Today in Black History: April 4th
1968 – Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee as he stood on the second floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel. The assassination became a catalyst for civil unrest, and many took to protests to express their grief and anger, some turning violent.
President Lyndon B. Johnson condemned the assassination of Dr. King and initiated a series of legislative acts that many believed would improve conditions for African Americans in the inner cities. The King assassination riots added to the numerous riots that occurred in Los Angeles, California, such as the Watts Riots in 1965, damaging many city’s economies. As a result, thousands of jobs were lost, crime increased, property values decreased, and most Black communities were even more isolated from the rest of their cities than before the violence. James Earl Ray, a career small-time criminal who was responsible for the death, pled guilty and received a 99-year prison sentence.
1928– Maya Angelou Was Born
Maya Angelou, original name Marguerite Annie Johnson, born on April 4, 1928, was an American poet, memoirist, and actress whose work explored themes of economic, racial, and sexual oppression. When she was almost eight, she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend and told of it; the traumatic sequence of events left her almost completely mute for several years. This gave inspiration and focus to her first autobiographical work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which gained critical acclaim and a National Book Award nomination.
Angelou returned to California in 1966 and wrote the movie drama Georgia, becoming one of the first Black women to have a screenplay produced as a feature film. She also acted in such movies as Poetic Justice (1993) and How to Make an American Quilt (1995) and appeared in several television productions, including the miniseries Roots (1977). Among numerous honors was her invitation to compose and deliver a poem, “On the Pulse of Morning,” for the inauguration of U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton in 1993. In 2011 Angelou was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom before her death in 2014.
