A Message from Charlie
The Messenger Was Silenced, But Not the Message
By Charlie Crist
Governor, State of Florida
American history contains many chapters written by visionary leaders furthering the cause of freedom and liberty. Our nation is full of heroes, from colonial days to the 21st century, who projected that vision of freedom through a lifetime of service to their fellow Americans.
There are also examples of others, including Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, who embodied the greatness of America, but did not live to see their goals achieved. On April 14, 1865 an assassin took the life of President Lincoln, while on November 22, 1963 President Kennedy was murdered before his 47th birthday.
Those two dates are among the most tragic days in our history. So, too, is April 4, 1968. On that evening, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee. Now, 40 years after that tragedy in Memphis, the memories of Dr. King continue to live on.
Either we remember, or students read of, the August afternoon in 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. What Dr. King gave us that day is known as the “I Have a Dream” speech. Among those memorable lines is one often quoted today:
“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Yet, in the very first line of that speech, it was obvious that he knew something special was happening in the United States. As more than 250,000 jammed the Mall as part of the March on Washington, he said:
“I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.”
History has proven him right. One hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation, real progress in civil rights was not far away. The cause for freedom for all Americans was moving forward.
We must remember that in 1963, motels were still refusing to accept black customers. “Whites” and “Colored” drinking fountains were still part of everyday life in some communities. The Jim Crow laws were wrongly creative in their mission to deny voting rights.
Dr. King stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968 just one day after delivering what would be his final speech to another Memphis audience. He said that “..I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.”
The dream of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. became his vision for freedom. He did not get there with his people, but his advocacy for freedom and peace awakened the conscience of an entire nation.
His work was a major factor that led to the passage of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. States, including Florida, also began to increase the pace toward equal rights.
The Nobel Peace Prize, awarded in 1964, was recognition from the world that the time for Civil Rights was at hand.
An assassin’s bullet silenced the messenger standing on that motel balcony, but not the message. On the very spot in Memphis where a part of history died, history now lives in the form of the National Civil Rights Museum. As long as we talk about him and what he stood for, April 4 will be a day to remember not only a life cut short, but also a life whose purpose will span generations to come.
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