I lived in Memphis, Tennessee in the 1960's and was a senior at Westwood High School in 1968. Memphis was a segregated city so that white and black people had to stay separated for most things. I found out that Dr. King was coming to Memphis to organize a march for the striking Black sanitation workers. The were on strike for better work conditions and pay. Their jobs were bad for several reasons: low pay of seventy dollars a week, only one uniform to wear everyday, no place to change clothes, and pay less than white workers for exactly the same job. I planned to go hear Dr. King speak at the Mason Temple COGIC Church (Church of God in Christ.) My mom told me I could not go because I had to go to school, but my sisters and I sneaked out of the house and went. He gave the "Mountain Top" speech. People were over-powered by the force of his speech and gave him a standing ovation.
The day afterward, my family and I were watching the evening news on TV and found out that Dr. King had been shot and killed at the Lorraine Motel downtown. We were so shocked and sad that we all burst into tears. I remembered that he had said in his speech that he knew he was going to die. It turned out to be true. The mayor called in the National Guard and made a curfew for 7 PM every night for about two weeks. We were afraid there may be riots and that we may be shot and killed too. The streets were so quiet a night because no cars were driving anywhere, and everyone was indoors. We thought Dr. King was a hero. He had had spoken of non-violent protest to gain civil rights for black people just as Gandhi had for the people of India. He was so brave to speak out even though he knew it was dangerous because he could be killed. He was killed.
After he died, we felt like we all had to strive harder to pull ourselves up out of poverty as Dr. King had said. We felt like we had to come together and depend on each other. I knew that I had to work hard for a good education so that I could have a good job and a good life. I wanted to live up to what Dr. King said Black people could do. I did work hard for a good education because of his inspiration.
Dr. King did accomplish something good for the Memphis sanitation workers. Mayor Loeb finally did agree to better pay and conditions for the workers.