Scott Carroll - The Commercial Appeal -

As one of the last living witnesses to Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles was present when the future of the civil rights movement was threatened and the site of King's murder plunged into infamy.

King's ideals would live on. Where they would come to be preserved and celebrated, the 77-year-old Kyles said, is the result of a remarkable transformation of the Lorraine Motel into the National Civil Rights Museum.

"That bullet wouldn't just stop everything," he said. "The bullet did come, and we were sad. We were sorrowful. But we picked up to carry Martin's dream on, and we couldn't do that if we stopped. The museum has done a great job in taking what was left and making it so much more than it was."

Kyles was among several hundred attendees of the museum's 2011 Freedom Awards Downtown at The Cannon Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday.

Honorees -- who included hip-hop recording artist Usher, Academy Award-nominated actress Cicely Tyson, basketball greats Bill Russell and Alonzo Mourning, and Stax Music Academy president Kirk Whalum -- were recognized for their work in philanthropy, arts, education and sports.

Also honored at the event was Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, who died in October.

Rev. C.T. Vivian, 87, noted friend of King and a member of the Freedom Riders, joined Kyles at a red carpet reception before the awards ceremony.

"The civil rights museum has been our history as we did it, and one the most important single people's movement of the past century," he said.

The awards also celebrated the museum's 20th year, which its president, Beverly Robertson, called a "major milestone."

The museum is set to undergo $27 million in renovations and redesign over the next two years.

"It sort of marks the end of two decades of hard work," Robertson said of Saturday's ceremony. "But it also marks the beginning of a future that is going to be tremendously bright, with the renovations that we've got planned...

"We're really beginning to live up to our name. We are the National Civil Rights Museum, and I think the presence of the celebrities, and the support and the significance of the awards really suggests that we're not just national, either. We're actually global."

Former Freedom Award recipients include the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and President Bill Clinton.

At Saturday's ceremony, Memphis musician David Porter said the reach of the awards and the growing support of the museum is a testament to King's legacy.

"Having been born here, it's tremendously impactful to me," he said. "Being a part of the city during the Sixties and during the change, and seeing the progress that's been made in this city and in this country, is something great to see."

Robertson shared his sentiment.

"I think if King could come and see us now, I think he'd be proud of the tributes that are being paid to his legacy."

-- Scott Carroll: (901) 529-2322