The site was a key meeting spot for the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike and hosted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Clayborn Temple in downtown Memphis, the organizing point for Martin Luther King Jr.'s final campaign in 1968, caught fire early Monday morning.

The recent fire that consumed Clayborn Temple is a devastating blow, not only to Memphis but to the nation. This historic church, a nerve center of the Civil Rights Movement, was more than just bricks and stained glass; it was a beating heart of a community that chose unity over division, progress over fear, and community over chaos.