Learning Experience #3: US History, James Early Ray, MLK, and Dr. Samuel “Billy” Kyles

The year is winding down… only a week and a half left of class before finals? Honestly I can’t believe where the time went. Classes now consist of learning the last of pieces of information before the piling on of final papers, projects, tests, and stress. Needless to say, a lot of work will be packed into these next few weeks!            

Despite this daunting time ahead of us, classes continue to offer something interesting and new. Though I have learned a lot in my other classes, my US History class has been exceedingly intriguing to me lately. For the past few weeks, we have been talking about the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement, and now the Vietnam War. In light of this, we were assigned to read a book about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., called “Hellhound in His Trail” by Hampton Sides. The book is a narrative of James Earl Ray’s life leading up to the assassination, and “the largest manhunt in American history” that ensued afterwards. So far I’m only halfway through the book, and I’m at the point where Ray is fleeing. Thus far I have learned that James Earl Ray was a very interesting man. In 1967, he escaped from Jefferson City prison in a breadbox… he had been in prison for armed robbery, and had previously served for stealing money orders. He had spent most of his adult life behind bars. After he escapes, he goes to Mexico to be an aspiring pin-up photographer, then to California to rally behind the campaign of George Wallace and to learn hypnotism, and somehow from this he is led to want to assassinate King. During this time he goes by multiple aliases, including Eric Galt and John Willard, and is just an all-around sketchy character. Long story short, Ray is crazy. Not only have a learned a lot about Ray, but I have also learned some things about King that I had never known before. He wasn’t exactly on the good side of the FBI – John Edgar Hoover was not a fan of King, and thus constantly had him followed. Hoover knew many things about King that the public did not know and also thought that his actions were all part of a communist plot. Another thing that I learned is that though King’s contributions to our country are undeniable, this did not make him invincible to temptations. As discovered by Hoover, King had many mistresses across the country. One of them, a senator from Georgia, was supposed to go to a dinner party with him the night of the assassination. Hoover also found that King “used raunchy language”, smoked, drank, partied, and “told off-color jokes”. Painted as a family man with Christian values, this among other things, made Hoover view King as a phony. When he was shot, there was a cigarette in his hand and a box of cigarette in his pocket. Before anyone could notice, Dr. Samuel “Billy” Kyles (a friend of King’s who was supposed to have King over for dinner that night) took this cigarette out of King’s hand and the box of cigarettes out of his pocket so the public would not know that he smoked. King kept his smoking habits a secret from his children so they would not imitate his actions. These things go to show that even though he was a great man who was the catalyst for progressive and positive change in our country, he was not above succumbing to vices that ordinary people face. This is no way takes away from his greatness, but allows us to maybe view King as human. Learning these things have reminded me that there is often so much more to what we learn or what we have learned in school. Not everything is what it seems.

Another reason that I find the account of King’s assassination interesting is that I have been to Memphis and the Civil Rights Museum. Though I was only in fifth grade, I remember being amazed but also saddened by the Civil Rights museum – that’s a lot for anyone to take in, let alone a 10 year old. Part of the museum includes the Lorraine Motel, where King was shot. It was hard for me to comprehend that something so earth shattering had occurred right there, on the 306 balcony of the motel that I was looking at. We got to experience the tour of the museum unlike many others had. That day, Dr. Samuel “Billy” Kyles was at the museum (possibly out of coincidence or maybe he frequents the museum to share with visitors) and spoke to our tour group while we were in the museum. At the time, I thought it was cool to meet someone who was friends with King and there when he was shot, but looking back I can truly say that it is incredible to have met him. So, when I started reading “Hellhound in His Trail”, I texted my dad to ask the name of the man we met in the museum to see if his name came up in the book. Sure enough, Kyles was mentioned more than several times. As I mentioned before, King was supposed to go to a dinner party at Kyles’ house that night. Kyles was in the room, waiting to leave for his house, as King was standing on the balcony when he got shot. Reading about this situation after meeting a man who was there and seeing the place where the assassination happened made it all the more real. I was able to imagine the Lorraine Motel and the kind man that we met at the Civil Rights Museum. This connection has made me realize the importance of experiences in the light of learning, because this connection and experience in Memphis has solidified my learning, even 8 years later. 

Learning Experiences #2: The Arts and the Art of Acting

With only one more month of my freshman year left, I figured that it was about time to think about and reflect what else I have learned this semester. Because each of my classes is different, my learning has been spread over many different topics. Two classes, in particular, have stuck out to me in the past weeks.

In my “Fine Arts for Children” class, we learn about how music, art, and creative movement can be integrated into education for elementary school students. This class has opened my eyes to why the arts are important to the development of children. Being an uncoordinated, not musically or artistically child, I never participated much in “the arts” besides what we had to do in school. Sure, I took dance classes when I was little and my parents forced me to play the flute for a year… but I wasn’t good at these things – at all. Before taking this class, I just thought that the arts were stressed to make students more well rounded and knowledgeable about different areas. However, I have learned that the arts not only enhance teaching, but can also help students achieve in other content areas. For example, students who have consistent art exposure and experience as children and throughout their schooling often have more success in other academic areas. Art, music, and creative movement can also be used to reinforce any subject area. Math, social studies, language arts and any other subject can be taught or reiterated by an of the fine arts. Learning this is incredibly relevant for me because if I stick to my current major and career path (early-childhood education), I can incorporate what I have learned into my own classroom.

My Spanish class brings a completely different kind of learning than “Fine Arts for Children”. It’s called “Oral Communication”, so as you probably could have guessed, we do a lot of speaking, especially in front of the class. In a couple weeks we have one of our biggest assignments “La Lectura Dramatizada”, which is a play that we have to act out in front of the class. In Spanish. This assignment freaks me out for several reasons – 1) Speaking in front of the class for an extended period of time, 2) Acting in front of the class, 3) acting in front of the class in Spanish. Did I mention we have to use props? And that I have to play an actress who is trying to seduce a bible salesman? Needless to say, this assignment is going to push me outside of my box. However, speaking in front of the class in Spanish for an extended period of time will definitely be beneficial for me, and good practice for me potential future. From even just looking at the script that I have to read, I am learning that I’m not comfortable speaking in front of the class, but I am realizing that I’m going to have to be. Being an Early Childhood Education major with a Bilingual emphasis, I will be spending a lot of time in front of a classroom, likely speaking Spanish. I’m not necessarily planning on acting out plays in front of my class, but the more I get the chance to practice Spanish in front of people, the better… even if it’s intimidating or scary, because the more I practice the less daunting it will be.

The moral of the story for me over the past few weeks has been this… Although I’m not artist, musician, dancer, or actress, taking on these roles will benefit my learning. Hopefully, these experiences will also benefit the future learning of others, the students that I will be teaching.