In April 1968, I was a white 17 year old high school student in southeast Kentucky. I was always impressed by Dr. King's message of racial harmony and peace.

The day Dr. King was shot, after school, I watched the coverage on television. If my memory serves me correctly, I remember a moving performance by Diana Ross on the Johnny Carson show that night of "Someday We'll be Together." The following day, I sat in a classroom of the all-white high school that I was enrolled in and composed the following:

A Tribute to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King

How could he do what he did that day?

Wasn't there some other way?

He shot the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King.

Throughout eternity the shot will ring.

Memphis was a place filled with strife.

Memphis was the place Dr. King gave his life.

He could have been anywhere at the time,

But he was fighting racism, a heinous crime.

Now, there is violence in the land today.

I wonder what Dr. King would say.

Should a man be judged by the color of his skin,

Or, by the beauty of life that comes from within?

Dr. King lived a life that was filled with pain.

He had so much to lose, but so much more to gain.

His dream must live on in the breast of man.

And if asked, who can make a difference?

We must answer, "I can."

A few weeks after writing this, I sent a copy of it and another on the remembrance of Dwight Eisenhower to a poetry publisher in Washington D.C. They sent back a paper for me to sign giving them permission to print the one on former President Eisenhower but not the one on Dr. King. I felt that the one on Dr. King was the one that I wanted published. So, I never respond to their request.

May the dream of equality for ALL live on in the nation that was founded on the belief that all men were created equal. May we as a nation bring forth the realization of the fulfillment of The Dream so that we can be that beacon on a hill shining forth to all other nations.

Tony Compton