Dalai Lama: King assassination site sad, inspiring

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Dalai Lama says his visit to the site where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated was sad but also inspirational.

The Tibetan spiritual leader was in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday to receive the International Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum, which incorporates the site of the Lorraine Motel.

The Dalai Lama draped a white shawl over a wreath that hangs over the balcony that marks the spot where King was standing when he was shot in 1968.

He toured the museum with the Rev. Samuel Kyles, who was with King when he was gunned down, and Museum Board Chairman Benjamin L. Hooks.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Dalai Lama has been welcomed to Memphis with a fist bump and the greeting "hello Dalai."
It happened as the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader met interim Memphis Mayor Myron Lowery on Tuesday.
WPTY-TV reported the Dalai Lama appeared confused by the fist gesture until Lowery took his hand and showed him how to return it. Lowery then said he had always wanted to say "hello Dalai," a reference to the 1960s Broadway musical and movie "Hello Dolly."
The station reported the holy man appeared amused by both the gesture and the joke.
The Dalai Lama is in Memphis to receive the International Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum on Wednesday.
Information from: WPTY-TV, http://www.abc24.com/
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.