“Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it’s perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in.” – Robert F. Kennedy
April 4, 1968, became the day that marked the end of a civil right’s leader’s life, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Through a twist of fate, the city of Indianapolis heard the news from then presidential hopeful New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. After 40 years since King’s death and Kennedy’s announcement at a small park at 17th and Park Avenue, people everywhere are still remembering the tragic loss of one of the most important people in American history.
Breaking the news
On April 4, 1968, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead in the city of Memphis, Tenn., where he was to lead a march of sanitation workers protesting against low wages and poor working conditions.
He was shot in the neck as he stood on a hotel balcony and died in a hospital soon after.
Among the tragedy of the assassination of Dr. King, Kennedy, younger brother of former President John F. Kennedy, broke the news to a large gathering of mostly African-Americans in Indianapolis.
Kennedy was actually campaigning for his bid in the 1968 Democratic nomination for president. Shortly after he arrived in Indianapolis, Kennedy was told of King’s death. He was advised by police against making the campaign stop which was in a part of the city considered to be a “dangerous ghetto.” Kennedy insisted on going.
He arrived to find the people in a cheerful mood, anticipating the excitement of his appearance. Realizing many did not know, he approached the crowd and broke the news.
Remembering King
Forty years after the death of King and the ironic announcement of his death by Kennedy, who shared many of King’s beliefs, the city of Indianapolis is celebrating that memorable day.
Many Blacks in the city recognize and respect Kennedy’s role in breaking the news, but urge the community to focus on Dr. King’s life, what his work meant, and how all can still learn from his messages of hope and love.
“We can’t lose sight of that significance that regardless of what sentiments Kennedy had for Black people, he was not an African-American. I’m not in that camp that believes that Robert Kennedy rode into Indianapolis on his great white horse and announced to Black people that their great hero Martin Luther King had passed; then he said be calm, and everyone said ‘yessuh massah,’” said Wilma L. Moore, senior archivist of African-American history for the Indiana Historical Society. “Kennedy was a man who seemed very sincere in his affection and there was a great respect for him amongst Black people, but the news wouldn’t have gone well with anybody. Black people didn’t riot in Indianapolis because there was not the predisposition to do that.”
Although Pat Payne, director of the IPS office of multicultural education and the Crispus Attucks Museum believes the Black experience has simultaneously gotten better and worse since the announcement, she agrees that the city of Indianapolis should use April 4 and beyond as a day of reflection.
“When Dr. King left us, that left such a deep void in our communities and psyche. We are still in a mode of recovery from that. We’re still struggling with racial hatred and we still have a very long way to go,” said Payne.
Some believe the evidence of the positive power brought forth by King’s words and actions is seen in people like Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama; but what people also believe in is looking to the past to improve the future.
Moore says the city of Indianapolis should use April 4 not as another mundane Friday, but also a time to look at civil rights history and race relations in the United States. For April 4 to be anything less would minimize King’s life and what he’s meant to this country.
Despite problems such as unemployment, apathy against the importance of education, and numerous health disparities, Payne and Moore believe there is hope for Blacks to pick up the torch and carry on King’s message.
“We need to be thinking about how to support education, stop blaming poverty on the victims of poverty, and how we can come together as a community to look at these issues and try new approaches to getting them solved,” said Payne.
Cinematic history
Filmmaker Donald Boggs was reading Time magazine when he stumbled upon a brief story of Robert Kennedy’s six-minute speech to a predominately African-American crowd on the day Rev. King died. Random reading grew into a quest to find and document how that speech touched the lives of those in the crowd and what Kennedy’s words meant to the nation dealing with racial injustice.
“I was struck by a white politician willing to complete his plans to speak there. I don’t think that would happen today. I was struck by a sense of the pain that the people felt when they got the news,” said Boggs. “Somehow Kennedy was able to help people deal with the pain and then to suggest that even in the midst of that there’s something more important about getting along and most importantly following Dr. King’s adage of non-violence.”
“A Ripple of Hope” narrates the events of April 4, 1968 through the eyes of who was there.
As a documentary of power and inspiration, Heartland Truly Moving Pictures thought “A Ripple of Hope” was an excellent fit with its mission and wants film-goers to see the importance of April 4, 1968, through cinema.
“An individual can make a difference. In the opportunity of seizing the moment in the words we choose at the right time can make a powerful impact. People will walk away inspired and challenged,” said Jeffrey L. Sparks, president and CEO of Heartland Truly Moving Pictures.
“I can’t wave a wand over the heads of Euro-Americans in this country and erase various degrees of prejudice that we have. I can tell a story,” added Boggs. “I hope people will walk away saying I can do better.”
