Michael Eric Dyson
Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. He was shot and killed on April 4, 1968, on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 39. In his final speech, given just hours earlier, King uttered these prophetic words to his followers:
"I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we as a people will get to the Promised Land."
Every January, we celebrate King's life with a national holiday on his birthday. But in a new book, entitled April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Death and How it Changed America, Michael Eric Dyson argues that King's death and its aftermath give us the greatest insight into his legacy, and offer a platform to re-evaluate whether his dream for America has come true. What do you take away from King's death? What meaning does it hold for you?
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