My Road Trip from Annapolis to Austin (part 4)

Friday morning and early afternoon was spent at another historic site in Memphis that is quite a bit more somber than Sun Studios, but I am so glad that we made the stop. The Lorraine Motel is one of the most tragic sites in America because it is where Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed. The facade of the building has been preserved and driving up and seeing that balcony where Dr. King fell is hard to put into words.
But thankfully the site has been used for the National Civil Rights Museum and is an awesome tour that inspired and reminded me of the kind of things that ministers can do to help transform society and see that all are treated equally and fairly. The museum was really amazing and the audio tour was really well done. It walks you chronologically through the history of African Americans in the US and the major milestones of the Civil Rights struggle. (We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but you can check out the web site for photos in the link above). You get on a bus from Montgomery and can sit next to a statue of Rosa Parks. The seat is wired so that when you sit down the driver's voice comes over the PA and instructs you to move and give up your seat several times. Finally it threatens to have you arrested and even though it was only a recording I found it hard to stay seated and imagine what it would have been like to have been this little seamstress taking a stand by refusing to give up her seat.
The museum was full of powerful exhibits like that and Andy and I both found ourselves wiping away tears on more than one occasion. Towards the end of the tour you stop at the window of what would have been room 307, directly behind where King fell (the windows with the curtains open in photo above). They have preserved his room (#306) and turned the wall that would have been adjoining #307 into windows so you can see inside. Thankfully they don't end on that sad note. They take you through the end of the garbage worker strike that was the reason King was in Memphis and then through exhibits showing how his dream and legacy have gone on to continue the civil rights movement in the US and how it inspired others around the globe to do similar peaceful methods of resistance like he used. My favorite quote from the tour was - "You can kill the dreamer, but you can not kill the dream." Wish I knew who said it, but I can't seem to find the source.
A new addition to the tour is now across the street in a new wing that has taken over the boarding house where James Earl Ray stayed and fired the fatal shot. That part of the tour is focused on the criminal investigation, his arrest, the evidence against him and of course conspiracy theories. It was interesting, but focused on the crime and not the legacy of MLK and the movement. It was very similar to the 7th floor Book Depository tour in Dallas if you've ever been to that. There was actually a protester set up on the street corner who has been there every day since the museum opened according to her signs who is upset that they are memorializing the assassination too much. I get her point, but I don't see how you can ignore such a huge piece of American history. Better that you educate folks about what happened and why than just ignore it altogether in my opinion, especially when you can show how the tragic event was not able to undo all the good that was done by the man or to stop his memory from inspiring others to keep up the struggle.
To offset the heaviness of that tour we headed for what many visitors to Memphis is THE reason to come to town - Graceland. And since it was Elvis Week the devoted fans were out in droves.