Remembering the Dreamer...Martin Luther King, Jr.

"They said to one another


Behold, here cometh the dreamer...


Let us slay him...

And we shall see what will become of his dreams."




Genesis 37: 19-20





He was only 39 years old that April 4th day in 1968 when he stepped out of his room out onto the second story balcony of the Lorraine Motel for a few moments before he was to leave for dinner with friends. As he stood on the balcony, there was no reason for the window in the building across the street to have caught his attention. It was a spring day in Memphis and natural for windows to be open as the breezes off the Mississippi River floated through the gritty town. This window, though, was open just a little bit. Just enough. The shooter's vantage point was perfect. And he hit his mark. Today, a small block of cement imbedded in the balcony floor is a reminder of where he fell, and a wreath hangs over the metal railing outside the room that has stayed all these years just the way it was that day. You go there, you see it all, and you are transported back to that moment when one of the finest, most powerful voices in American history was silenced.

Lorraine Motel Photo by A. Rebic January 2004

From historical civil war sites to Elvis, from mouthwatering barbecue to some of the best blues you’ll ever hear, Memphis, Tennessee is infused with rich American culture and history. Memphis is a gritty town. There’s a smell and feel to it that you won’t find in any other city. The heat in the summer will melt you and Memphis never sleeps. Apart from my usual visits to Graceland and other Elvis sites, I've always made it a point to do something new and come away with yet another special memory every time I go down there. On my visit to Memphis in January of 2004 my plans included a tour of The National Civil Rights Museum. In those couple of hours that I spent walking through this landmark that was built adjacent to the Lorraine Motel, I learned just how profoundly ignorant I am about an entire era of our history. Unless you have a heart of stone, you cannot move through the extraordinary exhibits without being deeply affected. The visitor receives a “live” education that transports him back to year after year of civil rights history as he moves through the museum. The presentation is stunning and successfully establishes a “you are there” quality that transcends time and place. This is an eye-opener for anyone who was unaware and a graphic reminder for those who might have forgotten.

The National Civil Rights Museum is comprised of two separate buildings across the street from each other. One tour culminates in an unencumbered view of that fateful room 306 in the Lorraine Motel where the bed has been left unmade, half filled coffee cups line the dressers, ashtrays contain cigarette butts, and the lamps remain lit, giving a warm and cozy glow to the walls. The second tour in the building across the street culminates at the entrance to the room where the shooter stood behind the open bathroom window that remains open. You get his vantage point and just how clearly he had the target standing on the balcony in his sights that fateful April evening in 1968. No textbook can replace this. No lecture, no classroom. I left the museum that day knowing that we don’t, or at least I didn’t, learn enough in school about the things taught here. You cannot leave this place untouched.

Five months later during a Memorial Day weekend visit to Atlanta, Georgia, I made it a point to visit the King Center and the final resting place of the fallen civil rights leader. How wonderful it was to complete the story, to travel back in time to see the beginning of an extraordinary life and how it evolved. It was a pleasure to see that the entire block where King was born, had lived in as a child, and had preached his sermons in the Baptist church, had all been preserved and well marked. Educational plaques are placed throughout the area, describing the progression of King’s life as a young man. Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he would first make his mark with his preaching, stood as it was and was being restored and preserved with great care. You can walk in and sit in the pews, and there, in the large sanctuary, you can listen to that great voice resonate from the walls as though he were there, speaking to you. Though the physical presence of the man is not there, just hearing that voice echo from the tape that plays for whomever comes in to listen, transports you to a different place and time. You are in the presence of a life that changed history in a positive and productive way, a life that had meaning.

Dr. King’s marble tomb is unassuming and not fancy. It is a dignified monument to a life of dignity. It stands in a large pool of crystal blue water with fountains of water spraying up into the beautiful Atlanta sky. One can sit and rest and watch the people go by to pay their respects. It is there, fittingly, in the same area where he was born, where the church he preached in stands, and where the museum that presents the pieces of his life for the generations to learn from was built in his honor.

The Tomb of Martin Luther King, Jr. Atlanta, GA Photo by A. Rebic May 30, 2004

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has been an inspiration to me from the time of my childhood, many years ago, when I first heard that voice saying those words. That first shiver that comes from hearing a man that can mesmerize you with the power of his eloquence and the beauty and truth of his message, has never gone away. I can hear him speak a thousand times, and the same shiver comes over me, and I am awed.

I'm white. I grew up in a white neighborhood. But somehow, Martin Luther King, Jr. was able to speak to me like few white leaders could then and even fewer can now. He spoke to all people. He touched hearts regardless of color. He believed in fairness and dignity. He crossed the lines that had been drawn in the sand. Regardless of the consequences, he never stopped believing in the truth of his message, and the truth of his message continues to resonate 40 years after his death.

He was slain before reaching the age of 40, a man in his prime. What Martin Luther accomplished in his short lifetime, the extent to which his ability to inspire us to be better, fairer people endures, and the wisdom of his words has lasted through the ages, transcending far and beyond a lifetime cut short by a bullet marked for him as he stood on the balcony of a motel in Memphis.




You can still hear him. The speeches were captured on film and will be played again and again. And the shiver will come, for that voice and his message will never lose their power to move us. He was the dreamer, and he awakened America to fulfill her promise as a nation, a promise to benefit us all.





Aleksandra Rebic

2004/2008