September 20

September 20, 1958 – Rev. Martin Luther King. Jr. Stabbed

Almost five years before the “March on Washington” and perhaps the greatest speech ever delivered in America “I Have A Dream”, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was stabbed by a mentally unstable woman on September 20, 1958 at a book signing in a Harlem bookstore.  If 42 year old Izola Curry had been successful, the entire events of civil rights in America may have been effected by her moment of frenzied derangement.  Rev. King was taken to a Harlem Hospital after the attack and recovered after a successful operation.

Rev. King was one of America’s greatest leaders who served as a minister, pastor and civil rights leader.   The life and death of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a motivator for positive change with African Americans.  His principle of non-violent protest was a stimulus for promoting the need for proper civil rights of African Americans.  America was ill-equipped to stop the changes that Rev. King was creating throughout the country.  Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee on Thursday, April 4, 1968.  He was shot at the Lorraine Motel and declared dead at 7:05 pm that night.  A bullet stopped his life on April 4, but not his dream.  The life of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. illustrates without question that one person can make a difference in the world.

Below “Before Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have A Dream Speech” at the 1963 March on Washington,  in 1962 a similar “I Have A Dream” speech was given in Rocky Mount, NC. The speech was publicly released during the summer of 2015.