The legacy of Martin Luther King

Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, Memphis, Tennessee is the site of the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, the prominent civil rights activist. Naturally, I knew of the "All men are created equal, I have a dream" speech. I must profess, I was unaware of sanitation worker's strike or the events leading up to the fateful day. Today was the day I learned a little of contemporary American civil rights history without even going inside.

I was sitting outside on a retaining wall over the road; I was listening to these elderly southern ladies chatting. In their thick southern accent, I very much enjoyed listening to their colourful stories, they were joyful and happy, some of the things they said were just gold.

As I, she was waiting outside, she didn't want to go inside to witness the museum for different reasons than me when she came out with "I don't find this so exciting, I lived through the time, I don't want to relive this." I opened my tablet and started tapping keys, this was a defining moment in my United States trip, I wanted to make sure I recorded this moment.

The other lady came out and started describing the museum tour, she didn't like it much, it was a little crowded and she was unable to go at her own pace when she came out with "I don't like no confining, I like my freedom."

My blog is observations in an undemocratic world; my short time sitting on that retaining wall outside the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee listening to these two wonderful southern women defines what I am trying to achieve, I only hope I do this moment justice.