MLK returned to Memphis 50 years ago to show the power of nonviolence
Everything that Martin Luther King Jr. believed in – his firm position that nonviolence was the key to change in America – came crashing down on March 28, 1968.
A march that he had promised in support of striking sanitation workers in Memphis had turned violent. Protesters clashed with police, broke windows and looted stores.
"This was the first movement that we had been that turned violent," said former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, a close ally of King's.
» RELATED: Follow all of the AJC’s coverage of the 50th anniversary of King’s death
A despondent King was physically rushed from the scene, embarrassed by how it had turned out and what it would mean for his reputation.
“When I saw that, I thought he would never get over this,” said King’s older sister Christine King Farris.
King vowed to return.
He went back to Memphis on April 3.
Read the full story about King’s three trips to Memphis in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s special package looking at the last year of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life as we approach the 50th anniversary of his death.
About the Author
Ernie Suggs is an enterprise reporter covering race and culture for the AJC since 1997. A 1990 graduate of N.C. Central University and a 2009 Harvard University Nieman Fellow, he is also the former vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists. His obsession with Prince, Spike Lee movies, Hamilton and the New York Yankees is odd.
