Special Reports - Black in America

In this first installment of the Black in America series, CNN gained unprecedented access to eyewitnesses, FBI documents and the killer's room in this groundbreaking documentary.

The King Assassination

• Friends, witnesses remember final minutes of King's life
• Interactive Map: Eyewitnesses recount fateful moment King was shot
• Reporter remembers 'eerie' but calm night with King's widow, children
• Lone MLK sibling wants to expose human side of brother, friend
• The Final Crusade: King's radical push for a new America
• FBI tracked King's every move
• Conspiracy theories still thrive 40 years later
• Timeline: King, Ray crossed paths before assassination in Memphis
• FBI wiretaps reveal a love life, self-critical side of civil rights leader
• Expert: All evidence leads back to James Earl Ray
• Illinois robbery may have bankrolled Ray
• The case against James Earl Ray
• Behind the Scenes: Eyewitness to Murder
• Time: The last days of Martin Luther King Jr.
• Essence: Who killed King?

Life and Legacy

• iReport: What does it mean to be Black in America?
• What if Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had lived?
• Wounds still linger for children of civil rights activists
• King's son urges candidates to continue father's war on poverty
• Modern black church shuns King's message
• Commentary: Church walks the walk of King's message
• Howard Thurman: The preacher who inspired King
• Timeline: The modern civil rights struggle
• Even in the midst of violence, King never abandoned non-violence
• Gallery: King's life and legacy
• Essence: Bernice King talks about her father's legacy
• MLK's driver remembers 'chasing the dream'
• Time: Rare and unpublished photographs of the civil rights movement

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FBI constantly tracked King

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Ray, King crossed paths

About the show

In this first installment of CNN's Black in America series, Soledad O'Brien investigates how James Earl Ray, an armed robber and escaped convict, had already spent an uncommon year on the run just a month before his path collided with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee. Check for rebroadcasts

For Educators: The King Assassination study guide

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April 4, 1968. It's the day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and it's etched into the memory of millions of Americans. Where were you the day Dr. King was assassinated? Did you ever meet or march with him? How has Dr. King's life and death changed you?

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