My grandmother was 18 years old when Martin Luther King was shot in Memphis, TN. It was a calm year for her considering it was her senior year. Everyday she would go to her black school with her black friends. On the weekends, she would either go to a football game or basketball game, depending on the season. Sometimes she would go downtown to the Malco, which is now known as the Orpheum, and enter through the back door to watch movies. Things were ok. Blacks were with blacks, whites were with whites. There was still segregation. In April, MLK came to visit in support of sanitation workers. During this time, my grandmother wanted to go march, but couldn't because of my strict great grandmother so she stayed home which turned out to be a good decision because the march turned into a riot and the National Guard was brought in.
On the day he was killed, she was scared. She was sadden by the fact that a man who only wanted to help was hurt for trying to make a difference. She spoke on how enraged the black people were, but there wasn't much that could be done because everyone had a curfew. Although this happened, my grandmother said that nothing much changed. There was still racism everywhere, but more prevalent in the south. To this day, my grandmother is still sad about what happened and says "I just wish and hope that one day we can all live peacefully together without discrimination and, you know, everyone be treated equally."