Jacqueline Smith has spent 37 years protesting outside the motel where MLK was fatally shot in 1968. After being forcibly removed from the premises when it closed, she has devoted her life to protecting his legacy.
As the motel door of room 303 was prised open by 4 officers burst into Jacqueline Smith's home of 11 years, picked her up & carried her along the balcony, down the steps and on to the street below. She was the last resident of the Lorraine Motel. Her eviction was captured on page 16 of the New York Times that day in March 1988, under the headline "Eviction empties motel where Dr King died".
"You people are making a mistake," Smith said, while sobbing.
"If I can't live at The Lorraine, I'll camp out on the sidewalk out front."
Today Jacqueline Smith was dressed in a black hat, scarf & dark clothes, she sits at a table, surveying the scene from behind her sunglasses. Pointedly, she has her back to the Memphis memorial to Martin Luther King. For me, she was a reminder of the people still left behind. She's a sad statement about the way we care for the most vulnerable across the street from a multimillion dollar Museum. read more