Assissination of Dr. Martin Luther King

In 1968, America was feeling the heat of civil unrest, much of which was a reaction to the civil rights movement. The idea of blacks being brought into racial parity with whites sent shockwaves through the corridors of power and through society at large.

At the eye of this hurricane of turmoil was a man named Martin Luther Martin Luther King, Jr., who preached non-violent civil disobedience as a means of opening the way for blacks to obtain the rights and liberties guaranteed to all citizens of the United States.

A charismatic and passionate leader, Martin Luther King was an effective communicator and motivator, and by 1968, he was winning the hearts and minds more and more Americans on both sides of the color line. His efforts successfully merged the anti-Vietnam war movement and the civil rights movement, and the awful reality of the black situation in America could no longer be hidden behind the white curtain.

On March 28, 1968, Martin Luther King led a march through Memphis, Tennessee which, like all his marches, was intended to have been peaceful and non-violent. But thanks to a gang of agents provocateur called "The Invaders," the march disintegrated into rioting and looting.

Martin Luther King barely escaped the March 28 debacle unharmed, and swore to return to Memphis and "conduct this demonstration properly -- with no violence." The date for the new march was set at April 4, 1968. This time, Martin Luther King would not survive his fateful trip to Memphis.