My biggest reason for stopping by Memphis was to visit the place where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. I wanted to learn more closely about one of America’s most iconic civil rights leaders and the movement surrounding him. See the balcony at the Lorraine Motel is where MLK was shot, today it houses the National Civil Rights Museum.
A hard topic to stomach, especially on a vacation filled with blues music and barbecue, but sometimes it’s important to be uncomfortable to learn and grow. Come as early as possible to avoid crowds and plan to spend well over an hour. Transatlantic slavery was the largest forced migration in history uprooting 12.5 million Africans, this is where the museum tour begins.
A chronological journey through five centuries of history leads through the Civil War, Jim Crow, and up to the Civil Rights movement. Important moments such as Brown Vs Board of Ed, the bombing of Birmingham’s Bethel Baptist Church, and the story of Emmett Till are told. Interactive exhibits have you sit next to protesters at a Woolworth lunch counter and walk towards the end of the bus where Rosa Parks refused to sit.
Listen to powerful speeches by Dr. King and see footage of the Selma March. For me, the culmination of the exhibits peaks when you see the room that King spent his final days, and stand in the very spot that he was killed.
A potent emotional wave I wasn’t expecting took over and goosebumps popped up all over my body. When you leave this museum you will want to love your neighbor and honor the man who gave his life for this ongoing movement. We cannot change the past, but together we can strive towards a better future.