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| Martin Luther King: events held across US to remember leader – live updates | Martin Luther King: events held across US to remember leader – live updates |
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| The Guardian’s Jamiles Lartey has been in Memphis, Tennessee, reporting on the commemorative events: | |
| In the lead up to a march in Memphis, hundreds congregated for a kick-off rally outside the headquarters of the local public employees union. | |
| The crowd, largely composed of workers representing various different unions was made up of both native Memphians and people who had traveled from all across the US. | |
| Asked what drew him out, lifelong Memphis resident Ishmail Muhammad responded confidently: “The dream”, invoking King’s most famous speech delivered at the Mall on Washington in 1963. | |
| “There’s been some progress,” Muhammad said, “but there’s a lot of things that need to addressed.” | |
| Muhammad was about 12-years-old when King was killed and still remembers the day vividly. “I was playing marbles when I found out,” he said. | |
| “It’s a great thing for us to commemorate the memory, but what we really have to do is stand together as a group of people and really try to bring the dream to fruition,” Muhammad said. | |
| They're wobbling here in Memphis. #MLK50 pic.twitter.com/l6ps5IVdL2 | |
| Others, like 20-year-old Geraldo Viveros travelled more than 10 hours by bus from Chicago to be in Memphis for the day’s events. “I came here because I want to show that I have rights as a gay man and as a Mexican immigrant,” Viveros said, with a rainbow pride flag draped over his back like a cape. | |
| Pamela Davidson, a member of the United Auto Workers of America union said the show of union solidarity was for her, overwhelming. “I’m proud we could come together for a man that really gave his life for our civil rights and pulling us together,” Davidson said. | |
| Davidson, who is from Illinois, said UAW have a special connection with King’s legacy, as he first drafted his iconic I Have a Dream Speech at the UAW’s “Solidarity House” headquarters in Detroit. “Dr. King knew that if you didn’t have a good wage, and we did not help people within the workforce, where are we gonna be?” | |
| "Our children need our presence, not our presents." #MLK50 pic.twitter.com/GrzPHkEsvS | |
| Video of the powerful, prophetic speech Martin Luther King made to a packed church in Memphis, Tennessee, on 3 April 1968, just a day before he was assassinated. King called for unity, economic actions, boycotts and non-violent protests, while challenging the US to live up to its ideals. In the speech, he talks about the possibility of an untimely death. | |
| More from the Guardian’s David Smith in Washington DC: | More from the Guardian’s David Smith in Washington DC: |
| At 11.26am more than a hundred people joined Washington mayor Muriel Bowser in a moment of silence at the King memorial, where cherry blossoms blew in the wind. | At 11.26am more than a hundred people joined Washington mayor Muriel Bowser in a moment of silence at the King memorial, where cherry blossoms blew in the wind. |
| Bowser paid tribute to the “extraordinary, incomparable, sorely missed” civil rights leader and vowed to “renew his fight for racial and economic justice”. | Bowser paid tribute to the “extraordinary, incomparable, sorely missed” civil rights leader and vowed to “renew his fight for racial and economic justice”. |
| She said she has to remind students that King was only 39 when he died. “As a young leader, he spoke truth to power. He confronted our nation’s greatest sins head on.” | She said she has to remind students that King was only 39 when he died. “As a young leader, he spoke truth to power. He confronted our nation’s greatest sins head on.” |
| She noted that King was “more controversial” than is now often acknowledged at the time of his death, “tackling economic injustice, tackling a war that he through was unjust”.Washington had been overwhelmed by sadness and anger when news of the assassination broke, Bowser added, resulting in unrest and the burning of buildings. “In some ways we’re still fighting back from the fiery day in 1968.” | She noted that King was “more controversial” than is now often acknowledged at the time of his death, “tackling economic injustice, tackling a war that he through was unjust”.Washington had been overwhelmed by sadness and anger when news of the assassination broke, Bowser added, resulting in unrest and the burning of buildings. “In some ways we’re still fighting back from the fiery day in 1968.” |
| Spot where King delivered his ‘I have a dream’ speech at the Lincoln Memorial. pic.twitter.com/MkMoq0RVeE | Spot where King delivered his ‘I have a dream’ speech at the Lincoln Memorial. pic.twitter.com/MkMoq0RVeE |
| Earlier Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the District of Columbia in Congress, told the seated gathering: “Fifty years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, Americans across our land are trying to put into words what Martin Luther King Jr meant to them. At the time, the civil rights movement was my north star because I was a young student of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.“However, I choose not to ruminate about this day as a mere anniversary. If even then the future, not the past, was what made us a movement, I believe we carry on the King tradition best by focusing on the here and now, as King did as he led the civil rights movement.” | Earlier Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the District of Columbia in Congress, told the seated gathering: “Fifty years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, Americans across our land are trying to put into words what Martin Luther King Jr meant to them. At the time, the civil rights movement was my north star because I was a young student of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.“However, I choose not to ruminate about this day as a mere anniversary. If even then the future, not the past, was what made us a movement, I believe we carry on the King tradition best by focusing on the here and now, as King did as he led the civil rights movement.” |
| Norton used the moment to put the case for DC becoming the 51st state of the union. “We are part of King’s movement and he is part of ours,” she added. | Norton used the moment to put the case for DC becoming the 51st state of the union. “We are part of King’s movement and he is part of ours,” she added. |
| Speeches are ongoing. | Speeches are ongoing. |
| Donald Trump has followed his proclamation about the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s death with a short video statement to mark the day. | Donald Trump has followed his proclamation about the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s death with a short video statement to mark the day. |
| Today we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 50th anniversary of his assassination. Earlier this year I spoke about Dr. King’s legacy of justice and peace, and his impact on uniting Americans. #MLK50 Proclamation: https://t.co/XXtPO0VX5A pic.twitter.com/SH0esMSyMT | Today we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 50th anniversary of his assassination. Earlier this year I spoke about Dr. King’s legacy of justice and peace, and his impact on uniting Americans. #MLK50 Proclamation: https://t.co/XXtPO0VX5A pic.twitter.com/SH0esMSyMT |
| “On this cherished day we honor the memory of Reverend King and we rededicate ourselves to a glorious future, where every American from every walk of life can live free from fear, liberated from hatred and uplifted by boundless love for their fellow citizens,” Trump said. | “On this cherished day we honor the memory of Reverend King and we rededicate ourselves to a glorious future, where every American from every walk of life can live free from fear, liberated from hatred and uplifted by boundless love for their fellow citizens,” Trump said. |
| His comments have provoked anger from those who feel his business history, campaign for the presidency and actions in the White House promote hatred, racism and fear. | His comments have provoked anger from those who feel his business history, campaign for the presidency and actions in the White House promote hatred, racism and fear. |
| Barack Obama and civil rights leader John Lewis met with students in Washington DC this week as part of the former president’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, an initiative to address opportunity gaps facing people of color, particularly young men. | Barack Obama and civil rights leader John Lewis met with students in Washington DC this week as part of the former president’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, an initiative to address opportunity gaps facing people of color, particularly young men. |
| Lewis, a Democratic Congressman in Georgia, published a letter about the experience and how it fits into King’s legacy this morning: | Lewis, a Democratic Congressman in Georgia, published a letter about the experience and how it fits into King’s legacy this morning: |
| Because of King and the actions of so many others, we brought those signs down. We earned the right to sit in those restaurants. We earned the right to vote. | Because of King and the actions of so many others, we brought those signs down. We earned the right to sit in those restaurants. We earned the right to vote. |
| Now, all across the South and all across America, there are elected officials who are people of color. In the recent elections in Virginia and around the country, more people of color and more women were elected to positions of power. They are African American, Latino, Asian American, Native American. Our country is a much better place — a much different place — in spite of all the setbacks and interruptions of progress. | Now, all across the South and all across America, there are elected officials who are people of color. In the recent elections in Virginia and around the country, more people of color and more women were elected to positions of power. They are African American, Latino, Asian American, Native American. Our country is a much better place — a much different place — in spite of all the setbacks and interruptions of progress. |
| Dr. King taught us to be brave, to be courageous, to be bold. I don’t know where America would be, where many of us of color would be, were it not for him. | Dr. King taught us to be brave, to be courageous, to be bold. I don’t know where America would be, where many of us of color would be, were it not for him. |
| His legacy was to speak up, stand up. When you see that something isn’t right or fair, you have to do something — you have to get in the way. Get into good trouble. | His legacy was to speak up, stand up. When you see that something isn’t right or fair, you have to do something — you have to get in the way. Get into good trouble. |
| The young men I met with this week give me so much hope for our future. | The young men I met with this week give me so much hope for our future. |
| 50 years ago today, I learned the painful news that my friend, my mentor, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated in Memphis, TN. He was my brother, my leader--that day it felt like something died in all of us. pic.twitter.com/WkjkxJvXTC | 50 years ago today, I learned the painful news that my friend, my mentor, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated in Memphis, TN. He was my brother, my leader--that day it felt like something died in all of us. pic.twitter.com/WkjkxJvXTC |
| The first photo depicts the rally in Memphis today to commemorate the sanitation workers strike and Martin Luther King’s death. | The first photo depicts the rally in Memphis today to commemorate the sanitation workers strike and Martin Luther King’s death. |
| The second photo is from the sanitation workers strike in March 1968. | The second photo is from the sanitation workers strike in March 1968. |
| MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, a year-long reporting project focused on economic justice in Memphis, reported yesterday that fifty years after the sanitation workers’ strike and the assassination of King, white workers are still winning the job’s race. | MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, a year-long reporting project focused on economic justice in Memphis, reported yesterday that fifty years after the sanitation workers’ strike and the assassination of King, white workers are still winning the job’s race. |
| A federal survey for 2015 shows that white workers hold a sizable majority of the higher-status and better-paying jobs among large, private employers in the Memphis metro area, though they represent only 43 percent of the overall workforce, according to the report. | A federal survey for 2015 shows that white workers hold a sizable majority of the higher-status and better-paying jobs among large, private employers in the Memphis metro area, though they represent only 43 percent of the overall workforce, according to the report. |
| “The distribution of workers by occupation helps explain the income inequality that harms black workers in Memphis and across the nation,” David Ciscel, a professor emeritus of economics at the University of Memphis, told MLK50 in an email. | “The distribution of workers by occupation helps explain the income inequality that harms black workers in Memphis and across the nation,” David Ciscel, a professor emeritus of economics at the University of Memphis, told MLK50 in an email. |
| “It is particularly difficult to square the progress African-Americans have made in education with the issues they still face with income and wealth inequality,” he said. | “It is particularly difficult to square the progress African-Americans have made in education with the issues they still face with income and wealth inequality,” he said. |
| Click to read the full story. | Click to read the full story. |
| The Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief, David Smith, has sent his first dispatch from the commemorative events in the US capital. | The Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief, David Smith, has sent his first dispatch from the commemorative events in the US capital. |
| In Washington a steady flow of people are visiting the Martin Luther King memorial, which stands 30 feet tall and is sculpted from 159 granite blocks, surrounded by some of his most enduring quotations. The anniversary coincides with the city’s brief cherry blossom season, adding an exquisite flurry of pink on a serene spring morning. | In Washington a steady flow of people are visiting the Martin Luther King memorial, which stands 30 feet tall and is sculpted from 159 granite blocks, surrounded by some of his most enduring quotations. The anniversary coincides with the city’s brief cherry blossom season, adding an exquisite flurry of pink on a serene spring morning. |
| Flowers and a signed note have been left at the base of the statue, which looks across the waters of the tidal basin to the memorial to Thomas Jefferson, the slave-owning third president. Addressed to Dr King, the handwritten note says: “Your message of non-violence still resonates with may and your message of Human Rights for all people is still being heard today. Rest in Peace!” | Flowers and a signed note have been left at the base of the statue, which looks across the waters of the tidal basin to the memorial to Thomas Jefferson, the slave-owning third president. Addressed to Dr King, the handwritten note says: “Your message of non-violence still resonates with may and your message of Human Rights for all people is still being heard today. Rest in Peace!” |
| Note left at King memorial. pic.twitter.com/5hvkOC5Bcr | Note left at King memorial. pic.twitter.com/5hvkOC5Bcr |
| Ron Meredith, a 38-year-old African American, was listening to King’s “mountaintop” speech on the radio on Wednesday morning and decided a visit to the memorial was “the least I could do”. He explained: “I feel an immense amount of pride and love for the man. It makes me cry when I think what they took from us. His sacrifice was Christ-like.” | Ron Meredith, a 38-year-old African American, was listening to King’s “mountaintop” speech on the radio on Wednesday morning and decided a visit to the memorial was “the least I could do”. He explained: “I feel an immense amount of pride and love for the man. It makes me cry when I think what they took from us. His sacrifice was Christ-like.” |
| If King were alive today, added Meredith, a financial regulator who lives Washington, “he’d be kneeling with Kaepernick” – a reference to the football player who started the take-a-knee protests against racial injustice. | If King were alive today, added Meredith, a financial regulator who lives Washington, “he’d be kneeling with Kaepernick” – a reference to the football player who started the take-a-knee protests against racial injustice. |
| April Keech, a chaplain and associate priest, welled up with tears as she recalled learning of King’s assassination when she was a child. “I was in ninth grade in high school and in the morning black friends wore black arm bands and were not talking and I suddenly realised how awful it was.” | April Keech, a chaplain and associate priest, welled up with tears as she recalled learning of King’s assassination when she was a child. “I was in ninth grade in high school and in the morning black friends wore black arm bands and were not talking and I suddenly realised how awful it was.” |
| Keech, 66, who now lives in London, added: “It was a time that rocked this country and the whole myth of American morality. What I like about Martin Luther King is that he loved this country and he had integrity, which I think has been lost in the American political scene. The current policies on immigration are an insult to King and his memory. | Keech, 66, who now lives in London, added: “It was a time that rocked this country and the whole myth of American morality. What I like about Martin Luther King is that he loved this country and he had integrity, which I think has been lost in the American political scene. The current policies on immigration are an insult to King and his memory. |
| “If he were alive today, he would be worried by current policies but he would still continue to fight. Things have changed in law but it will take another generation. I’m glad young people have stood up and hope they will continue to stand up to an older generation clinging to white minority rule.” | “If he were alive today, he would be worried by current policies but he would still continue to fight. Things have changed in law but it will take another generation. I’m glad young people have stood up and hope they will continue to stand up to an older generation clinging to white minority rule.” |
| The Guardian’s Jamiles Lartey is at the I AM march and rally in Memphis, which kicked off at 8am local time and will continue into the afternoon. | The Guardian’s Jamiles Lartey is at the I AM march and rally in Memphis, which kicked off at 8am local time and will continue into the afternoon. |
| The event commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike, a union-driven effort to improve conditions for black sanitation workers. Local ministers and students joined the nonviolent demonstration in solidarity with the workers in 1968. King traveled to Memphis to support the campaign in March, then again in April, when he was killed. | The event commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike, a union-driven effort to improve conditions for black sanitation workers. Local ministers and students joined the nonviolent demonstration in solidarity with the workers in 1968. King traveled to Memphis to support the campaign in March, then again in April, when he was killed. |
| Four days after King’s death, his widow Coretta Scott King and other civil rights and union leaders marched through Memphis in honor of King and to demand the sanitation department meet the strikers’ demands. Less than two weeks later, a deal was struck and the strike was brought to an end. | Four days after King’s death, his widow Coretta Scott King and other civil rights and union leaders marched through Memphis in honor of King and to demand the sanitation department meet the strikers’ demands. Less than two weeks later, a deal was struck and the strike was brought to an end. |
| The crowd here at the I AM March kickoff rally is mostly union folks. UNITE HERE which represents represents workers in airports, hotels and casinos has a huge presence, along with United Auto workers and teamsters. pic.twitter.com/08XRh3xIqQ | The crowd here at the I AM March kickoff rally is mostly union folks. UNITE HERE which represents represents workers in airports, hotels and casinos has a huge presence, along with United Auto workers and teamsters. pic.twitter.com/08XRh3xIqQ |
| The White House on Tuesday issued a proclamation to mark the 50th anniversary of King’s assassination. | The White House on Tuesday issued a proclamation to mark the 50th anniversary of King’s assassination. |
| Though he was taken from this earth unjustly, he left us with his legacy of justice and peace. In remembrance of his profound and inspirational virtues, we look to do as Dr King did while this world was privileged enough to still have him. We must learn to live together as brothers and sisters lest we perish together as fools. We must embrace the sanctity of life and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. As a united people, we must see Dr King’s life mission through and denounce racism, inhumanity, and all those things that seek to divide us. | Though he was taken from this earth unjustly, he left us with his legacy of justice and peace. In remembrance of his profound and inspirational virtues, we look to do as Dr King did while this world was privileged enough to still have him. We must learn to live together as brothers and sisters lest we perish together as fools. We must embrace the sanctity of life and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. As a united people, we must see Dr King’s life mission through and denounce racism, inhumanity, and all those things that seek to divide us. |
| To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s death, the Guardian asked nine students from his former school in Atlanta - Booker T Washington high school - to recite the I Have A Dream speech. | To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s death, the Guardian asked nine students from his former school in Atlanta - Booker T Washington high school - to recite the I Have A Dream speech. |
| In the lead-up to today’s events, demonstrators were arrested during a protest against immigration detention in Memphis. | In the lead-up to today’s events, demonstrators were arrested during a protest against immigration detention in Memphis. |
| The protest was part of rolling demonstrations on Tuesday that sought to use the interest in Memphis ahead of the MLK anniversary to bring attention to social and criminal justice issues citizens still face. | The protest was part of rolling demonstrations on Tuesday that sought to use the interest in Memphis ahead of the MLK anniversary to bring attention to social and criminal justice issues citizens still face. |
| The Guardian’s Jamiles Lartey was on the scene in Memphis yesterday: | The Guardian’s Jamiles Lartey was on the scene in Memphis yesterday: |
| All activists who were arrested for peacefully protesting yesterday, have court today at 9am. The irony of having court on #MLK50 for living his legacy. Don’t be silent about it. Show up at 201 at 9! Remember 300 protesters were arrested during MLK’s last March in 1968. | All activists who were arrested for peacefully protesting yesterday, have court today at 9am. The irony of having court on #MLK50 for living his legacy. Don’t be silent about it. Show up at 201 at 9! Remember 300 protesters were arrested during MLK’s last March in 1968. |
| Bernice King had just turned five years old when her father was assassinated. The Guardian’s Ed Pilkington spoke to King about the state of activism and inequality in the US and what her family faced in the aftermath of her father’s death. | Bernice King had just turned five years old when her father was assassinated. The Guardian’s Ed Pilkington spoke to King about the state of activism and inequality in the US and what her family faced in the aftermath of her father’s death. |
| She recalls very little of that day, 4 April 1968. It was a week after her fifth birthday, and when the TV networks began to carry news that her father had been shot in Memphis she was drifting off to sleep. | She recalls very little of that day, 4 April 1968. It was a week after her fifth birthday, and when the TV networks began to carry news that her father had been shot in Memphis she was drifting off to sleep. |
| She has only a pointillist picture of what happened next, the days and weeks of noise and hurt, disjointedly composed out of tiny dots of memory. It was Dexter who recalled the babysitter falling backwards and exclaiming “Oh my God!” when, they surmised later, she was informed that the bullet that pierced their father’s neck as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine motel had taken his life. | She has only a pointillist picture of what happened next, the days and weeks of noise and hurt, disjointedly composed out of tiny dots of memory. It was Dexter who recalled the babysitter falling backwards and exclaiming “Oh my God!” when, they surmised later, she was informed that the bullet that pierced their father’s neck as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine motel had taken his life. |
| Confusion. That was Bernice’s main recollection. Not the confusion of the adults that in turn morphed into anger that set rioting ablaze across the nation. But the confusion of a child for whom none of this made any sense. | Confusion. That was Bernice’s main recollection. Not the confusion of the adults that in turn morphed into anger that set rioting ablaze across the nation. But the confusion of a child for whom none of this made any sense. |
| As the family was boarding the plane that would take them to Memphis, to her father’s body lying in the casket, Coretta told Bernice that he was dead and that he wouldn’t be able to speak to her any more as his “spirit has gone on to live with God”. The child heard a hissing noise at the back of the plane which she knows now must have been the plane’s engines, but back then it sounded to her just like daddy. | As the family was boarding the plane that would take them to Memphis, to her father’s body lying in the casket, Coretta told Bernice that he was dead and that he wouldn’t be able to speak to her any more as his “spirit has gone on to live with God”. The child heard a hissing noise at the back of the plane which she knows now must have been the plane’s engines, but back then it sounded to her just like daddy. |
| “I said, ‘Well, he’s breathing, I hear him breathing in the back’. And she said, ‘No’.” | “I said, ‘Well, he’s breathing, I hear him breathing in the back’. And she said, ‘No’.” |
| Good morning. | Good morning. |
| On this day in 1968, the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee. | On this day in 1968, the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee. |
| To mark the 50th anniversary of his death, commemorative events will be held across the US to remember the inspiring activist leader’s life and to push King’s message of equality forward. | To mark the 50th anniversary of his death, commemorative events will be held across the US to remember the inspiring activist leader’s life and to push King’s message of equality forward. |
| Guardian journalists will be reporting live from these events, including at an all-day celebration at the National Civil Rights Museum, which was built within the Lorraine Motel, where King died at 6.01pm CT on 4 April 1968. | Guardian journalists will be reporting live from these events, including at an all-day celebration at the National Civil Rights Museum, which was built within the Lorraine Motel, where King died at 6.01pm CT on 4 April 1968. |
| We’ll be collecting their dispatches here on this live blog, where we’ll also be sharing images, reports and commentary from commemorative events and demonstrations all over the world. | We’ll be collecting their dispatches here on this live blog, where we’ll also be sharing images, reports and commentary from commemorative events and demonstrations all over the world. |