It was 6:01 p.m., April 4, 1968.
It happened outside room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.
It's a moment the Rev. Samuel "Billy" Kyles is still struggling to comprehend.
One minute he was standing on the balcony, near the railing, talking to Martin Luther King. Jr. The next, he was kneeling over King's body.
Kyles said he was the only person actually on the balcony with King at the moment the assassin's bullet hit the civil rights leader.
It's been more than 40 years and Kyles still gets emotional talking about King's death.
Today, he is 74, a husband, father and, for the last 50 years, the pastor of Monumental Baptist Church in Memphis.
He's also the title character in "The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306," an Academy Award-nominated documentary that's currently airing on HBO.
In the documentary, Kyles goes back to the Lorraine Motel and walks the audience through the last hour of King's life on that fateful day. It's interwoven with interviews with civil rights pioneers (Benjamin Hooks), archival footage, and Kyles' own first-hand account.
The L.A. Watts Times recently spoke to Kyles while he was in Los Angeles talking about the film. Kyles discussed the making of the documentary and how he's doing emotionally 40 years after the death of his friend.
LAWT: It's been 40 years since King's assassination. Why did you decide to do a documentary now?
SBK: My memory is getting to the stage where I need to do it now. Seeing the reaction people have of me telling the story of the last hour of his life is astonishing. The producers had been on me for seven years — telling me to write a book or go on film. I've been telling the story for years — just to small groups. I told them I'd do it, but I don't want any "take one, take two or take three." I don't want it to run like a made up movie. It was a labor of love.
LAWT: What new information can you offer up that no one else can?
SBK: I'm not sure there is anything different. Maybe, it's the fact that I don't have a second agenda.
LAWT: What is the one thing you want everyone to know about that day?
SBK: In spite of everything, Martin was willing. He didn't know the exact time, but he knew his time was short. I want young people to know they can dream. Don't give up on your dream. He couldn't even take his kids downtown to have a hotdog at a counter. But he never gave up on his dream.
LAWT: Has the dream changed?
SBK: It changes, but basically it's the same — if they're fighting for justice and what is right. I took Nelson Mandela to the room (306). Mandela was emotional. He openly wept. Mr. Gorbachev also went. I don't think there will be a time that we'll say, "Dr. King's dream has been realized, so now we can go to the beach." It won't happen. For many people their dreams have been realized. But, there is always someone else's dream out there. Dreams change — but they change and become challenges to another generation.
LAWT: How did the assassination change you?
SBK: In more ways than I can say. Martin was such a giving person. He really cared about the poor. He was working on the Poor People's campaign when he was killed. He had a strong premonition of his death. That last speech he made he preached himself through the fear of death. I picked up on that. At my age, I'm blessed and fortunate because usually pioneers are not around to walk the trails they helped to blaze. I'm blessed.
LAWT: Were you disillusioned after his death?
SBK: I wasn't disillusioned. It changed me — in that you don't give up no matter the odds. As a people and as a race we have done some miraculous things. Our ancestors have not been out of slavery 150 years yet. You go from being illegal to knowing how to read. We've had two African American secretaries of state and a national holiday recognizing Dr. King. That's some progress. We think it's slow, but it really isn't.
LAWT: Describe that last day.
SBK: It was much easier than it had been the previous days. When the march he had previously led in Memphis ended in violence, he was so hurt and depressed. He said we had to have a peaceful march or we couldn't go to Washington. He had to get them recommitted to nonviolence. That night of April 3, he almost didn't make the last speech. We almost lost it because he didn't think there would be many people at the church. There was thundering and lightning. He told us to go and he'd work on the campaign.
The church was nearly full. (Ralph) Abernathy called Martin. If he hadn't, we would not have had the "Mountaintop" speech. On April 4, we were busy around the motel meeting with groups and working on the Poor People's campaign. We just talked that day. Lighthearted talk. I picked out his tie. We were telling jokes. I want people to know he wasn't a saint. He didn't drop out the sky. He was a man. If you make a saint out of him, it excuses us. At a quarter to six, we stepped out on the balcony. He waved at Jesse (Jackson), who was below. Abernathy was still shaving. I stood just a couple of feet from Martin. I had the wonderful privilege of spending the last hour of his life with him.
LAWT: King was coming to your house for dinner that night. You were there to pick him up. What was on the menu?
SBK: Martin wanted soul food. He didn't want filet mignon. We had collard greens, corn bread, ham, fried chicken. The members of the church fixed it.
LAWT: If he had so many threats, why was he out in the open on a balcony for so long?
SBK: It really wasn't that long. He was being stalked. He had given in to that. He wasn't going to not go somewhere. He wasn't flirting with death. He said he had a job to do and he was going to do it. He was nervous about the threats — more so for the family than himself. He accepted what was laid before him.
LAWT: What was the hardest part in reliving the moment?
SBK: Seeing him lying there in that blood and I couldn't do anything but call the police. Seeing his life going. There was so much blood. Over the years I started talking about it more. He preached himself through the fear of death.
LAWT: Were you traumatized? Did you get counseling?
SBK: No, I didn't. But, I was traumatized. My religious faith kept me from being a drug addict or alcoholic. I prayed a lot. Some people did turn to drugs and alcohol. Not many, but some did. One kid spied on us, but he was ashamed. He turned to drugs and alcohol. I think he's OK now, though.
LAWT: And how did you hear King had died?
SBK: They never said he died. They said: "We lost him. We lost him."
LAWT: What did people say when they threatened King?
SBK: They said, "We will shoot this dreamer and then what will happen to his dream?" I say, "Yes, you can kill the dreamer. No, you absolutely can not kill the dream."
LAWT: Who do you see on the horizon as a possible leader for the movement?
SBK: I don't think we'll have that kind of leader anymore. One bullet traumatized us for years. God has always sent a leader when we needed him. I don't think there will be only one because that bullet is too powerful. It's going to be spread around and not be just one leader.
LAWT: What were your thoughts on the day Barack Obama was sworn in?
SBK: I was walking on clouds. I never thought I'd see it in my day. I knew we'd have one, but didn't expect it to happen as quickly as it did. I was thrilled.
LAWT: Do you still have difficulty describing your feelings about what happened to King?
SBK: I have no words to express what I felt. Forty years later, I still have no words for what I felt. I wondered why I was there. I now know I was there to be a witness.
Darlene Donloe is a writer for the L.A. Watts Times.
Photo By Margaret Hyde Photography LLC (c) 2009
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