Sacrifice

This is Reverend Samuel "Billy" Kyles. He was very influential in the American Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. He was a very close friend of Martin Luther King Jr. He spent the very last hour of MLK's life with him in a motel room in Memphis, TN.

Reverend Kyles was standing next to MLK when he was shot on the balcony of the motel. He held him as he died.

I, along with my fellow TLIP interns, were blessed to have him come speak to us this evening. In fact, his daughter, Epernay, is an intern with me.

We watched a wonderful biographical video about Reverend Kyles, and it showed how he and Dr. King had struggled and fought injustice and inequality. I cried the entire time. It was such a moving experience.

It is one thing to read about an epoch in a history book, but it is entirely another to meet one of the people who helped write the history and shape the events. Reverend Kyles was only 33-years-old in 1968, when MLK was shot.

The last four months have been some of the most fulfilling of my life. I am truly fortunate.