Steve Cohen: “Today is many things in different people's lives. To many, it's the NCAA final tournament game. To many in my city of…”

“Today is many things in different people's lives. To many, it's the NCAA final tournament game. To many in my city of Memphis, Tennessee, it is a day that 43 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. It's a holiday in my city, and we reflect on his great talents and his dream and reflect on all that we've learned since then. But yesterday, the 3rd of April, a great Memphian named Larry Finch died. He put together those two events. He was a basketball player and a basketball star like none other in Memphis and maybe like none other in the United States of America. And he was a person who brought people together in the way that Dr. King dreamed they would. The city of Memphis was split and hurt and racially divided in 1968, and because of that racial divide, it caused Dr. King to have to come to Memphis to stand up for the sanitation workers and the right of employees to have bargaining units and a dignity in life. And Memphis was even racially hurt more because of that assassination. But Larry Finch stayed home in Memphis, a local basketball player who really was the first great basketball star of African American descent to play at Memphis State. He took our team to the national finals in 1973, and he ignited the city like never before. Whites and blacks came together to cheer for Memphis State and for Larry Finch. He spent his entire life in Memphis and was our head coach for 11 years, winning more games at Memphis State than any coach in history.…”