MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Dalai Lama said his visit Wednesday to the motel where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated was sad but inspirational.
The Tibetan spiritual leader was in Memphis to receive the International Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum, which incorporates the site of the Lorraine Motel.
The Dalai Lama draped a white shawl over a wreath that hangs over the balcony where King was shot in 1968.
He toured the museum with the Rev. Samuel Kyles, who was with King when he was shot. Kyles told the Dalai Lama that in 40 years, he’s never found the words to express his feelings about the day King was killed.
“Yes, you can kill the dreamer. No, you can’t kill the dream,” Kyles said.
Kyles said the civil-rights movement was like the Tibetans’ struggle with China for more autonomy.The Dalai Lama said he often invoked King’s name as an example of a freedom fighter who was a true practitioner of nonviolence.
