Our tour bus parked on a side street. We got off the bus and headed up the hill, The Lorraine Motel sign as our beacon.
I got to the top of the slope and looked to my right. The sudden view of the hotel balcony was like a gentle gut punch. In my mind’s eye I could see the iconic image of Reverend Martin Luther King lying dead on the balcony, one man kneeling at his side and others pointing across the street.
I began to sob. I don’t like people seeing me cry and moved away a bit from our group and guide, my husband comforting me. I put my camera between me and the scene before me. I recorded the building and the bricks below my feet.
The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered April 4th, 1968.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was murdered two months later on June 6th, 1968.
Elvis Presley was preparing to film his Comeback Special for NBC in June of 1968. Since it would air in December of that year there was some suggestion of the special being a Christmas special and that the final song would be a Christmas song. Elvis was upset enough about the murders of MLK and RFK that he asked one of his writers, Walter Earl Brown to write a song. He patterned it on MLK’s I Have A Dream speech and it was titled If I Can Dream. It was the last song in the Comeback Special. Over 40 million people watched the special.
Link to You Tube video of Elvis singing “If I Can Dream”:
(If link does not work, the video can be found by searching for Elvis If I Can Dream)
Link to article about Elvis supposed Racism:
https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/question/2006/march.htm
Other Sources: Wikipedia.org, Graceland.com, youtube.com
Photos by B. McCreary
Natural Musings 
Hi Betty! I enjoyed these photos and your stories. I also heard about Elvis’s racism and assumed it was likely true. Now that I have subscribed to the Jim Crow Museum you tube channel, I am happy to be rid of this terrible rumor while educating myself more on our terrible white supremism -both historically and of course current legacy. Keep writing & sharing❤️
Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail for iPhone
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Susie!
I found that website by accident while searching the web and plan to check out some other stories.
LikeLike
Thanks, Betty, for taking us along on your very interesting trip to Graceland and Memphis, Tennessee. I learned a number of new things and have shared the “If I can Dream” song as a hopeful message in these dark times. Just in time to honor Martin Luther King.
LikeLike
Thank you for your thoughtful words, Sarah.
LikeLike
Thank you Betty. The photos and your comments brought Memphis and Elvis memories back to me. All those murders, geez, what times we have lived through.
LikeLike
Thank you Joan! Yes, a lot of history. Some good, some bad.
LikeLike