Hi. I am Louise M. I am seventy-eight years old and I live in Memphis, TN. I have three sons and nine grandchildren that I love dearly. I like to go to my workout classes and spend time with my family. I love cooking shabbat meals for all of my family to enjoy. I have lived in Memphis for all of my life.
In 1968, I lived in Memphis, TN 5180 Peg Lane. I loved it there and I never had much controversy in my life back then. In that time in Memphis it was a great time to raise a family and “I could let my children play until dark without having to worry about them.” I had one child enrolled in the MHA and the other one was not old enough to be in school yet. I worked part time in our families business and spent the rest of my time caring for my two children at home.
The day MLK died was my son’s second birthday party and we had to cancel it because of the terrible tragedy that happened that day. When I heard the news I was at home with my sons and “I was just shocked and it was totally unexpected.” My husband was downtown at his job. “I was so scared because I wasn’t sure if he was going to make it home that night because of the riots that were happening. I was also scared that while he no one was at the business it would be looted.
That night there was so much tension between the blacks and the whites of the Memphis community. Also I just felt that there was “Fear of the unknown that night.” Before King died I honestly did not know much about him. I was although “Impressed on how he was trying to do things in a peaceful manner.” “I felt sorry for him and sorry that memphis couldn’t and wouldn’t ever be the same again.” This affected the city for many years to come.
This event was terrible but, it did not really affect my daily life. “I just did not know what direction the city would take after this.” They just had to improve different things throughout the city. “Some peoples attitude changed for the better and some people had the same feelings toward african americans even after this terrible event.”