John Lewis: "I felt like I lost a friend, colleague and big brother."

By Jim Auchmutey, Ernie Suggs, Ryon Horne, Pouya Dianat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The former chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was in Indianapolis campaigning with Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy.

"When I heard that he had been shot, I continued to help organize a rally for Robert Kennedy. I thought maybe, just maybe, Dr. King would be all right. Later, Robert Kennedy came forth to speak and he said, 'I have some bad news tonight: Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.' It was a sad and dark moment for me. Like so many in the audience, I started to cry. I felt like I lost a friend, colleague and big brother. The night before the funeral, it was my responsibility to escort Robert Kennedy through the educational building downstairs to the sanctuary of Ebenezer Baptist Church to view the body. We walked closer and closer to the open casket and we saw Dr. King. It was very sad, but at the same time a moment that I will never forget. I had seen Dr. King so many times before as a very vibrant and exciting human being speaking in a pulpit, leading a march or speaking at a big rally. To see him there, I knew then that it was an end of a chapter in American history." - John Lewis

Interviews by Jim Auchmutey, Ernie Suggs, Ryon Horne, Pouya Dianat

MORE ONLINE: ajc.com's special video presentation and more on the life of MLK. ajc.com/metro/MLK [1]