1. 8 March 3 - 9, 2008
NEWS
Remembering our
King in Memphis
City where Dr Martin Luther King was
assassinated is alive with southern spirit
By Davina Morris – queued outside the venue wait- band got the crowd in celebratory
yourviews@gvmedia.co.uk ing to experience the powerful spirit, with renditions of reggae
and moving gallery. classics, including Bob Marley’s
Exhibits included details of Waiting in Vain. I’d never associ-
BIRTHPLACE OF the early slave revolts, bus boycotts ated Martin Luther King with reg-
blues and home of and protest marches. The museum gae, but the musical vibes went
the late ‘King of also featured a hotel room, re- down a treat for the occasion.
Rock and Roll’, Elvis created to look like room 306 of It was particularly inspiring to PROUD: A young boy
Presley, Memphis the Lorraine Motel. Dr. King see so many parents in atten- is inspired by history
boasts a rich musi- shared this room with his friend dance with their children, making
cal history. But, for and colleague, Reverand Ralph an effort to educate them about
those who call the Abernathy, before he was assassi- their history. One young boy was
American southern nated on the balcony, right wearing a sign that said: ‘I want
city home, it also outside on April 4. to be a man’. This was clearly
holds historical After King’s death, Abernathy inspired by the placards held by
significance as the said that on trips to Memphis, he many civil rights fighters, which
place where, in and King stayed in that room so displayed the famous slogan, ‘I
1968 civil rights often it was dubbed the ‘King- am a man’.
leader, Dr Martin Abernathy suite’. Political campaigners also
Luther King Jr. was Outside the museum, a lively made use of the occasion, with
assassinated.
Forty years on,
Memphians recog-
nised Martin Luther
King Day (a US
national holiday since
1983) with a celebra-
tion of his life – at the
spot that marks his
death. The Lorraine
Motel, where King was
shot as he stood on the
hotel balcony, is now the
site of the National Civil
Rights Museum, which
opened in 1991.
Despite the freezing tempera- POWERFUL: Many
tures, hundreds of Americans – are moved by the SLAIN: Dr King was assassinated on
mostly, but not exclusively, black museum’s exhibits the balcony of the Lorraine Motel
DO YOU WANT TO LEARN AN AFRICAN LANGUAGE?
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T H E C A R I B B E A N A N D A F R I C A N R E U N I O N P R O J E C T H A S E S TA B L I S H E D T H E F I R S T A F R I C A N L A N G U A G E S C H O O L I N E A S T LO N D O N
LANGUAGES TAUGHT : ADULT CLASSES : CHILDRENS CLASSES:
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• IBO & YORUBA (NIGERIAN) TUE 7PM - 9PM ROOM 2 TWI SAT 10AM - 12NOON ROOM 2 TWI
• SWAHCLI (EAST AFRICAN)
• AMHARIC (ETHIOPIAN) WED 7PM - 9PM ROOM 1 YORUBA SAT 12.30PM - 2.30PM ROOM 1 YORUBA
• WOLOF (WEST AFRICAN) WED 7PM - 9PM ROOM 2 IBO SAT 12.30PM - 2.30PM ROOM 2 IBO
OTHER AFRICAN LANGUAGES WILL BE
FRI 7PM - 9PM ROOM 1 SWAHILLI SAT 2.45PM - 4.45PM ROOM 1 SWAHILLI
ADDED IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
FRI 7PM - 9PM ROOM2 AMHARIC SAT 2.45PM - 4.45PM ROOM 2 AMHARICIC
LESSONS WILL ALSO BE HELD ON-LINE
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