Great Wall Institute: The Process of the Great Wall of Los Angeles

El Altar: Assassinations of World Leaders

In the midst of positive change and hope, many of the leaders of major political movements were targeted and assassinated including John F. Kennedy (JFK), Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), Malcolm X, and Robert F. Kennedy (RFK). The Great Wall of LA mural depicts a makeshift Altar on top of an old television. Portraits of the four leaders hang on the walls while on the television RFK is depicted shaking hands while on his presidential campaign bid. The assassinations exposed the progressive threat that these leaders posed to the U.S. government. This segment serves as a commemoration to the leaders in the U.S. that put their lives at risk to advocate for change. 

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. In the months prior to his assassination, Kennedy and his team were preparing to run for re-election. Focusing on the swing states of Florida and Texas, Kennedy announced that he would plan a tour to visit various cities in both of the states. President Kennedy went to Fort Worth then to Dallas where he planned to speak at a luncheon at the Trade Mart. On the way to the Trade Mart, as the President passed the Texas School Book Depository, gunfire was heard; President Kennedy was shot in the head and neck and Governor Conally was shot in the back. The car took them to Parkland Memorial Hospital where Kennedy was pronounced dead. Conally would later recover. The assassin was arrested and identified as Lee Harvey Oswald, an employee of the Texas School Book Depository who had just recently been hired. Two days later on November 24th, as he was being transferred to the county jail Oswald was fatally shot and killed by Jack Ruby, a local nightclub owner.

Two years later on February 21,1965, Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. Malcolm was widely known as the more militant counterpart to MLK, and whose teaching became the basis for the Black Panther Party. He was also the leading spokesman for the Nation of Islam who identified as Black Nationalists. After years of being a key member of the Nation of Islam, Malcolm discovered that the movement's leader Elijah Muhammad, had gone against his own teachings of celibacy until marriage by having multiple affairs and illegitimate children. Afterwards, Malcolm was suspended from the NOI for speaking publicly about the assassination of JFK. Feeling like he led thousands of people to a fraudulent organization, Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam on March 8, 1964. Less than a year later, while Malcolm was preparing to give a speech at the Audubon Ballroom a man threw a makeshift smoke bomb into the auditorium floor distracting security. Malcolm’s assassin ran up to him and shot him in his chest. Two other men came up and shot him in the thighs and ankle. As they left the Audubon, Malcolm’s security guard shot gunman Talmadge Hayer in the thigh. Talmadge Hayer confessed to the killing and is in prison. He has claimed that the other two gunmen were innocent.

Three years later in 1968, MLK was assassinated. Dr. King had been invited by Reverend Lawson and the Community on the Move for Equality (COME) committee to speak at the Sanitation Workers Strike that had begun in February of that year. Lawson had been helping the worker’s organize nonviolent marches. On March 28th Dr. King led a nonviolent march with Reverend Lawson however as violence began to erupt, Lawson and King urged demonstrators to go back to the church. King planned to return to Memphis as he felt the nonviolent struggle for economic justice could succeed there. He arrived Wednesday April 3rd and gave a speech to the sanitation workers about his mortality and how they will get to the promised land even if he himself will not be there to see it. The following day as he prepared for dinner, Dr. King was fatally shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. The FBI later connected James Earl Ray, an escaped fugitive from Missouri prison to the assassination. Ray was arrested and sentenced to 99 years in prison’ although there was controversy about Ray’s innocence. He died in prison on April 23, 1998.

Only a few months later, during his presidential campaign, Robert F. Kennedy was fatally shot on June 5, 1968. Throughout his political career, RFK served as Attorney General to John F. Kennedy’s administration and gained public respect for his dedication to economic and racial justice. He collaborated with JFK in proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and after the death of JFK, became a U.S. Senator from New York. As a Senator, RFK pushed to address the needs of the underprivileged in the U.S., which included programs for living improvement, employment assistance, and children with disabilities. He announced his candidacy for presidential nomination on March 16 1968, giving hope to many Americans that much change was coming. After winning California’s Democratic primary, Robert F Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles and pronounced dead shortly after.



Sources:
“Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr..” The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, kinginstitute.stanford.edu/assassination-martin-luther-king-jr. Accessed 27 Oct. 2023. 

“Feb. 21, 1965: Malcolm X Assassinated during Speech in Manhattan.” Equal Justice Initative , calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/feb/21#:~:text=On%20February%2021%2C%201965%2C%20Malcolm,twins%20born%20after%20his%20death. Accessed 27 Oct. 2023. 

“JFK Assassination Records: Findings.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/part-1c.html. Accessed 25 Oct. 2023. 

“Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike.” The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, kinginstitute.stanford.edu/memphis-sanitation-workers-strike. Accessed 25 Oct. 2023. 

“November 22, 1963: Death of the President.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/november-22-1963-death-of-the-president. Accessed 25 Oct. 2023. 

“Robert F. Kennedy.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy. Accessed 25 Oct. 2023. 

Trent, Sydney. “Malcolm X: Who Was He, Why Was He Assassinated, and Who Did It?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 3 Dec. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/11/17/malcolm-x-assasination-who-why/. 

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