On April 4, 1968, Celestine Sibley, a columnist with The Atlanta Constitution, was driving along a Mississippi road when she heard the terrible news: The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. – “a kind man, an eloquent man,” Sibley recalled – was gone.
That night, rain beat against the windshield of Sibley’s car. Lightning flashed wildly across the sky. One of the greatest civil rights leaders of our time was lost forever, shot dead while standing on the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis, Tenn.
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” The Atlanta Journal wrote in a front-page story, “was from Atlanta but of the world.”
Indeed he was. And what an indelible mark he left.
On Monday, as the nation reflects on King's legacy, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution celebrates King's legacy of justice, hope and peace in a special 16-page commemorative section that can be found in the newspaper and on the AJCePaper.
As part of our section, we’ll be running a collection of historical front pages from The Journal and The Constitution — from the March on Washington to the signing of the Civil Rights Act to King’s assassination. And you can revisit some of our original stories recounting that tragic April day in 1968.
Inside the section — and as part of a special presentation on MyAJC.com — you’ll also find some of our archived photographs that shine a spotlight on the very public and very private moments of King’s life — a life that ended so sadly and far too soon.
The timing couldn’t be more appropriate.
After all of these years, and in spite of all the sacrifices by King and others, we still face so many racial challenges. In some ways, it can feel as if the divide is bigger than ever, can’t it?
Ferguson, Mo., certainly reminded of us of that. After a black man was killed by a white police officer, anger – and violence – spilled onto the streets, from Atlanta to Oakland, from Miami to Boston.
“We have made enormous progress in race relations over the course of the past several decades,” President Barack Obama said from the White House. “But what is also true is that there are still problems, and communities of color aren’t just making these problems up.”
Two weeks later, another case in New York prompted more demonstrations. This time, a grand jury decided not to bring criminal charges in the death of Eric Garner, a black man who died after being placed in a chokehold by a white police officer.
As he did after a grand jury declined to indict the Ferguson police officer, the president vowed to help heal the rift between the police and those they serve. Protesters around the country rallied yet again. And the national conversation about racial injustice and use of force by the police was stirred even more.
“It’s just so wrong,” said Debbie Sinex, a white Atlanta woman who attended a protest at Emory University in the days after the Garner decision.
Amid this backdrop of recent events, the nation’s attention is now turned to a new film that portrays one of our nation’s ugliest chapters. “Selma” tells the story of the march from Selma to Montgomery, capturing the movement that ultimately led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In addition to King, other prominent Atlantans, such as U.S. Rep. John Lewis, Andrew Young and the late Hosea Williams, are featured in the movie. Lewis, for instance, is portrayed by Stephan James.
“I was very moved,” Lewis told our Jennifer Brett. “It just took me back. I cried at several places in the film. It just made it so real.”
And that’s why we’re publishing Monday’s special section: We want you to be moved; we want to help you remember that terrible (and triumphant) time; we hope to make it, in Lewis’ words, real.
Our original stories, for example, reflect the anguish and despair of King’s assassination.
There's this, from Sibley's column: "The lights of a truck stop were just ahead and I pulled off and sat there. The impulse of all newspaper reporters is to call the office when news of a great moment happens – to ask, 'Do you need me? Shall I come in?'
“But I was more than 300 miles away with a sleeping child on the back seat and other children ahead, waiting for me. The need for any services of mine would be over by the time I could get back so I sat there by the Mississippi truck stop, watching the rain make mud of the parking area, watching the big trucks pull in to wait out the rain, and thinking about Dr. King.”
And this, from The Atlanta Journal: “Throughout his career Dr. King continued, as he had begun to do in Montgomery, to use the powerful weapon of oratory. He possessed a compelling articulation and used it repeatedly in public appearances.
“On the night before his death he counseled against fear of threats. ‘We’ve got some difficult days ahead but it really doesn’t matter now,’ he said. ‘Because I’ve been to the mountain top.’”
The day after King's assassination, Ralph McGill, a legendary columnist for The Atlanta Constitution, wrote: "It is perhaps too much to hope, but much of the violent reaction to this bloody murder could be blunted if in every city and town there would now be a resolve to remove what remains of injustice and racial prejudice from schools, from training and job opportunities, from housing and community life in general."
That would be nice, wouldn’t it?
But recent events remind us there is still so much progress to be made.
The March 21 documentary 'The Last Days of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.' on Channel 2 kicked off a countdown of remembrance across the combined platforms of Channel 2 and its partners, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB Radio.
The three Atlanta news sources will release comprehensive multi-platform content until April 9, the anniversary of King’s funeral.
On April 4, the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination, the three properties will devote extensive live coverage to the memorials in Atlanta, Memphis and around the country.
The project will present a living timeline in real time as it occurred on that day in 1968, right down to the time the fatal shot was fired that ended his life an hour later.
The project will culminate on April 9 with coverage of the special processional in Atlanta marking the path of Dr. King’s funeral, which was watched by the world.
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