An unfulfilled invitation · Memphis, April 1968

Martin Luther King Jr.: The Dinner He Never Reached

A Memphis host, a sanitation strike, and a six-o’clock invitation

Samuel “Billy” Kyles had invited Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy to dinner at his Memphis home on 4 April 1968. They were preparing to leave the Lorraine Motel when King was assassinated. The invitation was never fulfilled. Kyles’s 1968 interview; the National Park Service’s Lorraine history.

Restrained wide imagined mid-century domestic supper table, one plain empty plate and unused fork with a modest serving bowl of dark-eyed pale peas and soft chopped greens off to one side, warm evening interior colors and generous negative space. No people, portraits, Lorraine balcony, weapons, blood, fake archival documents, quotation text or claim of a documented room layout.
An imagined domestic table awaiting guests, with a modest bowl of peas and greens and an unused place setting. It illustrates the invitation; it is not a reconstruction of the Kyles dining room or a meal King ate.
About six o’clockThe anticipated dinner appointment
An invitation, not a meal eatenA modern peas-and-greens companion follows the story

The workers behind the visit

King’s visit began with the demands of the city’s sanitation workers. The deaths of Echol Cole and Robert Walker in a malfunctioning truck had helped precipitate the strike. More than a thousand workers walked out in February. They wanted safer conditions, better pay and union recognition. The Library of Congress’s strike history.

Reverend James Lawson invited King’s support. Local churches and Community on the Move for Equality helped sustain striking families with food and clothing banks and collections toward rent and mortgages. The campaign involved immediate household needs as well as demonstrations. King was supporting this strike while preparing the Poor People’s Campaign for economic opportunity and equality. The National Archives’ account and court-document collection.

At the Lorraine, King and his colleagues stayed in a place with its own Black Memphis history. The motel had welcomed Black travelers and performers when many other hotels would not. It was part of the community in which the visit took place. The National Park Service’s site history.

A minister’s invitation

Kyles, a minister at Monumental Baptist Church, had helped organize local support for the strike. In his 23 April FBI interview, he recalled singing with Ben Branch’s SCLC group at the motel before visiting King and Abernathy. He also described the anticipated supper. Neck bones, chitterlings, turnip greens and black-eyed peas were foods he associated with such a dinner; his wife had agreed to cook for the group. The appointment was for about six. This was a plan to eat together, not an account of a plate King received. The original interview report, pages 1–3.

Calls, court news, and an afternoon still in progress

The House Select Committee on Assassinations later assembled an account of the afternoon from witnesses and records. It described a fried-catfish lunch at the motel around one o’clock. The Kyles invitation was separate, and for later.

At about four, according to Abernathy’s account in that report, King called him to A. D. King’s room. The brothers had spoken with their mother in Atlanta. The dinner came up as well: Abernathy telephoned Mrs. Kyles to ask about the food.

The wait to leave was also a working interval. Chauncey Eskridge, the SCLC’s lawyer, had been challenging restrictions on the proposed march. He and Andrew Young brought news from court; King invited Eskridge along to dinner. The planning of the meal and of the demonstration continued beside each other. The congressional account of King’s final day.

The six-o’clock appointment

As the group got ready, Kyles urged King and Abernathy to leave for dinner. Eskridge and other colleagues were in the courtyard, and Solomon Jones was preparing the car. King was shot on the balcony before the party reached the Kyles home. The congressional account.

The setting remains the Lorraine, not a dining room where that supper was eaten. The National Civil Rights Museum opened at the site in 1991. Kyles became a longtime member of its board, and the museum preserved his account of King’s final hours in its Mountaintop Theatre. The man who offered the invitation also helped carry its memory into public history. The National Park Service; the museum’s tribute to Kyles.

The modern companion recipe

Black-Eyed Peas with Tender Turnip Greens

Cook tender greens before adding already cooked peas, then finish the pot with a little cider vinegar. Onion, thyme and a small amount of smoked paprika season a light broth. This is a new home recipe with its own quantities and method, not the Kyles family’s recipe.

Read the full recipe →

Cook the recipes

Complete modern recipes inspired by the foods in this story. Each recipe explains the connection and the choices made for a home kitchen.

Famous Last Meals / Modern companion recipe

Black-Eyed Peas with Tender Turnip Greens

Cook tender greens before adding already cooked peas, then finish the pot with a little cider vinegar. Onion, thyme and a small amount of smoked paprika season a light broth. This is a new home recipe with its own quantities and method, not the Kyles family’s recipe.

4 generous bean-and-greens side portions, each one-quarter of the finished pot; not a complete mealActive 25 minTotal 75 min

Read Martin Luther King Jr.: The Dinner He Never Reached →

Print recipe · PDF
One plain modern cream bowl holding pale cooked black-eyed peas with clear small dark eyes, soft short olive-green turnip-leaf strips, tender sliced stems and softened diced onion in a modest light paprika-tinted broth. A plain serving spoon lifts some peas and greens. No meat, carrots, tomatoes, cheese, bread, rice, lemon wedges, whole herb sprigs or garnish.

Lift the greens out of the grit

A sandy bunch can spoil the whole pot. Loosen the leaves so water reaches folds and stem junctions. When using a bowl, lift the greens out rather than pouring dirty water back through them. The weight in the ingredient list is usable leaves and tender stems after trimming, so begin with more than 300 g in the shopping bag. Cutting the leaves into short strips makes a side portion easier to eat with a spoon.

The greens set the pace

Canned peas are already cooked; a long simmer would mainly break them apart. Give the turnip greens their tenderizing time first, checking a cooled piece of leaf and tender stem before adding the peas. A covered pot retains the small measured broth, but lift the lid to stir along the bottom. If a mature bunch needs longer, a spoonful of water is more useful than turning up the heat.

A finish, not a second sauce

Stir in the vinegar after cooking so its sharpness stays clear. The amount is deliberately modest and divided across four side portions. There is no need to turn the pot into a rich meat gravy or to conceal a separate cheese topping. Serve the peas with some of their light broth, and divide the greens fairly instead of leaving them all at the bottom for the final bowl.

Ingredients

  • 2 cans commercially cooked black-eyed peas/cowpeas, about 15 oz/425 g net each, opened, drained and rinsed to provide 17 oz/480 g edible peas; open enough to obtain the stated drained weight
  • 10½ oz fresh turnip greens after removing tough stalks and thick ribs (300 g prepared leaves and tender stems); buy a larger bunch to allow for trimming
  • 1 medium onion, finely diced (120 g)
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (6 g)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil (15 ml)
  • 1 cup drinking water (240 ml), plus a little more only if the pot becomes dry
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves (about 0.5 g)
  • ½ teaspoon sweet smoked paprika (about 1 g)
  • ¼ teaspoon fine salt (1.5 g)
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper (about 0.5 g)
  • 1 tablespoon cider vinegar (15 ml)
Set out

Stovetop, 3-liter/about 3-quart saucepan with a lid, Large bowl and colander for washing greens, Can opener if required and sieve for the peas, Knife and board, Kitchen scale, measuring jug and spoons, Broad spoon, Food thermometer, 4 side bowls, Refrigerator and shallow containers for planned leftovers

Allergens

No major allergen is deliberately included in the base ingredients. Check the canned peas, vinegar and spice labels for added ingredients and shared-equipment warnings; this is not an allergen-free claim.

Make it

  1. Wash the greens thoroughly under running water. If sandy, swish in a large bowl of clean water, lift them out so the grit stays behind, replace the water and repeat before a final rinse. Remove tough stalks and thick ribs, then weigh 300 g prepared greens. Finely slice the tender stems and cut leaves into short strips, keeping the stems and leaves separate. Drain and rinse the canned peas and weigh 480 g.
  2. Heat the oil in the saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion and tender stem pieces for 7–9 minutes, stirring, until softened without browning deeply. Add garlic, thyme and paprika and stir for 30 seconds.
  3. Add the measured water, salt and pepper. Add greens in handfuls, turning for 3–4 minutes as they wilt enough to fit. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook on low for 20–25 minutes, stirring twice, until the greens and tender stems are easy to bite. Older leaves may need longer. Add water 1–2 tablespoons/15–30 ml at a time only if the base is drying; do not let the pot scorch.
  4. Fold in all the drained canned peas. Cover and simmer gently for 8–10 minutes until the peas and broth are hot throughout at 165°F/74°C. Fold rather than beating the peas apart. There should be a little spoonable broth around the beans; simmer uncovered briefly if it is unusually watery.
  5. Take the pot off the heat and stir in the measured cider vinegar. Divide the whole pot into 4 equal side portions, sharing peas, greens and broth. Serve promptly. No ham, stock cube, extra oil, bread or garnish is part of this recipe.

A useful detail

The 75-minute total includes washing gritty greens, trimming, knife work, the greens’ full tenderizing stage and final heating of commercially cooked peas. It does not include cooking dry black-eyed peas. Prepared greens are weighed after tough ribs and stalks are removed; canned peas are weighed after draining. A mature bunch may extend the simmer.

Keep it well

Move planned leftovers promptly into shallow containers and refrigerate at 40°F/4°C or below within 2 hours, or within 1 hour above 90°F/32°C. Use within 3 days, or sooner if a packaged ingredient or previously cooked peas have an earlier remaining limit. Once promptly chilled, freeze individual portions at 0°F/−18°C for up to 2 months for quality. Thaw in the refrigerator and reheat only the required portion to 165°F/74°C throughout, stirring; add a spoonful of water if thick. A new pot does not reset an earlier cooked pea batch’s clock.

How this recipe relates to the story

The two principal ingredients connect to the anticipated supper. All quantities, seasonings and cooking steps are original modern choices.

Another way

  • Use 300 g prepared collard leaves, tough ribs removed and cut into short strips, instead of turnip greens. Allow about 30–45 minutes, or longer as needed, for their covered simmer before adding the peas. Extend the total time and add small measured water splashes if necessary.
  • Use 480 g fully cooked drained black-eyed peas from an earlier refrigerated batch only if their original cooking date and safe storage are known. Heat the complete pot to 165°F/74°C and keep the earlier peas’ remaining storage deadline. This variation does not include dry-pea preparation in the stated time.

Sources for this story

  1. Samuel B. Kyles interview, FBI FD-302, ME44-1987 · Federal Bureau of Investigation; original released by the National Archives
  2. Findings on MLK Assassination: The Last Moments · U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations; official National Archives transcription
  3. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Memphis Sanitation Workers · National Archives
  4. Tennessee: The Lorraine Motel · National Park Service
  5. Memphis Sanitation Workers Went on Strike · Library of Congress
  6. In Memory of Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles · National Civil Rights Museum