In Search Of Excellence - Martin Luther King III: Who Really Assassinated Martin Luther King? | E94

Starting point is 00:00:00 James Earl Ray was a patsy. There was a white Mustang that he was driving that he definitely had, but there also was an identical white Mustang that was there. You know, you don't run out of a building, shoot someone, and then drop the evidence right in front. It doesn't make sense. The other thing is, if you go to the bathroom, my father's jaw was shot off. The bullet entered under. James Earl Ray was over in a window up there. So you got a trick bullet that comes down, goes down, and then goes up. Doesn't make sense.

Starting point is 00:00:36 The shot just came from on the ground. You're listening to part two of my awesome conversation with martin luther king the third the son of martin luther king jr if you haven't yet listened to part one be sure to check that one out first now without further ado here's part two with the amazing martin luther king the third on may 25th 2020 minneapolis police officers arrested a man named George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, after a convenience store employee called 911 and told the police that Mr. Floyd had bought cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. When Mr. Floyd was arrested, an officer named Derek Chauvin, who at that point had 18 misconduct complaints against him, pushed his

Starting point is 00:01:24 knee on Mr. Floyd's neck for at least eight minutes and 15 seconds, and did not remove his knee even after Mr. Floyd lost consciousness for a full minute and 20 seconds after paramedics arrived at the scene. 17 minutes after the first squad car arrived at the scene, Mr. Floyd was unconscious and pinned beneath three police officers showing no signs of life. He was rushed to the hospital and died almost immediately after he got there. The day after Mr. Floyd's death, the Minneapolis Police Department fired all four officers involved and since then all four have gone to prison. Ten days ago, Chauvin was stabbed 22 times in federal prison where he remains

Starting point is 00:02:03 seriously injured. What was your immediate reaction when you saw that horrific video? And going along with your mom's teachings of forgiveness, do you forgive him and the three police officers for what they did? Well, I certainly believe that human behavior, from a consistency standpoint, yes. I think that he obviously, the system worked in this case. There are many cases where the system does not work and officers, some have done things. You know, first of all, by and large, I think the vast majority of officers are trying to protect and serve and do their jobs. But there's always an element in pretty much all policing communities that does not always respond in the way that they should for any number of But I do believe that, you know, it is an order to forgive.

Starting point is 00:03:07 And by the same token, you know, he's serving time. And I believe that is the correct punishment. I think that there's got to be more. Policing is one of the hardest jobs in our country particularly now I mean it's it's just it's so tough and every officer when he or she is doing their job they want to get home just like everyone else and in the heat of the moment, and someone is moving and automatically you fire, it's just tough.

Starting point is 00:03:52 I don't know how officers do it. But we're grateful that there are women and men who wanna do these jobs, but it's just a tough job. As it relates to the specific incident of George Floyd, a tectonic shift occurred for about a year in our country and the world. And it had to do with the confluence of things. First of all, the pandemic and most people were sheltering around the world. So everyone had an opportunity to see an officer become judge, jury, and

Starting point is 00:04:36 executioner right in front of our eyes. So you had in every state in the United States, there was a demonstration. You know, 90% of them were nonviolent. There was a 10% violence, which media officers and focuses on, but not the 90% that were nonviolent, which is we should have at least said that, yes, this violence is unacceptable. It happened. But what about the 90% who were nonviolent protesting sometimes? And many of those communities, they were led by mothers, white mothers. It wasn't always just black folk because some of the places, very few black people live. But you had young people leading this. You had people on the European continent leading it. You had people on the African continent,

Starting point is 00:05:25 Australia and New Zealand and South America and Canada. So just about the entire world was saying, look this is wrong, we got to do something. I think that part of it was a positive thing by and large. About a year after George Floyd, the nation moved in a direction, and then after every perception of moving forward, they always, my father used to say, is inevitable setback. Now, let me go back to 1963, because on August 28th, 1963, after the March in Washington, the euphoria afterwards, it was just people were so, just feeling so good about where we were. Three weeks after the March in Washington, the 16th Free Baptist Church was bombed in Birmingham. Four little girls

Starting point is 00:06:25 lost their lives. So, you know, after George Floyd, for a year, corporations were not just giving money, but they were providing some leadership in diversity, equity, and inclusion. But about 12, 13, 14 months months after it then all of a sudden they begin the pushback let's rewrite history or let's exclude people from history let's ban books you know i mean even books on the holocaust i mean really i mean you're you're banning books of knowledge that we need to to know And then, you know, indigenous history, certainly African-American history. And it created what I call is a setback. So after this progress seemed to be made and be moving in a direction, now we're, you know, in some states, we're going backward.

Starting point is 00:07:26 And we've got to start all over again to just figure out, okay, how do we build community out of this? How do we really build community and create options and opportunities for all people? Because it's not about one group or enough. I mean, you know, we still owe a great debt to our indigenous population who we sometimes in this country call the Native Americans, that they were here before any of us or some would say Indians. And yet we still have not provided for them what would be parity, even though it's maybe slightly better. But we as a society, we got to do better. We got to do better to transform our nation. When bad things happen, there are usually some good things that come out of them.

Starting point is 00:08:17 After Mr. Floyd's murder, protests against police brutality, especially towards Black people, quickly spread not just in the U.S., but also globally, and his dying words, I can't breathe, became a rallying slogan. One would think that after his horrific murder and the fact that most police officers wear body cams, and the fact that everybody has a camera on their phone these days, that the number of Black people killed by police would decrease. It hasn't. The number of Black people killed by police has actually increased over the last two years. According to data collected by the Washington Post, police shot and killed at least 1,055 people nationwide last year, the most since the newspaper

Starting point is 00:08:55 began tracking fatal shootings by officers in 2015. That is more than 1,021 shootings in 2020 and the 999 shootings in 2019. Black people who account for 13% of the U.S. population accounted for 27% of those fatally shot and killed by police in 2021. That means that black people are twice as likely as white people to be shot and killed by police officers. What is going on here and how can we fix this? I think that there are a variety of things that have to be instituted and implemented. Some of it has to do with training. Some of it has to do with psychological evaluations, more in-depth psychological evaluations. There are some

Starting point is 00:09:47 officers who were mistreated their whole lives, and they become police officers, and they live that, okay, you're not going to mistreat me anymore. And that's not anywhere near a significant portion, but a psychological, extensive psychological operation would probably catch that. Now, the problem is some police departments have cut budgets and they're less police officers. You need also civilian review boards who have the authority to say when some misconduct comes along, it's not the police investigating the police they need to still have internal affairs but how can you investigate yourself i mean most of us can't we can make an evaluation and make changes but most of us need help even in evaluating ourselves

Starting point is 00:10:40 so police personnel can't totally be objective and evaluate. You need an independent body. You need independent DA. I mean, the DA and the police work hand in glove, hand in hand. Ninety percent of the cases that are brought are brought by the police, so there's a cozy relationship there. So unless there's some additional level of independence, it's not clear that there's real cozy relationship there so unless there's some additional level of independence it's not clear that there's real objectivity and that all of those things help and then i think

Starting point is 00:11:12 that you know you have to do internal changes you have to constantly do training but you have to you i mean you can't be in vietnam every day and then all of a sudden you've got to be in a civil environment. If you're in Vietnam and you're that heightened every day, some of our streets in America, you've got to maybe you're there for six months. Then you're pulled and put into another less destructive kind of environment. And then you maybe come back to that. So I think there's a variety of environment. And then you maybe come back to that. So I think there's a variety of solutions. And I also think that we have to keep providing sensitivity, human relations, and diversity training so that you understand cultures. We've got to do more community policing. I mean,

Starting point is 00:12:03 you know, when I was growing up, there were policemen who would be in communities and they knew all the kids and kids knew them. And so that relationship may change the behavior. But at the same time of that kid, at the same time, we got to figure out how do we create opportunities in these neighborhoods that are underserved where there's nothing so all you you end up doing bad things just to survive but when we when there's opportunities and options that sort of like crime goes down and we got a serious problem in every one of our cities here in Los Angeles, in Atlanta, in San Francisco. I mean, the list goes on. There's not a community that is not having more problems than they've had in a long time. And we as a society are not focused on how do we address

Starting point is 00:12:57 this. You know, crime in Atlanta is going down a little bit. It is leadership, but it is the community coming together. The mayor can't do it alone. The police certainly can't do it. The police need help. It really does mean community. You need the religious community involved. You need the business community involved. You need the electoral community. You need community leadership. And all of those elements, if we're all working together, then we can create what my dad would have defined as the beloved community. A man named James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to assassinating your father. Shortly after that, he proclaimed that he didn't do it, was innocent. The FBI had coerced them into pleading guilty.

Starting point is 00:13:47 Later on, there was a lot of pressure by you and your family and many people who had looked at this independently to reopen the investigation with the justice department which they did the justice department concluded definitively that he in fact did murder your father you and your family still don't think so we could spend yeah there have been books on this so if we could keep it to just two minutes or less why don't you think he was the murderer and who do you think did it who did it my grandfather used to say it's not who but what. And I'll give that. Let me see if I can get this down to two minutes. It's very challenging. We did a civil suit against a man by the name of Lloyd Jowers who admittedly was involved in it.

Starting point is 00:14:44 And over 70 witnesses came and corroborated. by the name of Lloyd Jowers, who admittedly was involved in it. And over 70 witnesses came and corroborated in Memphis back in, I want to say, 1999, that everything that he was saying at that time, he told stories throughout his life. He was a former Memphis policeman. He worked as head of grill called Jim's Grill. So all of what was planned was planned. A lot of what was planned was planned in his building. You could go in on one side and the other side was the Lorraine Motel. You're saying that where you worked was where they planned the assassination? Yeah, where they planned elements of it because they went out of his back door. And this has been corroborated by a number of witnesses.

Starting point is 00:15:30 And three men, including himself, were involved in the shooting. I think everyone is deceased, is dead now. But one of them was a police, a current police officer. And he jumped over a wall and got in a police car. As I said, all of this is corroborated. What I don't quite understand is why society would continue to foster a lie. James Earl Ray was a patsy. There was a white Mustang that he was driving that he definitely had but there also was an identical white Mustang

Starting point is 00:16:07 that was there you don't run out of a building shoot someone and then drop the evidence right in front it makes sense I mean yes you could be running possibly

Starting point is 00:16:20 I mean maybe it could have been left in a restaurant but it was left right there in front the other thing is if you go to the bathroom Possibly. I mean, maybe it could have been left in a restaurant, but it was left right there in front. The other thing is, if you go to the bathroom, my father's jaw was shot off. The bullet entered under. James Earl Ray was over in a window up there. So you got a trick bullet that comes down, goes down and goes up. Doesn't make sense. The shots came from on the ground. There was a whole bunch of bushes in front of the crime scene the next day or late that night you have to assume the public works

Starting point is 00:16:55 department or somebody came and all those bushes were gone so that when you're investigating you say well shots couldn't come down here because everybody could have seen the people. No, there were bushes there, but they were all cut down. So there are a lot of facts that if the public is interested, it exists. And there were certainly men who were hired, but it was a very elaborate set of circumstances that we don't have time to go into today. And so I know the truth. I think everyone deserves to know what happened with their loved one. And maybe I could have a hostile attitude against those forces, but I've chosen not to because some of those forces, the entities, because you had the mafia was involved to some degree you had elements of

Starting point is 00:17:46 federal government that were involved but i'm not going to harbor and hold on to that because what good is i just needed to know we needed to know that my my mother and the the four of us needed to understand what happened with our dad we understand that if the public wants to know then there's documented evidence to show but i don't feel that uh compelled to have to go out and and and defend but uh james orway was a patsy we don't know who actually pulled the trigger uh i don't know the name and i don't want to put a name i I do know, but my preference is not to put a name. And again, all of those people dead now. James Earl Ray died after serving 30 years in prison of a 99-year sentence. That's right.

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Starting point is 00:19:22 Let's move on and go talk about some some positive things that came billions came out of uh your father's life and his legacy lives on today and go back to i have a dream speech talk about the dreams that we all have one of the goals of my podcast is to motivate and inspire people to achieve their dreams what advice do you have for people who have dreams but don't pursue them because they think they're too big they but don't pursue them because they think they're too big they can never reach them and because they're scared to fail and does your advice differ from someone who's in their 20s or 30s versus someone who's in their 60s or 70s so maybe the advice would be slightly different but the fact fact of the matter is, if any of us have a dream,

Starting point is 00:20:06 the only way it can become true is we have to work, we have to be dedicated, diligent, and determined to achieve it. I don't think many dreams can become true, but it takes a strategic plan, it takes a capacity to execute, it takes the ability to network. It's far easier today because of technology to find other communities. You may have an idea. You may have to copyright it, but there are others who will help you with your idea. There are others in other communities who may have had the same idea who might want to collaborate. And it's easier to get to them today than it was 30 years ago because of technology, the advent of technology. So I would, even as you say, if one is 50 or 60

Starting point is 00:20:53 years old, it does not mean you cannot achieve your goal or your dream. But you do have to have a plan. Nothing happens just easily. It is work. It is determination. It is you almost have to work, you know, not just diligently, but you have to have a lot of focus. I say to our daughter all the time look you know you have to show me that this is what you're interested in you can't say well didn't work out today so I'm gonna do something else you will never accomplish what you want to

Starting point is 00:21:37 accomplish unless you are focused and determined and there probably is nothing that you cannot do first you have to know that. Again, and it has to be reinforced, that everything, some goals you may say, well, that seems unrealistic. Well, that's the limitation that you've put on it in your mind. And the other thing is in life, we're gonna fail.

Starting point is 00:22:02 I mean, how many times did Henry Ford fail? How many times did Edison fail? I mean, you can count. All we hear about are and see the victories. But you might have failed 99 times and then 100 times you succeed. So I don't think anybody should ever give up on their dreams. And, you know, there are probably some people who are much older than me. I'm 66 years old who have dreams and they may have given up or they may still be working on them.

Starting point is 00:22:37 I hope that you always work. When you give up, you're done. So I say don't give up, don't give in, don't give out. Many of us always look to our parents for inspiration, and we love it when they say that they're proud of us. It makes us feel great. There was a moment in your life that your mom said she was proud of you. When was that, and what did that mean to you when she said it to you?

Starting point is 00:23:10 Oh, my God, it meant the world. What she said, she would say it many times throughout my life, but it was the one time when I was probably, I might have been a little bit out of college, and I maybe had run for public office. I was a supervisor, which county commissioners, what we call them, supervisors out here in California. And I'd run for office in one and had served for a few years. And my mom said, you know, your father would be so proud of you. And that brought tears to my eyes and she said it throughout my life a few times uh but she had said it about her on numerous occasions as well but to hear my dad because every kid wants their parents to be proud of them and so you know you just kind of melt when you hear uh that your parents are proud of you and but by the same token i also feel like

Starting point is 00:24:08 we haven't scratched the surface meaning me even at 66 of what i could do um you know i i feel like we've made gains some strides and we've done some things but i just don't feel like we've done anywhere near enough blacks have been discriminated against from really the beginning of slavery well before that so have jews what do you think about the tremendous spike in anti-semitism that's spreading not only through the united states but throughout the world. That is unacceptable in terms of what is going on with our culture today. We have just hatred and hostility. It's not just toning it down. You know, I used to advocate, you know, for tolerance, but that's just the beginning. Tolerance is not where we need to live.

Starting point is 00:25:10 I mean, maybe that's where we can live, but we must go far beyond tolerance so that it's acceptance, it's to like, to appreciate, and ultimately to love. And that climate has to be created. I don't think that there's nothing that humankind can't accomplish if it decides this is the goal. So antisemitism is something that we can ultimately rid our society of, but we have to come together and say that's what we're going to do. Same thing with racism. Same thing

Starting point is 00:25:45 with, you know, homophobia and what happens with the LGBTQIA community, what happens with, you know, with some Muslims, what happens. I mean, everywhere hate exists, we have to find a way to rid it, rid our society of that. That is. That's not who the human spirit is. We as human beings are far better than this behavior that is being exhibited right now. And it is, unfortunately, at an all-time high. And it's beyond disconcerting. It's unconscionable.

Starting point is 00:26:25 What I believe is that something is going to create a consciousness that human beings will rise up and become better than becoming bitter. We're bitter right now, and it's being promoted through social media. It's being promoted through all kind of channels. And I don't think we can, if we purport to be freedom, a free society, I don't think we can just ban it, but we can create the climate where people don't want to engage in hatred and hostility, where they want to engage. I mean, the average person, I think, just wants to be able to raise his or her family and in a community that is uplifting. But society has created all these insecurities that make people want to judge and evaluate

Starting point is 00:27:23 and denigrate. And that's not a model that will survive. As I said, humankind will destroy itself. I have a daughter. You have children. Many have grandchildren. Some have great-grandchildren. We can't allow humankind not to exist.

Starting point is 00:27:46 We've got to do something to build and create community. I think kids in school, as you know, I have three kids in college. One of them goes to Cornell, which has been a hotbed. Yes, yes. There was a student on campus who actually lives on the third floor of a walk-up where I had taken my daughter and her friends to dinner at a little Greek restaurant in the same building a week before all this came out and a week before I threatened to kill all the Jews on campus. And you see all these protests now on

Starting point is 00:28:17 campus. My daughter showed me pictures of things on the sidewalk, kill all the Jews and worse. And then you see what's happening on TV. I'm sure you saw the presence of Penn, MIT, and Harvard getting grilled. What do you think about the responses and the leadership there? And I know Penn's president resigned. Yeah. Don't think she was going to have a choice about resigning. Harvard today came out in support of their president. We haven't yet heard on the third school yet.

Starting point is 00:28:51 But what do you think? Should they have lost their jobs? What should they be telling people? Their responses were disgusting and sickening. And I'll say one more thing. After they came out and the perception was so negative, only then did they issue a corrected video. They had plenty of time to do it.

Starting point is 00:29:08 While one president was speaking, the two others were listening and they just repeated the same thing. What's going on here? Where's the leadership there? I don't quite understand that issue. What I mean by that is I understand what was said, but I don't understand. You don't get to be president of Harvard University of Pennsylvania or MIT by accident. You have boards that have people who are given large sums of money who are great people.

Starting point is 00:29:51 So something is missing. I don't know what it is because it doesn't make sense to me. Framed in that the context of what I heard the question was, I'm like, well, that doesn't make sense. So I don't know what it is, but something is not there. And I'm not sure that we'll ever find out. Maybe it will come out. If the presidents leave, we'll never find out. Maybe over a short period of time, there will be something that makes rational sense, because none of it makes sense to me right now, based on what I heard the question being, and why all three of them, as I said, they didn't accidentally get to those levels uh and um i don't believe they are anti-semitic i don't i just don't believe that i heard the answer but that doesn't make sense to me um you know i think that oftentimes for example everything is not racism it may look

Starting point is 00:30:42 like it you know emotionally to me that looks like it's racism. That sounds racist. That's what we could say. Well, maybe there's some more there. And because we are so close, we can't hear it. We can't see it because that's what it sounds like, you know. But as I said, everything is I'm not what I've learned is everything is not. I'm not suggesting that is necessarily the case here i am saying that there's got to be more to it uh if a president of harvard and a president of mit you know is i mean i they they had legal counsel i guess it doesn't make sense

Starting point is 00:31:22 so there must be something that is something I'm missing. I'll just say that much. I don't understand. Yeah, I think they should have been fired the minute they walked off that stand. I think it's disgusting. The leadership there is terrible. And what's crazy about these college presidents, most people got it wrong right out of the gate. When the war broke out, they did nothing.

Starting point is 00:31:44 They said the wrong thing. They said they get it. But I think when people call for the destruction of the Jewish people, which means killing all the Jewish people, I think that's something people have to speak out against. Here's the thing. And of course. But here's the thing I wonder. And I don't know enough to know. But I think many people are really concerned, particularly young people, about what is being seen as it relates to the people. Not Hamas.

Starting point is 00:32:17 Somehow we've conflated that the Palestinians all want to be Hamas. I'm not sure that that's the case. I think that, you know, there's what we see on the news is just huge destruction, destruction. And it's very difficult to see human lives and children on any side ever, whoever, a hundred percent. So I think we end up conflating Hamas, which certainly many have condemned and should be with, you know, with Palestinians. So you're seeing the suffrage. You're saying people being having to leave. But where did it go? I mean, where is it? Where does a million people go if you don't? I mean, it's so complicated. It's way more complicated than I could imagine.

Starting point is 00:33:17 Absolutely, there should never, ever be a scenario where people are saying, well, we should, let's kill the Jews. That's crazy. That's insanity. So I think somewhere we've lost the humanity as a society. And again, we got to re-engage in humanity. And we're at such a high boiling point. It's like people who, there's some in our nation who lost friendships this is a little different but it's it comes from the same thing because someone supported trump and you you don't speak to them i mean crazy that's you know there i have folks in my family that

Starting point is 00:34:03 support trump and i don't stop speaking to them. You know, I don't agree with that, but I think that's, we take extreme positions. And I just have to believe that we got to find a way to elevate the humanity of the human spirit. Um, and God knows, I wish I had a magic wand and could resolve this conflict. Um, but it, it is not, it's not an easy, uh, conflict, but you should never, uh, be against someone because of their ethnicity and maybe even because of their certainly because of religion I mean we we can code that's my father understood he was a Christian minister but he understood you know that we live in a world with Jewish people, with Islamic people, with Hindus, Buddhists, with agnostics

Starting point is 00:35:07 and atheists. And he even worked with some who were not Christian. So it shows that it can be done, but you have to be intentional. And that's where leadership comes. But when you have a nation that politically is divided, not because of Republican or Democrat, but because of, it's fine to have different points of view. As I said, got to find one area first that we have common ground on and work on it and work through that. And then maybe we can move to the next issue and say, okay, how do we get to this one? But this is one of the most complicated issues that I've seen in my lifetime. While it's been here forever, it still is emerged to a high level that maybe some could have predicted, but it shouldn't be manifest in itself in hatred of Jews. We don't make these distinctions,

Starting point is 00:36:12 but the way young people are getting information through the Internet, and the Internet does not always tell you everything that's true, and then you begin to question everything. Are you looking for your next great gift to surprise a friend, colleague, or loved one? Bliss Beaches makes the perfect gift. This best-selling, bright, and beautiful coffee table book by Randall Kaplan features stunning drone photography from exotic beach locations around the world. It's the perfect housewarming gift, a great addition to any home or office,

Starting point is 00:36:43 and a fun and creative alternative to bringing a bottle of wine to somebody's house for dinner. Bliss Beaches is available for purchase on Amazon, where it has glowing reviews and a five-star rating. Get your next amazing gift and order a copy of Bliss Beaches by clicking the link in our show notes. Before we finish today, I want to go ahead and ask more open-ended questions. I call this part of my podcast, fill in the blank to excellence. Are you ready to play? I guess. The biggest lesson I've learned in my life is? It's forgiveness. How to forgive. My number one professional goal is? Is to find a way to bring people together. My number one personal goal is? Is to make sure my wife and I provide the best opportunity for our child to accomplish whatever she wants to do in life. The one thing in my life that I'm most proud of is?

Starting point is 00:37:41 Is, well, our daughter. The one thing in my life that I'm least proud of is? That I just have not achieved enough. I've done a lot of things in life but just nowhere near enough. Haven't really, I don't feel like i've scratched the surface the one thing i've dreamed of doing for a long time but haven't done is uh going back to um re-solo flying a plane i i solo when i was 16 had a difficult experience nothing my radio collapsed it didn't work and so I couldn't land and so I had to circle around in the pattern and finally I did what I was taught and said Lord if you let me get out I won't go back up and I haven't but I still dream about it going doing that again if each of us could do one thing to help achieve racial equality throughout the world, what would it be?

Starting point is 00:38:54 Begin to talk sincerely or dialogue, having dialogue with others, other communities. You can't really begin to understand a person until you truly know them. But that also means if we had the ability to speak in other languages. Most of us in the U.S. only speak English. And you really can't truly understand a culture until you learn the language. If you were elected president of the United States tomorrow, what's the first thing you would do? Never thought about that because I never wanted to be president.

Starting point is 00:39:33 Who would want that job? Exactly. A few people apparently. the first thing I would do is I would establish a cabinet position to eradicate poverty and homelessness. If you could meet one person in the world alive today, who would it be? If I could. If you could meet one person in the world who is alive today, who would it be if I could if you could meet one person in the world who is alive today who would it be that's a good question it's not that I don't want to meet people and I've met a whole lot a lot of people I'm really thinking about it because I'm thinking about who is it that I haven't met. What I can say is the one person that I met that I would love to have spent more

Starting point is 00:40:38 time with is Nelson Mandela. I did meet him, but I'd love to have had a longer conversation with him. If your dad was giving a sequel to his I Have a Dream speech tomorrow in front of the Lincoln Memorial in front of 250,000 people, what would his title be? I don't know. What I can tell you is, sadly, I say sadly because I'm not really sure. You may or may not know this, but he was to have given a speech on the weekend that he was killed. He would write back to his office and tell the secretary what his message was going to be.

Starting point is 00:41:31 And this is unfortunately not positive, but his sermon back then, which probably would have been April 7th, I guess, had he lived because he was killed April 7th, I guess, had he lived because he was killed April 4th. It was like something like America may go to hell. Now, he was a positive person, but something must have been happening at the time. If he was going to preach a message, I don't know what that means. I know what it means in my intellect, in my mind. But, you know But we were on such a trajectory of going in the wrong direction that he came to the conclusion that if we don't make some changes,

Starting point is 00:42:14 we may face this. Now, he always wanted to end. Somehow it would have ended positive, but you had to articulate something negative to get to the positive if you could go back in time and give your 21 year old self one piece of advice what would it be work to always be prepared so never you know i i meand never, you know, I, I meandered and, you know, but I, I think it's always important to prepare oneself for whatever one is attempting to do. So the topic that I specialize in, or I'm an expert in in is something called extreme preparation.

Starting point is 00:43:06 And that's when someone prepares one hour for something, I prepare 30, 40, and one corporate presentation. I think we prepared 200 hours for presentation that we gave to the Marriott Corporation. I think it's the most important ingredient of our success. And since I want to deviate from the last final question, because I want to ask, is there an example in your life where you have used extreme preparation to achieve incredible results? I'm talking about doing some type of preparation that's so far and above beyond what someone else has done that would lead to a very successful, but look like a highly improbable outcome? That's a very good question.

Starting point is 00:43:47 Can you frame it one more time just to make sure? Sure. Is there an example in your life where you've used extreme preparation that has led to extraordinary results where when you looked at it and you said the probability of success here was very low i would have to answer that probably um but i i can't give an example i'm i'm i'm going blank on an example. I'm certain there have been several over the years things that I have been engaged in that I really didn't feel we were going to be successful on, but I can't think of an example right now.

Starting point is 00:44:37 But I know it was because we had a solid plan. We had a very good team. We, you know, we probably had a, I don't know, 25% chance that it was going to get done and it ended up being far beyond that. The one question you wish I asked you but didn't is? The one question is I never had

Starting point is 00:45:15 did I ever have conversations with my father. So in other words, I would love to as an adult have had the opportunity to have an adult conversation. I would love to, as an adult, have had the opportunity to have an adult conversation. I would love to be able to have my father's insight input now. Because at 39 years old, his capacity to really speak about the future not only was prophetic but it was way beyond the age of what i was saying at 39 and what i'm saying at 66 is uh is somewhat different is more seasoned

Starting point is 00:45:55 i would the question is i would have loved to i'm saying i would love to have had the question about what i would like what conversation i would love to have with my father. And I'll say this. If you think about it, in 20, 60 years ago, well, not 60, actually, his last book was entitled, Where Do We Go From Here, Chaos or Community? We are seeing chaos. Now, that was in 67 when he wrote that book. Where do we go from here, chaos or community? We are seeing chaos. Now, that was in 67 when he wrote that book.

Starting point is 00:46:28 Where do we go from here right now in the world, chaos or community? Community represents forwardness in life. Chaos could represent destruction. So how could you write a book 56 years ago and it be so prevalent today? And it has a chapter in there called The World House. And it's as if these things happened yesterday or last week. Just prophetic. Martin, I'm grateful to you for being on my show. Your dad was an inspiration to me and to so many I know.

Starting point is 00:47:16 Heard his speech when I was a little kid. I've listened to it several times as well. I'm all about dreams, and he's done so many amazing things for billions of people around the world. You have as well, continuing into his legacy. You're an inspiration. I'm so glad to have met you at a conference. Shout out to Kelly O'Connor for the introduction at the Scale Global Summit, which is an amazing conference.

Starting point is 00:47:35 We're going to have it again this year in May in Las Vegas, I think. But it's a true pleasure to have you on my show and to get to know you. Thank you. Randy, I really appreciate the fact that you've delved in, done research and are imminently, the preparation made me really have to think about what I was going to say. It wasn't what I would call the standard set of questions. There were some that, yes, come natural, but there were questions that I really had to really think about. And I appreciate that. that you would utilize extensive research to get to know not just who I am,

Starting point is 00:48:28 but what our legacy represents. It means something to a lot of people, perhaps. But the story is not complete. I'm grateful to have a wife and a daughter, and our daughter has chosen so far to continue in that tradition thank you thank you i appreciate you

In Search Of Excellence - Martin Luther King III: Who Really Assassinated Martin Luther King? | E94

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