Among the most shocking events of 1968 was the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King in Memphis, 50 years ago this coming Wednesday. Dr. King's legacy has a very personal meaning, notes Marc Morial, former mayor of New Orleans and president and CEO of the National Urban League:"I have a dream that my four little 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."
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Martin Luther King III.
CBS NEWS
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Martin Luther King Jr., (foreground) and
Sybil Haydel Morial (standing behind him) at a master's graduation party at Boston University, 1953. SYBIL HAYDEL MORIAL |
This is the Martin Luther King most of us know, but I'm here to tell you about a different Martin King … who in the early 1950s, at Boston University, befriended my "Martin was very popular," said Sybil Haydel Morial. "He had a wonderful, warm, outgoing personality. But he had something that not many people had during that time -- he had a car. So, whenever he asked for a date, everyone said yes!" she laughed.
"He didn't ask you out, did he?" Marc asked.
"He didn't ask me out," Sybil laughed. "No, no. He was Martin to me. He was Martin until he died."
After graduate school, Mom moved back home to New Orleans where she and my father, Dutch Morial, were both active in the civil rights movement. Dad would get elected to the Louisiana State House, and eventually become the first black mayor of New Orleans.mother: more
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