POP Chairman to Visit MLK Shooting Site on Anniversary

Lawrence Hamm will commemorate civil rights leader's legacy at National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.

Apr. 4, 2026 at 3:41pm

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Lawrence Hamm, chairman of the People's Organization for Progress (POP), will travel to Memphis, Tennessee to participate in a commemoration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the National Civil Rights Museum on the 58th anniversary of his assassination. The museum is located at the former Lorraine Motel where King was shot and killed on April 4, 1968.

Why it matters

Hamm's visit is intended to demonstrate POP's ongoing commitment to the goals and ideals that King fought for, including racial equality, economic justice, civil rights, voting rights, human rights, and peace - all of which Hamm says are currently under attack from the Trump administration and conservative political forces.

The details

Hamm will be in Memphis to participate in the commemoration at the National Civil Rights Museum, which is located at the former Lorraine Motel where King was assassinated. King was shot and killed on April 4, 1968 while standing on the balcony outside his room at the motel. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital later that evening.

  • Hamm will travel to Memphis on April 4, 2026.
  • April 4, 2026 marks the 58th anniversary of King's assassination.

The players

Lawrence Hamm

Chairman of the People's Organization for Progress (POP), an organization that has commemorated King's birthday and the anniversary of his assassination since it was founded in 1982.

Martin Luther King Jr.

The renowned civil rights leader who was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968.

National Civil Rights Museum

A museum located at the former Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where King was assassinated.

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What they’re saying

“The People's Organization For Progress is sending me to the King commemoration taking place at the site of his assassination to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the goals and ideals for which he stood.”

— Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People's Organization For Progress

“This visit is especially important at this time since everything that Dr King fought for including racial equality, economic justice, civil rights, voting rights, human rights, and peace are under attack from President Trump, the MAGA Republican Congress, and the ultra right wing super majority on the Supreme Court.”

— Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People's Organization For Progress

“We believe that King was assassinated because he was trying to build a movement to end poverty, racial and economic inequality, and the war in Vietnam. He was expanding the scope of his movement from civil rights to human rights. And he became increasingly critical of the capitalist economic system.”

— Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People's Organization For Progress

What’s next

Hamm's visit to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis on the anniversary of King's assassination is intended to be a symbolic act of commemoration and a demonstration of POP's ongoing commitment to continuing King's legacy of fighting for racial equality, economic justice, and human rights.

The takeaway

Hamm's visit to the site of King's assassination highlights the enduring importance of the civil rights leader's work and the continued need to defend the progress he fought for, which Hamm believes is currently under threat from conservative political forces in the United States.