In 1968, I was on a business trip to Chicago. We landed at O’Hare [International Airport] and I exited from first class with the passengers from the rear cabin. As I walked along the corridor to baggage claim, I noticed four young, black men in business suits awaiting an arriving passenger. They looked in my direction and began to smile and wave. I realized that they were addressing the passenger walking next to me. When he reached them, they greeted him animatedly. They all began talking at once and exchanging high fives. They pumped his hand and one by one embraced him. My curiosity was piqued so I slowed down to eavesdrop. I heard jive talk: “Hey, doc, how you be?” “Ah’m real fine, boys, an how y’all?” “We’s cool, Martin m’man.”
Looking over, I saw that my fellow passenger was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I was stunned. Here was a heroic figure, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, leader of the March on Washington and Birmingham bus strike, and the man who told the world “I Have a Dream.” He had been sitting in the economy section while I was in first class. He was now just a few feet from me. Jive talk with such an iconic figure surprised me. Then, I realized that Dr. King was with friends. And they were all simply being themselves.
I walked past and then stopped. I realized that if I passed up this opportunity, I would regret it for the rest of my life. So I turned and walked up to Dr. King. I introduced myself and said I admired him greatly and appreciated his good work. He smiled warmly and thanked me in his distinctive, rich baritone voice. We shook hands. His grip was firm. I wished him good luck and resumed my walk to baggage claim. A few months later, the hatred and violence he had battled against caught up with him. He was assassinated by James Earl Ray on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
Hank Pollard