On April 3rd, 1968, the charismatic leader of a mass political movement in the United States spoke in Memphis about freedom and justice. He reflected on the violence contorting his country as he told how he had almost died in a stabbing at a book signing, then how the aircraft that flew him home that morning needed to be searched for bombs since he was a passenger. “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life,” he said, before concluding with a rousing promise that the American people would attain their promised land. “So I’m happy tonight.”

Those were the final words spoken in public by Martin Luther King Jr. The following evening, this noble advocate of non-violent protest was hit in the neck by a single bullet from an assassin’s rifle as he stood on a motel balcony, pronounced dea

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