An Army of Normal Folks - The Lorraine Motel

Episode Date: February 21, 2025

For "Shop Talk", Coach Bill shares the story of the motel where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr was shot and killed. And Jackie Smith's 34 year protest of it being converted into the National Civil Rights Museum. Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, welcome to Shop Talk number 42. Welcome in Alex, how you doing? Good. Good, everything going okay this week? I noticed you got that thing off your finger. It was terrible. So I had this like gigantic pin in my finger for the last six weeks. Did they pull it out?

Yeah, so what they did is they actually, the shot part was worse, they numbed it. It felt like they stuck a shot like all the way through my finger. It was like terrible 10 seconds, but then actually when they pulled the pin out, I couldn't even feel it. But it still looks kind of ugly as you can see, so when I go out on dates,

I gotta put band-aids on that thing. Bless your precious heart. I have a question. How'd you break it? Killing a palmetto bug in Florida. I don't know if we've said this on the show before, but the ortho people in Oxford said they've never seen anybody do that. That is that. I'm one of one, baby. I should laugh. I mean, I hate you broke your finger, but oh my gosh, that's terrible. I've had worse procedures.

but oh my gosh, that's terrible. I've had worse procedures that we all come to. Shop talk number, what are we, 42? 42. 42. Jackie Robinson, baby. Jackie Robinson, that's ironic. We're gonna talk about the Lorraine Motel. The Lorraine Motel, for you guys who don't know, is on Woolberry Street in Memphis,

and it is the site of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination. A dark day in world history, American history, and poignantly Memphis history. And while I think most people have at least a cursory understanding all the way to a very deep understanding of the story. There's a side story I learned in college that still goes on today that I want to share with you. As we discuss perseverance, spurred on by the inspiration of the great Dr. Martin Luther

King and the shadows of the Lorraine Motel. Right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. I'm Mark Seale. And I'm Nathan King. This is Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli. The five families did not want us to shoot that picture. Leave the Gun, Take the Canoli. The five families did not want us to shoot that picture. Leave the Gun, Take the Canoli is based on my co-host Mark's best-selling book of the same title.

And on this show, we call upon his years of research to help unpack the story behind the godfather's birth from start to finish. This is really the first interview I've done in bed. Ha ha ha ha! We sift through innumerable accounts. I see 35 pages in the real world. many of them conflicting,

That's nonsense. There were 60 pages. and try to get to the truth of what really happened. And they said, we're finished, this is over. The movie's not gonna work. You gotta get rid of those guys. This is a disaster. Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli features new and archival interviews,

with Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Evans, James Kahn, Talia Shire, and many others. Yes, that was a real horse's head. Listen and subscribe to Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the podcast, The Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told. Join me every week as I tell some of the most enthralling true crime stories about women who are not just victims, but heroes or villains,

or often, somewhere in between. Listen to The Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. How serious is youth vaping? Irreversible lung damage serious, 1 in 10 kids vape serious, which warrants a serious conversation from a serious parental figure like yourself. Not the seriously know-it-all sports dad, or the seriously smart podcaster, it requires a serious conversation that is best had by you. No, seriously. The best person to talk to your child about vaping is you. To start the conversation, visit TalkAboutVaping.org, brought to you

by the American Lung Association and the Ad Council. Why would you do that to me when I thought we were friends? We are friends. Los Angeles, 2021. A friendly neighbor appears out of nowhere and promises to make all my dreams come true. Let's not forget that David Blum was a professional con artist, so you didn't stand a chance.

But my dreams soon turned into a nightmare. Blum generally targeted people with money. And I was not alone. He took over 100 people for over $15 million. One of the victims was his own grandmother. I was married to David for almost 10 years. It was insane. I was barely functioning.

And I just had this realization that he will not stop until he kills me. Getting a con artist to pay for their crimes isn't easy. Charge David Blum! I'm Caroline DeMore. Listen as I take down my scammer on Once Upon a Con on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everybody, Bill Courtney, Shop Talk number 42. So the Rain Motel is where Dr. Martin Luther King was killed. I mean, there's 19 different stories we could go into here, but it's really for Shop Talk.

Today is about perseverance. And the reason I want to talk about perseverance is I know when you get involved in different things in society there's typically a lot of energy and excitement when you start. Same with starting a business. Same with having a child. You know everybody's all excited and everything until they become 12 and start talking back to you. The, the start of a business, the excitement and the risk and everything else. And then once you get over the hump and your business starts going, it becomes kind of a daily grind. Sometimes, um,

relationships can be like that. So the things that end up lasting forever and having legacy are the ones that persevere. And so I think perseverance is a key part to the army of normal folks because who cares if we go across the street one or two times or for three or four months to do something different. What really changes lives is we may consistently persevere through the hard times and the difficult times and we do what we got to do consistently over year after year after year.

We got to persevere. So when I was a, I think a sophomore at Ole Miss, I was actually had a daily column, a weekly column I wrote for the Daily Mississippian newspaper at Ole Miss. And back then there wasn't a lot of cable. There was probably ESPN and a few channels, but we still watched a lot of local TV. And the Ray Motel had been privately owned and in an area of Memphis that had not been yet redeveloped south of downtown. And at that time it was a really rough area.

This is back, I think, 88, 89. It was a rough area. And the rain motel was dilapidated, falling apart, but it's still operating motel back in those days. The balcony that King was shot on had a wreath on it and they've obviously kind of had it cordoned off and they took the occasional visitor to that site, which many would agree is hollowed ground, but they were still trying to operate this hotel and this lady named Jackie Smith was running it and while she did what she could to To sell rooms and get rate

She also used the place to take care of homeless mothers To take care of people from the neighborhood who had nowhere to go She very quietly was take care of people from the neighborhood who had nowhere to go. She very quietly was really using the Ray Motel to help a lot of people who were in poverty and suffering. So one day, some people got together and said, you know what? We need to buy the Ray Motel and make the National Civil Rights Museum out of it, and do it right, and bring people in to see it to celebrate the legacy of Dr. King,

which of course is a noble experiment and idea. And that's what happened. And quickly the city and county bought the Ray Motel, raised millions of dollars to create what is now the National Civil Rights Museum here in Memphis, Tennessee and it is the National Civil Rights Museum for our country and it is that that museum is done beautifully and very well and if you ever come to Memphis I highly suggest you viewing it. But Jackie was operating the hotel back then. And when she found out the city and government were going to take the hotel,

she didn't think that was right, didn't want that to happen. And she locked herself in a room and would not come out. She had a hot plate and a case of beans. And for 30 days, And for 30 days, she locked herself on the room and wouldn't leave. And I remember when the sheriff's finally broke down the door and dragged her out. I remember watching on the news, a bunch of sheriffs carrying this black woman out of the Ray Motel, literally by her hands and feet and she is screaming at the top of her lungs and across the street from a hotel they stacked all her belongings put a tarp over it and there she stood on the side of the street looking at the motel across street that she once spent her life running. And honestly, if I'm really candid, the whole

picture was prepared was portrayed of yet another angry black woman, frankly. And I found it interesting. I didn't understand why a black woman would be protesting an amazing beautiful museum in honor of the greatest name in the civil rights movement in history. Why wouldn't she be celebrating that? Why is she so angry? They didn't add up. So I got my car, drove up to Memphis and went looking for her. And it wasn't hard to find her because she was still sitting there three days later next to all her belongings under a tarp and a chair. So I walked up and I said, Hey, I'm Bill. She introduced herself as Jackie, Jacqueline Smith and I asked her the very question I asked you and she said this

monuments and museums do not perpetuate the memory of dr. King if we're going to spend all these millions of dollars for a museum and a monument why wouldn't we spend it to take care of the people in this very neighborhood who are suffering? She said, I don't think a monument and a museum perpetuate his memory. I don't think this is what he would want us to spend these millions of dollars on. And so I'm protesting it. Well, that was interesting. And you could argue whether or not she was right.

And you could argue whether or not maybe it could have a dual purpose, which it never did. I will tell you, the National Civil Rights Museum is still standing well. It's one of the most visited museums in the United States. It is a phenomenally well put together museum. It tells a accurate, great story of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement. And it being built and the money put into it kind of revitalized that entire area, which is now a really neat area up and down Main Street with

nice hotels and cool shops and a lot going on. So by all practical measurements it could be argued that it was a great development, a great idea, and worked. But But in 2024, Jackie Smith is still on the corner with her belongings under a tarp across the street from a motel. 35 years later, she still stands in opposition. She has persevered beatings. She has persevered weather. She has persevered beatings, she has persevered weather, she has persevered sickness, she's persevered hunger, and to this day that woman is still on the curb on Mulberry Street talking to anybody who will pass by trying to say,

talking to anybody who will pass by trying to say Can we please remember that dr. King's memory is not about monuments? It's not about Museums rather it's about action now I say this all because You can argue with whether or not Jackie Smith's protest is valid or not, but you cannot argue with her perseverance. What has it led to? She has been visited by Coretta Scott King.

She has been visited by Bono of YouTube. She has been visited by Coretta Scott King. She has been visited by Bono of U2. She has been visited by heads of state. She has been visited by the Gandhi family. She has been visited by dignitaries from all over the world who have come to her little table on the Corneum Mulberry Street across from this massive civil rights museum to tell her that they hear her. She has suede opinion, she has inspired minds, and

this is a woman who was sitting in the Rain motel, barely making ends meet, eating beans, who was so convicted that she has persevered for 34 years for a simple message, which is, monuments and museums do not properly perpetuate the memories of people like Dr. King. Action does. And she has spent her life persevering in the very pursuit of that action. Now if she can do that, how hard is it for us to use our discipline or our passion in areas of need and invest a couple hours a week to help somebody? What do you think, Alex? So a mutual friend of ours on Martin Luther King Day this year posted this that I always thought Martin Luther King Day was just a day off in a way to

honor his legacy in him, but he actually, here let me pull this up, he said, did you know Martin Luther King Jr. Day isn't intended to be a day off, it's a day on a call to action honor Dr. King's legacy through service. And I looked it up and it actually says it here too, you know, in terms of the federal holiday is designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to honor his life and legacy. I wish I would have you heard that before. I've never known that. Isn't that wild?

I never known that. I wish I wish you heard that before. I've never known that isn't that wild. I never known that I wish I Wish that we would I'm thinking as an army next year. We should do a joint Yeah, we should do something. Yeah, that makes sense. I mean that's in keeping with exactly what we're talking about Have you met Jackie? No I'll take you down there meter. I. I mean, she's getting old. Oh, the final thought, like going down there, and all of them bring our guests by there too while they're in town.

But it's a feeling like at the 9-11 Memorial. I mean, you feel just like this eerie sense within you and the solemn sense. And it doesn't seem to make sense because it's another piece of pavement and another building. But you truly do feel something different in your soul. When you roll up, you almost have this odd sense of reverence that takes over you because you know greatness was ended on that porch that day. The other thing is when you go and you see this lady sitting there at a table across the street and you don't really know I can't tell you how many people I've been I've watched walk across and say I and Jackie smiles real big and she starts handing him a paper and they're sitting there nodding and

that I think is pretty special. And for any of you that are listening to me, if you're in Memphis, do you ever go to this thing, find that little table across the street from the Ray Motel and walk up to that lady sitting there and ask her if she's Jackie Smith and listen to her story. It's pretty amazing. Pretty amazing, okay. Shop Talk number 42. If you like this episode, rate it, review

it, share it friends on social. Subscribe to the podcast. Join the army at normal folks at us become a premium member there. Am I hosting the show for now? I'm like, are you like sucking off with your plug slightly? Forget some of it. Oh, and if you have any ideas, write me anytime at bill at normal folks dot us. There you go. Good job, boy. All right. We're leaving the shop.

Thanks, everybody. Thanks to our producer, R. Mike Labs. We'll see you next week. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the podcast, The Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told. This season explores women from the 19th century to now, women who were murderers and scammers, but also women who were photo

journalists, lawyers, writers, and more. This podcast tells more than just the brutal gory details of horrific acts. I delve into the good, the bad, the difficult, and all the nuance I can find. Because these are the stories that we need to know to understand the intersection of society, justice, and the fascinating workings of the human psyche. Join me every week as I tell some of the most enthralling true crime stories about women who are not just victims, but heroes or villains or often somewhere in between. Listen to the greatest true crime stories ever told

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Mark Seale. And I'm Nathan King. This is Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli. The five families did not want us to shoot that picture. This podcast is based on my cohost Mark Seale's bestselling book of the same title.

Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli features new and archival interviews with Francis Ford Cobola, Robert Evans, James Kahn, Talia Shire, and many others. Yes, that was a real horse's head. Listen and subscribe to Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Alec Baldwin. This past season on my podcast, Here's the Thing, or wherever you get your podcasts. more than anything. You're left alone, you know, you do three hours in the morning, you write, three hours in the afternoon, go pick up a kid from school and write at night and after nine hours, you come out with seven pages and then you're moving on.

Listen to Here's the Thing on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. How serious is youth vaping? Irreversible lung damage serious, one in 10 kids vape serious, which warrants a serious conversation from a serious parental figure like yourself. Not the seriously know-it-all sports dad, or the seriously smart podcaster. It requires a serious conversation that is best had by you. No, seriously, the best person to talk to your child about vaping is you.

To start the conversation, visit TalkAboutVaping.org, brought to you by the American Lung Association and the Ad Council.