The Washington Post
After King’s assassination, RFK calmed an angry crowd with an unforgettable speech
As darkness took hold on April 4, 1968, newly declared presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy stepped in front of a microphone atop a flatbed truck in a poor, predominantly black neighborhood in Indianapolis.
Looking out onto the crowd, Kennedy turned and quietly asked a city official, “Do they know about Martin Luther King?”
The civil rights leader had been shot a few hours earlier, though the news that he was dead hadn’t reached everyone yet.
Robert F. Kennedy gave what turned out to be an iconic speech following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968.
Listen: The day Martin Luther King Jr. died (Washington Post Audio)
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MLK’s final speech — delivered 50 years ago — was full of timely and timeless teachings.
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