphis turned violent. On March 29, 1968, I went into labor with my third child. As I was waiting in the hospital, all of the doctors and staff members were outside observing the strike, showing respect to the sanitation union. My husband and a new intern rushed me to the delivery room and we basically had to deliver the baby ourselves. Needless to say, I did not pay my hospital bill. I stayed for a few more days and then was sent home on April 3rd. All of our family came to our house the next day to see the new baby. The radio and television were turned off because we were all sitting around enjoying our family time together. Later that day, my uncle called me and asked what was going on down here in Memphis. I had no idea that anything had happened so when I turned on the news, my entire family and I were shocked. We never expected anything like this to happen. Before King was shot, there were so many restrictions on the colored people. They couldn't go into restaurants with white people. They couldn't even drink from the same water fountain or use the same toilet. Although I by no means wished for Dr. King to be assassinated, I knew something as drastic as that was needed for any change to come about. Looking back, it had to happen. The thing that worried me most when I found out Dr. King was shot was the future. I didn't know how things could ever return to normal. How was order going to be kept? Safety was a big concern. Businesses, including my husbands, had to be shut down, most for weeks. The night King was shot, our doors were locked tightly and my mind was alert especially since I had a newborn at the house. Nothing major changed overnight. Curfew was reimposed but that was about it. Mayor Loeb was in office at the time and he refused to grant the African Americans any rights. This infuriated the African Americans as well as those who just wanted the violence and racism to end. Eventually Mayor Loeb relented and some order was restored. Before King was assassinated, I was kind of indifferent towards him. I saw him as just another protester trying to rile up the union workers. After he was assassinated, I realized that all the violence surrounding his cause were not due to him at all. On the contrary, he was an advocate for peaceful protesting. I learned a lot throughout this tragic event and am a more knowledgable about the perspective King was teaching. Equality.