Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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Witness at Memphis motel where Martin Luther King was shot recounts 'shock' for first time
On April 4, 1968, Mary Ellen Ford was a witness to the aftermath of the shooting at the Lorraine Motel that claimed King's life — and changed history.
And for five decades, most people had no clue what Mary Ellen Ford saw on April 4, 1968.
At the time, a 21-year-old Ford was a waitress and cook at the famed Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would stay to take part in the civil rights protests sweeping the South.
Ford opened up on "Today" for the first time in decades — on the eve of the 50th anniversary of King's assassination — to describe what she witnessed and how her life was forever changed. Her own brother only learned five years ago that she was at the motel when a sniper's bullet claimed King's life, altering the course of a movement.
Ford is etched into the pages of history via a famous photo after the shooting. She is seen in white, her right arm folded across her waist as other workers wait anxiously for an ambulance to arrive.
Ford said that, before King was shot, she would catch glimpses of him as he came and went from Room 306 of the motel. At one point, she was tasked with delivering hamburgers to him and other civil rights leaders who used the motel room as a de facto headquarters.
"When I took the tray in, I set it on the table," Ford recalled. "And like I say, he was laying on the bed ... smoking a cigarette, because he smoked."
At 6:01 p.m. on April 4, Ford was cooking in the kitchen when she heard a loud burst ring out. She thought people were shooting off firecrackers. She was mistaken.We all ran outside to see what was going on and he was laying on the balcony," Ford said of King. "And I'm standing there. I'm just dumbfounded, you know? Just shocked."
Like, what just happened, you know? This don't happen here. And — this not OK," she added, wiping away tears.
A lone gunman, later identified as James Earl Ray, shot King as he stood on the motel's second-floor balcony. The moment was a blur, and she could hear people screaming out: "They shot Dr. King! They shot Dr. King!"
In the aftermath, as news spread of the attack, Ford said phone calls began pouring into the motel.
"Even the payphone on the outside, they were calling on that," she said. "'Did Dr. King get shot? Did Dr. King get shot?'"
King would later die at the hospital. Ray escaped and was captured two months later in the United Kingdom. He died in prison in 1998.
Today, the Lorraine Motel houses the National Civil Rights Museum. Ford, who eventually moved to Lansing, Michigan, and raised a family, doesn't like to speak publicly about that terrifying day. She does not like to think of herself as Witness #43.
Rather, her favorite memory, she said, is of the people who would come to the motel each time King stayed there, waiting to see the civil rights leader emerge from his room — and knowing they were witnessing a luminary who would change the country.
On April 4, 1968, Mary Ellen Ford was a witness to the aftermath of the shooting at the Lorraine Motel that claimed King's life — and changed history.
And for five decades, most people had no clue what Mary Ellen Ford saw on April 4, 1968.
At the time, a 21-year-old Ford was a waitress and cook at the famed Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would stay to take part in the civil rights protests sweeping the South.
Ford opened up on "Today" for the first time in decades — on the eve of the 50th anniversary of King's assassination — to describe what she witnessed and how her life was forever changed. Her own brother only learned five years ago that she was at the motel when a sniper's bullet claimed King's life, altering the course of a movement.
Ford is etched into the pages of history via a famous photo after the shooting. She is seen in white, her right arm folded across her waist as other workers wait anxiously for an ambulance to arrive.
Ford said that, before King was shot, she would catch glimpses of him as he came and went from Room 306 of the motel. At one point, she was tasked with delivering hamburgers to him and other civil rights leaders who used the motel room as a de facto headquarters.
"When I took the tray in, I set it on the table," Ford recalled. "And like I say, he was laying on the bed ... smoking a cigarette, because he smoked."
At 6:01 p.m. on April 4, Ford was cooking in the kitchen when she heard a loud burst ring out. She thought people were shooting off firecrackers. She was mistaken.We all ran outside to see what was going on and he was laying on the balcony," Ford said of King. "And I'm standing there. I'm just dumbfounded, you know? Just shocked."
Like, what just happened, you know? This don't happen here. And — this not OK," she added, wiping away tears.
A lone gunman, later identified as James Earl Ray, shot King as he stood on the motel's second-floor balcony. The moment was a blur, and she could hear people screaming out: "They shot Dr. King! They shot Dr. King!"
In the aftermath, as news spread of the attack, Ford said phone calls began pouring into the motel.
"Even the payphone on the outside, they were calling on that," she said. "'Did Dr. King get shot? Did Dr. King get shot?'"
King would later die at the hospital. Ray escaped and was captured two months later in the United Kingdom. He died in prison in 1998.
Today, the Lorraine Motel houses the National Civil Rights Museum. Ford, who eventually moved to Lansing, Michigan, and raised a family, doesn't like to speak publicly about that terrifying day. She does not like to think of herself as Witness #43.
Rather, her favorite memory, she said, is of the people who would come to the motel each time King stayed there, waiting to see the civil rights leader emerge from his room — and knowing they were witnessing a luminary who would change the country.
Born: January 15, 1929, Atlanta, GA
Assassinated: April 4, 1968, Memphis, TN
RIP GOAT.
Unmistakable and Irreplaceable.
R.I.P MLK
R.I.P MLK
Birthday TODAY!
NBC needs to cut into the Barr AG hearings and play the Vanocur interview.
NBC needs to cut into the Barr AG hearings and play the Vanocur interview.
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Happy Birthday GOAT.
Happy 90th!
King Holiday is a single released on January 13, 1986 by the King Dream Chorus and Holiday Crew. Composed by Phillip Jones, Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Melle Mel and Bill Adler, it was released in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which was first celebrated as a national holiday in the United States on January 20, 1986. All proceeds from the single were donated to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. The single peaked at No.30 on the BillboardHot Black Singles chart.
The project was spearheaded by Martin Luther King, Jr.'s youngest son, Dexter Scott King, who is credited as the song's executive producer.
"King Holiday" was produced by Phillip Jones and Kurtis Blow.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Holiday
First transmitted in 1961, Martin Luther King talks about his childhood experiences and the incidents that led to the Montgomery bus boycott. These events shaped King's life and led to him becoming a national figurehead and civil rights leader. He is questioned on whether he feels fear or loneliness in his position, as well as his own feelings on his adequacy as a leader of the civil rights movement in America. The interviewer was the Late John Freeman.
One of the greatest men ever!! RIP....
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is a national memorial located in West Potomac Park next to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States.[1] It covers four acres (1.6 ha) and includes the Stone of Hope, a granite statue of Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr. carved by sculptor Lei Yixin. The inspiration for the memorial design is a line from King's "I Have a Dream" speech: "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope." The memorial opened to the public on August 22, 2011, after more than two decades of planning, fund-raising, and construction.[2][3]
This national memorial is the 395th unit in the United States National Park Service.[4] The monumental memorial is located at the northwest corner of the Tidal Basin near the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, on a sightline linking the Lincoln Memorial to the northwest and the Jefferson Memorial to the southeast. The official address of the monument, 1964 Independence Avenue, S.W., commemorates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[5]
A ceremony dedicating the memorial was scheduled for Sunday, August 28, 2011, the 48th anniversary of the "I Have a Dream" speech that Martin Luther King Jr. delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963[6] but was postponed until October 16 (the 16th anniversary of the 1995 Million Man March on the National Mall) due to Hurricane Irene.[7][8][9]
Although this is not the first memorial to an African American in Washington, D.C., King is the first African American honored with a memorial on or near the National Mall and only the fourth non-President to be memorialized in such a way. The King Memorial is administered by the National Park Service (NPS).
mayne sad to say this new generation don't know shit about MLK Jr.... they believe in this mythical magical negro the media has made him become
They don't know about his real legacy, all of the assassination attempts, the FBIs involvement and his mother's assassination.....
Going back to 1958, a white woman terrorist almost killed him.
-with a letter opener to his chest.
WE ALL need to strive to be as strong as MLK -
DEFY DEATH if it's within us!
-with a letter opener to his chest.
WE ALL need to strive to be as strong as MLK -
DEFY DEATH if it's within us!
It got removed after you posted it.
It's weird says video unavailable still. Maybe blocked in my region or something.
Going back to 1958, a white woman terrorist almost killed him.
-with a letter opener to his chest.
WE ALL need to strive to be as strong as MLK -
DEFY DEATH if it's within us!
Actually, she was a mentally ill Black woman.