50 Years after the Assassination of Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr. (1968-2018)

There are many people in human history who have enacted an international impact in how society will
change for the better. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one man who changed history forever. He sacrificed
his time and his life for social and racial justice. He believed in equality for all human life and he wanted
economic justice too. Also, he wasn't just a civil rights leader. Dr. King was a man with great intellect, he
had a great sense of humor (as attested to by his family and friends), and he loved to inspire others to
reach their highest potentials. We honor his contributions that justly and rightfully helped humanity. He
was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929. His father, grandfather, and great grandfather were
preachers. His father was Martin Luther King Sr., who was stern and a person who wanted his children to
express steadfastness against injustice. His mother was Alberta Williams King. She believed in equality and
instilled great values in her children too. His father opposed injustice and he was a well-known preacher in
Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. Dr. Martin Luther King Sr. was an active proponent of racial justice in
Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s middle class childhood was filled with experiences of
accomplishments, joy, tragedy, and racism. He was forced to stand up in a bus (because of Jim Crow laws)
after he was involved in a childhood academic competition (he said that the incident was the time when he
felt the angriest in his life). He saw his father experiencing racism. Still, perseverance outlined his early life
too.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. played sports (like football and basketball) and he was gifted with great
intelligence. He graduated from Booker T. Washington high school at the age of 15 and he went to
Morehouse College on September 20, 1944 in Atlanta. 2 years later, he published a letter to the Atlanta
Constitution that stated that black people “are entitled to the basic rights and opportunities of American
citizens.” Dr. King decided to be a minister and delivered his first prepared sermon in the Ebenezer Baptist
Church in Atlanta during the summer of 1947. He was 18 years old. He was ordained and appointed
assistant pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta in February 25, 1948. He was naturally gifted to be a
great orator (as his father was another great orator too). He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in
sociology from Morehouse College in June 8, 1948. Later, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. studied theology in
Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania and in Boston. In these universities, he believed in
Personalism and he questioned capitalism in his letters. He loved to synthesize information. In other words,
he evaluated philosophies in a meticulous fashion.

Early Life
Around this time, he met Coretta Scott King. Coretta Scott King was from Alabama. She was her own
woman and a great singer. Coretta Scott King was a political activist too who believed in peace, nuclear
disarmament, and civil rights for decades. Coretta said that she climbed trees as a young child. She joined
the Antioch branch of the NAACP (or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and
followed nonviolence throughout her life. She wanted to be a singer and she at first wasn’t initially
attracted to Dr. King until Dr. King shown his intellect about politics, civil rights, economics, etc. They both
were very intelligent and they loved each other. During early 1952, both Dr. King and Coretta Scott King
dated each other. They met Dr. King’s parents in August of 1952, who were Martin Luther King Sr. and
Alberta Williams King. Coretta’s sister was Edythe. Edythe was told by Coretta about his love for Dr. King.
On Valentine’s Day 1953, Dr. King and Coretta Scott King announced their plans to marry as found in the
Atlanta Daily World. Both of them married at the Scott home near Marion, Alabama on June 18, 1953. The
Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 and the evil murder of Emmett Till in 1955 galvanized even
more people in America to stand up and fight back against oppression in the Deep South and throughout
the Earth. In 1954, he was a preacher in Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. The
Montgomery Bus Boycott came about and King was chosen as President of the Montgomery Improvement
Association or the MIA. He was chosen since he was new to Montgomery and he wasn't tied up in the city's
politics so strongly.

Many men and women worked hard for the boycott to be successful. Claudette Colvin, Rosa Parks, Mary
Louise Smith, Jo Ann Robinson, Ralph Abernathy, E.D. Nixon, and many other heroes stood up to make the
boycott great too. Georgia Gilmore, midwife and cook in Montgomery, Alabama, was prominently involved
in the 1955 citywide bus boycotts. She started her own home-based restaurant and established The Club
From Nowhere, selling fresh baked goods and the proceeds went to the MIA (Montgomery Improvement
Association). The club name allowed them to earn money for the movement without raising the suspicion
of white officials and members of the Klan. Dr. King's home was bombed and he received threatening
phone calls (one such call in January 27, 1956 caused him to bow before his knees to pray to God.
According to him, a voice told him to keep on going and that he or God will never forsake him never). Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. also prevented many people from retaliating against white racists who destroyed his
home (since he believed in nonviolence). Dr. King was influential in causing an end to the bigoted practice
of segregated buses in Montgomery. The boycott ended by the Supreme Court decision ending segregated
buses in Montgomery, Alabama by December of 1956.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was also a

heroic critic of capitalism.
 The Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC)
Dr. King was transformed into unconditionally supporting Gandhian nonviolence (as he once owned a gun
in his home and he had armed bodyguards with him. Bayard Rustin was one man who inspired him
especially to advance the pacifist action of nonviolence). He was influenced by black people, white liberal
theologians, pacifists, Gandhi (back then, many people didn’t knew that Gandhi was a racist and a
hypocrite. Now, we do), and tons of other social activists who inspired him. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a
pacifist, a Baptist clergyman, and he criticized capitalism. For example, in Dr. King’s note to Coretta Scott
King in July 18, 1952, he wrote that,

“…By the way (to turn to something more intellectual) I have just completed Bellamy’s Looking
Backward. It was both stimulating and fascinating. There can be no doubt about it. Bellamy had the
insight of a social prophet as well as the fact finding mind of the social scientist. I welcomed the
book because much of its content is in line with my basic ideas. I imagine you already know that I
am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic. And yet I am not so opposed to
capitalism that I have failed to see its relative merits. It started out with a noble and high motive,
viz, to block the trade monopolies of nobles, but like most human system it fail victim to the very
thing it was revolting against. So today capitalism has outlived its usefulness. It has brought about a
system that takes necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes…”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke positively about democratic socialism. By the late 1950’s, Dr. King traveled
the country to speak in favor of civil rights. He traveled into Ghana (with his wife Coretta Scott King) to
celebrate its independence from colonialism. Ghana's independence was very important since it signified
the beginning of the end of overt colonialism in the Motherland of Africa. He traveled with Coretta Scott
King into India to study India and the nonviolent philosophy. By the late 1950's, the SCLC or the Southern
Christian Leadership Council was established in order to create voter registration, to fight poverty, to build
education, to promote workers' rights, and to ultimately end Jim Crow. On February 18, 1957, Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. was featured on the cover of TIME's magazine. Dr. King's book entitled, "Stride Toward
Freedom: The Montgomery Story" was published by September 17, 1957. The late 1950's saw a not very
strong Civil Rights bill passed and the evil of McCarthyism flourishing, but activism for change continued
unabated.

Dr. King was the President of the SCLC for the rest of his life. The SCLC organization moved from
Montgomery to Atlanta in 1960. On February 1, 1960, the modern sit in movement existed in Greensboro,
North Carolina (though sit-ins existed long before 1960) by young black college students (their names are
David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr., and Joseph McNeil). The sit-in happened in the
Woolworths restaurant. In February 1960, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his family moved into Atlanta
where he served as assistant pastor to his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

The Civil Rights Movement Grows

In 1960, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. met privately with then Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. JFK won
the election with the majority of the black vote, because he spoke in favor of civil rights. Yet, for most his
Presidency, JFK would act slow or in a gradual fashion on civil rights matters. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
would at times publicly criticize JFK for his slow, moderate response to civil rights issues too. He or the
President JFK would advocate a Civil Rights Bill in June of 1963 (after he was pressured by social activists to
do something about what was going on in Birmingham, etc.). The beginning of the 1960’s saw more sit-ins
in stores and the Freedom Riders developed (The Freedom Riders were people who wanted to integrate
bus terminals). The Freedom Riders wanted to enforce existing integration laws on interstate bus travel.
Attorney General Robert Kennedy during the early 1960's had a contentious, angry relationship with the
Freedom Riders and the civil rights movement since RFK wanted to use the law to solve problems without
massive demonstrations. RFK was wrong since an unjust law is no law at all and any person has the right to
express demonstrations and use militant action in fighting oppression. The May 24, 1963 meeting between
Attorney General Robert Kennedy and black civil rights activists (like James Baldwin, Harry Belafonte,
Lorraine Hansberry, Jerome Smith, etc.) was antagonistic as RFK wanted a more moderate approach to try
to solve racial discrimination in America. The civil rights activists rightfully wanted RFK to see that token
moderation is no solution and that revolutionary action is necessary to establish justice for black people. By
the late 1960's, Robert Kennedy changed and became more progressive on issues (to his credit. RFK, by the
late 1960's, would oppose apartheid, support gun control, and opposed LBJ's policies involving the Vietnam
War).

Dr. King wanted John F. Kennedy to issue a second Emancipation Proclamation to eliminate racial
segregation on October 16, 1961. By 1962, Dr. King worked in Albany, Georgia to fight for justice. The
Albany Movement in general lasted from October 1961 to August 1962. SNCC (with people like Charles
Sherrod, Cordell Reagon, and Charles Jones), NAACP, SCLC, Negro Voters League, Federation of Women's
Clubs, Ministerial Alliance, and other groups were involved in the Albany campaign. Dr. King wanted to end
segregation in public facilities, theaters, schools, etc. in Albany, Georgia. People also wanted voting
registration and voting rights in general. SNCC wanted Dr. King to go and be more aggressive in Albany. This
was one of the first times when SNCC questioned Dr. King's militancy. The Albany Chief of Police Laurie
Pritchett (a segregationist) read Dr. King's literature. He used the slick tactic of not being as provocative as
in other places in order to neutralize the Albany movement. Many members of the FBI in Albany and in
other places of the South stood by and did nothing when black people were being viciously assaulted by
white racists. Dr. King rightfully spoke out against the FBI evil, dubious actions. When Dr. King was in jail in
Albany, he was released quickly and the movement didn't grow momentum until later on. People in this
campaign used protests, sit-ins, rallies, and boycotts. Albany would eventually end Jim Crow, but the Albany
campaign ended in not a massive success.
Ultimately, Dr. King learned lessons from his experience in Albany in order for him to do much better during
the 1963 Birmingham campaign. In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King worked in Birmingham, Alabama (which
was heavily segregated, racist, and black people faced massive oppression) to fight segregation,
discrimination, racism, poverty, and economic deprivation in general. Pastor Frederick Lee "Fred"
Shuttlesworth was one of the many leaders of the Birmingham movement. He suffered assaults and other
injustices, but he continued forth as a man to stand up for his human rights. He promoted demonstrations
and was jailed in April of 1963. Dr. King wrote the famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” while he was in
a Birmingham jail to refute moderate Jewish and Christian clergymen (who wanted Dr. King to be patient
and be a token moderate in waiting for change). Dr. King’s letter was eloquent and refuted their words. In
that letter, Dr. King wrote that waiting for justice is not feasible since a person's freedom should never be
given based upon time. Freedom ought to be enacted by birthright and immediately since all people are
born free and all people are created equal. On May 7, 1963, the racist Bull Connor (the Police
Commissioner) used police dogs, clubs, water hoses, and cattle prods to brutalize and harm black men,
women, and children protesters in downtown Birmingham. This caused outrage worldwide. On June 12,
1963, Civil Rights Leader Medgar Evers (who advocated social justice and voting rights) was assassinated in
front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi.

On August 28, 1963, the March on Washington came about. It included people from across America to
promote civil rights and economic justice. It fulfilled the Dream of A. Philip Randolph who wanted such a
march for decades (he wanted a march in World War II. FDR issued an executive order that banned
discrimination in some aspects of jobs. This was the Executive Order 8802 from June 25, 1941, which
prohibited racial discrimination in the national defense industry. It was the first federal action, though not a
law, to promote equal opportunity and prohibit employment discrimination in the United States). The 1963
March on Washington was organized by A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, and so many other people. Civil
rights groups, labor rights groups, and religious groups were involved in the march. Almost 250,000 people
were in the March of Washington. Human beings among every color were there via planes, cars, trains, etc.
Women and men were crucial in organizing and executing the March on Washington movement. The
march explicitly called for: 'JOBS AND FREEDOM.' The 1963 March on Washington issued the public
demands of: real, meaningful civil rights legislation, immediate banning of school segregation, a public
works programs including job training for the unemployed, a ban of discrimination involving public and
private hiring, an increase of the minimum age, the Enforcement of the 14th Amendment to end
discrimination, and other actions.
 A Gallery of Heroes in the 1963 March on Washington

Ossie Davis was in the Gloria Richardson spoke Jackie Robinson and his Josephine Baker spoke
March on Washington as only temporarily at the son are here in D.C. to here in Washington, D.C.
a speaker. He was a social March on Washington. hear the speakers and in 1963 too. She was a
activist, a director, a poet, This showed that sexism stand up for equality and lifelong advocate for civil
an actor, and a is found during that time justice for the human rights and she readily
playwright. He was an back then and today. race. Jackie Robinson was lived in France. She
outstanding black man Gloria Richardson is a a legendary baseball helped to defeat the
whose excellence inspires great warrior for justice player and a great Nazis during World War II
us to this very day. His to this very day. advocate for civil rights. and lived to see the end
wife Ruby Dee was a of the evil of Jim Crow
legend too. apartheid.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In the speech, he gave the famous
words of:

"...But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro
is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred
years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material
prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and
finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful
condition...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be
judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!..And when
this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet,
from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black
men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in
the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

After the march, he and other civil rights leaders visited President John F. Kennedy and Vice President
Lyndon Johnson. Dr. King published his second book entitled, "The Strength to Love" on September 1,
1963. In the midst of such profound inspiration, comes more tragedy.

On September 15, 1963, four innocent little girls were killed by white racists as a product of the bombing of
the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Their names are Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise
McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Dianne Wesley. These little girls just wanted to worship God
peacefully.

Dr. King delivered the emotional eulogy. Angela Davis

and Condoleezza Rice knew the four victims. On
October 10, 1963, U.S. Attorney General Robert
Kennedy authorized the FBI to wiretap King’s home
phone, which was wrong. JFK would be assassinated on
November 22, 1963 in the midst of him moving in a
more progressive direction as compared to 1961. Time
Magazine called Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Man of the
Year” on January 3, 1964. Dr. King continued onward.
He supported the War on Poverty. He fought for
change in St. Augustine, Florida. He also met Malcolm X
On January 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson for the first and only time in the Washington, D.C.
meets with civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther Congress building on March 26, 1964. Both of them
King Jr., Whitney Young, and James Farmer. were monitoring the Congressional debates on the Civil
Rights Bill. They each shook hands. On June 4, 1964, Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. published his third book called, "Why We Can't Wait." He supported the group of
CORE including the SCLC individuals organizing the Mississippi Freedom Summer campaign (which wanted
black people in Mississippi to vote by registration and they wanted to end racial injustice. This happened
during the Summer of 1964. Freedom Summer included both black and white young people who worked
together in solidarity in desiring equality, freedom, and justice). The FBI via Hoover slandered the civil rights
movement as Communist inspired, which was a slander. The movement for black liberation existed long
before Karl Marx was ever born. Hoover was the ultimate hypocrite since he lectured others on law and
integrity, but he executed illegal surveillance against people who disagreed with his backward political
views.

Also, people have the right to be non-Communist, a Communist, a socialist, etc. if they want to in a truly
free society. People have the right to the freedom of speech and the freedom of association. Paul Robeson
and Claudia Jones were Communists, but they were great, lifelong advocates for justice. J. Edgar Hoover
was a notorious liar, a hypocrite, and he violated the law on many times to violate the human rights of the
people from the progressive movement, etc. On June 21, 1964, three civil rights workers (who worked in
Freedom Summer, which was a multiracial movement that wanted black people in Mississippi to vote, to
get educational opportunities, and live their lives in total freedom. This movement started in the Summer
of 1964) disappeared. James Chaney, a young black Mississippian and plasterer's apprentice; and two
Jewish activists, Andrew Goodman, a Queens College anthropology student; and Michael Schwerner, a
CORE organizer from Manhattan's Lower East Side, were found dead weeks later. They were murdered by
white racists. This tragic story caused more people to join the cause of racial justice. The historic Civil Rights
Act was signed on July 2, 1964. It banned discrimination in public places. In 1964, organizers launched the
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) to challenge the all-white official Democratic Mississippi
party. Sister Ella Baker said that the MFDP was open to all people irrespective of color. When Mississippi
voting registrars refused to recognize their candidates, they held their own primary.

They selected Fannie Lou Hamer, Annie Devine, and Victoria Gray to run for Congress, and a slate of
delegates to represent Mississippi at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. The mainstream
Democratic Party leadership wanted MFDP to compromise, but the MFDP rightfully refused to do so.

Fannie Lou Hamer gave her famous speech in Atlantic City, New Jersey (in the 1964
Democratic National Convention) to condemn injustice. Fannie Lou Hamer said the
following words:

"...I was in jail when Medgar Evers was murdered. All of this is on account of we want to
register, to become first-class citizens. And if the Freedom Democratic Party is not seated
now, I question America. Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave,
where we have to sleep with our telephones off the hooks because our lives be threatened
daily, because we want to live as decent human beings, in America? Thank you..."

Johnson offered the MFDP a "compromise" under which it would receive two non-voting, at-large seats,
while the white delegation sent by the official Democratic Party would retain its seats. The MFDP angrily
rejected the "compromise." Later, many activists from those from SNCC felt disillusionment about
bourgeois politics (as the Democratic and the Republican capitalist parties have oppressed black people,
etc. for decades and centuries) and left the Democratic Party to be more politically independent. The MFDP
continued to exist until 1968.

Selma
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway in December 10,
1964 (for the cause of civil rights in advancement of nonviolence). He sent every penny of the $54,000
award to the civil rights movement. Coretta Scott King was there with him in Norway as well. Back in the
States, Dr. King worked in Selma to fight for voting rights by early 1965. The movement of Selma, Alabama
is the peak of the mainstream civil rights movement of the 1960’s in terms of collective unity among
organizations. Malcolm X, James Forman, Coretta Scott King, John Lewis, Amelia Platts Boynton Robinson,
and others supported the Selma voting rights movement. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were
great people of the black freedom movement. They disagreed on nonviolence. Malcolm X believed in self-
defense and he refused to be a pacifist in the face of white racist terrorism. Malcolm X was a famous leader
in the Nation of Islam (in that organization, he believed in a separate black state, he denounced the civil
rights movement, and he spoke courageously against police brutality) and he left in 1964. He left Elijah
Muhammad, because Malcolm X believed that the NOI in his mind was not doing enough in terms of
political activism to cause real social change for black people (and because of the accusations of Elijah
Muhammad committing adultery, etc.). Malcolm X felt betrayed. After his Hajj, Malcolm X was changed
forever. He believed in judging a person on a person’s conscious behavior not on skin color. He formed
Muslim Mosque Inc. to accept Muslims in the course of spiritual matters. In 1965, Malcolm X said that he
didn't believe in segregation and he believed in freedom for black people along with the right of self-
defense.

Malcolm X also formed the OAAU (or the Organization of Afro-American Unity) in 1964 to unite black
people regardless of religion to fight for the human rights of black people in America including the world (as
Malcolm X believed in pan-African unity). Malcolm X also supported the 1964 boycott of New York City
public schools, because the schools had discriminatory policies against Black and Puerto Rican students.
Both Dr. King and Malcolm X did agree on many issues though. They agreed that Black is Beautiful, they
opposed the Vietnam War, they opposed the deception shown by many in the mainstream media (in how
some in the media falsely portray the victim as the criminal and how some of them falsely presented the
oppressor in positive terms), and they expressed reservations about capitalism (by their own words). They
both wanted total equality, freedom, and justice for all black people. Malcolm X would be more progressive
and he supported the rights of women. In 1965, Malcolm X supported the Selma campaign. He was
assassinated on February 21, 1965. We know how the NYPD, BOSSI, and the CIA monitored Malcolm X. Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. expressed great sadness and sympathy over his assassination and he gave
condolences to Sister Betty Shabbaz (or the wife of Malcolm X). Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. mentioned these
words on Malcolm X:

"...He was an eloquent spokesman for his point of view and no one can honestly
doubt that Malcolm had a great concern for the problems that we face as a race.
While we did not always see eye to eye on methods to solve the race problems, I
always had a deep affection for Malcolm and felt that he had the great ability to
 put his finger on the existence and root of the problem..."

RIP Brother Malcolm X.

Bloody Sunday happened in Selma when the police brutalized innocent protesters at the Edmund Pettis
Bridge in Selma. They or the marchers tried to march to Montgomery. Dr. King didn’t go into the next
march across the bridge (he marched in Turnaround Tuesday), but he did after the judge ended the
injunction and allowed demonstrations to conduct their march to the Capitol of Alabama. Dr. King gave a
great speech in Montgomery, Alabama after the third successful march. The Voting Rights Act was signed
on August 6, 1965.

A New Era (The Movement in the North and the

West)
After Selma (which started a new phrase of the civil rights movement), Dr. King worked on civil rights
endeavors and he discussed on what to do next. On August 11-12, 1965, the Watts Rebellion erupted in
California when thirty-five people died. The National Guard had been called in to calm down the situation.
The rebellion in Los Angeles represented the need for economic and civil rights concerns to be taken more
seriously in the West Coast, the Midwest, and in the North. People in Los Angeles back then were tired of
oppression. Many of the West Coast were victims of racism, police brutality, and economic oppression. The
rebellion of Watts represented a new era in American history. Martin Luther King Jr. worked more in the
North and the Midwest by 1966-1967 in Cleveland, New York City, Milwaukee, and Chicago (to battle
against de facto discrimination, to fight against poverty, to desire fair wages, to desire better health care
for all people, to fight for housing rights, and to fight against slums).
De jure segregation is Jim Crow or segregation that was promoted via unjust laws. De facto discrimination
was segregation made by practice not necessarily by unjust laws. Dr. King wanted great housing too for
human beings, so human beings can live out the full capacity of their happiness. He made great victories in
Cleveland in 1967 and the victory wasn’t big in Chicago though in 1966 (though something is better than
nothing). Dr. King worked with the Black P. Stone Rangers (which was a Chicago black gang) in order to
inspire them to promote nonviolence (plus reject intraracial gun violence) and advance the Chicago
Freedom Movement in constructive ways. SCLC's Operation Breadbasket (which wanted to promote job
and economic opportunities for black people and punish racist corporations via boycott if they refused to
be fair in their dealings with black Americans) was Dr. King’s famous activist organization to fight for
economic justice for human beings, especially black people. Jesse Jackson worked heavily in Operation
Breadbasket too.

Dr. King criticized the Vietnam War as early as 1965 and by January 1966, he went into Chicago. He wanted
to end housing discrimination in Chicago. He also wanted to abolish poverty and slums in Chicago. He led
protests, but a reluctant local city government (headed by Chicago mayor Richard Daley) forced Dr. King to
make an agreement. That agreement was heavily moderate. Federal housing legislation would come late in
1968. On February 23, 1966, he met with the Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad. They met at Elijah
Muhammad's Chicago home. Both men had similarities. Each were born in Georgia, both were sons of
Baptist preachers, both were victims of racism, both were leaders of their respective organizations (which
was either the SCLC or the Nation of Islam), both were anti-war, and both were illegally spied by the FBI
(The COINTELPRO document explicitly targeted Dr. King and Elijah Muhammad as a potential "Black
Messiah"). The purpose of the Dr. King and Elijah Muhammad 1966 meeting was for them to fight slums in
Chicago where poor black people suffered horrible conditions of poverty, economic exploitation, police
brutality, and struggling schools. Dr. King joked with Elijah Muhammad about both of them being "Georgia
boys" since they were from Georgia. Dr. King didn't agree with the NOI on every issue, but Dr. King did
found common ground in the meeting to fight against slums, to promote self-determination in the black
community, and to end colonialism. Even after being hit in the head with a rock in the Chicago area, Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. always stood up for his convictions.

In the March against Fear march from Memphis to Jackson, Mississippi (by 1966), Dr. King heard Kwame
Ture of SNCC speak about Black Power. Floyd McKissick of CORE also supported Black Power. They marched
in Mississippi after James Meredith was shot and wounded near Memphis. Roy Wilkins and Whitney Young
didn't participate in the march in Mississippi, because of their disagreements with Kwame Ture. Kwame
Ture wanted Dr. King to wholeheartedly embrace the concept of Black Power. Dr. King took a nuisance view
of Black Power. He believed in black people organizing economic and political power and he believed in the
value of blackness, but he rejected separatism. Dr. King told his staff on November 14, 1966 that Black
Power ‘‘was born from the wombs of despair and disappointment. Black Power is a cry of pain. It is in fact a
reaction to the failure of White Power to deliver the promises and to do it in a hurry.… The cry of Black
Power is really a cry of hurt." In his last written book entitled, "Where Do We Go From Here," Dr. King
wrote the following words:

“Black Power, in its broad and positive meaning, is a call to black people to amass the
political and economic strength to achieve their legitimate goals. No one can deny that the
Negro is in dire need of this kind of legitimate power. Indeed, one of the great problems
that the Negro confronts is his lack of power. From the old plantations of the South to the
newer ghettos of the North, the Negro has been confined to a life of voicelessness and
powerlessness. …The plantation and the ghetto were created by those who had power both
to confine those who had no power and to perpetuate their powerlessness. The problem of
transforming the ghetto is, therefore, a problem of power – a confrontation between the
forces of power demanding change and the forces of power dedicated to preserving the
status quo.” (Where Do We Go From Here, pp. 36-37).

On July 18-23, 1966, The National Guard was called in when Summer rebellions break out in Chicago,
Illinois, Cleveland, Ohio, and Omaha, Nebraska. In the same year, the Black Panther Party existed to
promote self-defense and oppose police terrorism in Oakland including all over America. Dr. King also
focused more on poverty and developed a class analysis in seeing that poverty affects people of every color
and a radical redistribution of political and economic power must come about to end poverty in America.

Opposition to the Vietnam War

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. issued public statements against the Vietnam War as early as 1965. He took a
vacation in Jamaica in January 1967 in order for him to relax and work on his final book entitled, "Where do
we go from Here?" In Jamaica, he talked with Bevel. Later, after seeing images of napalmed Vietnamese
children in the Rampant magazine, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was fully was dedicated to oppose that evil,
unjust war in Vietnam. He returned into the States from Jamaica with a firm determination. By early 1967,
he opposed the Vietnam War in public in a higher level. He was later heavily criticized by the moderate civil
rights leaders, by the President Lyndon Baines Johnson, by far right reactionaries (who have a morbid fear
of Communism instead of a love of racial justice), and by the mainstream media for his anti-war stance. He
continued onward regardless. Whitney Young and Dr. King had an argument about the war in Long Island,
NY. Later, both men would continue their discussion. Whitney Young would continue to support the war
until after Dr. King's assassination. He gave his famous “Beyond Vietnam” speech to a group of Clergy and
Laymen Concerned about Vietnam at Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967, which as one year
to the day before his assassination. He wanted the U.S. to end the Vietnam War and send U.S. troops
home. In that speech in Riverside Church, he condemned the anti-religious liberty actions of Diem (who
brutalized Buddhists. Dr. King also condemned the corrupt General Ky). Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
condemned the United States government as the greatest purveyor of violence in the world. He wanted an
end to militarism, materialism, economic exploitation, and racism. He wanted colonialism to end and he
desired capitalistic exploitation to cease.

Here is part of that courageous, historic speech which was said in NYC:

"Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to
the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are
being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying
the double price of smashed hopes at home, and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a
citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as one who
loves America, to the leaders of our own nation: The great initiative in this war is ours; the
initiative to stop it must be ours. A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and
say of war, 'This way of settling differences is not just.' This business of burning human beings with
napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of
hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending menhome from dark and bloody
battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with
wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on
military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."

-A Time to Break Silence, Speech by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. April 4, 1967

Immediately after Dr. King's historic Riverside Church speech in New York City, the political and media
establishment harshly and unfairly criticized Dr. King. One editorial from the NY Times criticized Dr. King for
trying to unite the peace and civil rights movements. Someone from the Washington Post criticized him.
Life magazine slandered him too. Carl Rowan (he was a black man with ties to the United States
Information Agency) in reader's Digest criticized Dr. King for his views on opposing the Vietnam War. The
leadership of the NAACP was pro-Vietnam War (like Roy Wilkins until after Dr. King was assassinated) and
they didn't want to make waves against Lyndon Baines Johnson. Yet, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was
courageous to stick by his anti-war convictions and he refused to back down. Dr. King answered the press's
questions about his opposition to the Vietnam War. He goes from NYC to Los Angeles, San Francisco. By
April 14, 1967, Dr. King goes into Palo Alto, California where he gives a speech. He later participates in the
Mobilization March from Central Park to the United Nations.

Many people like Levison (his close adviser) didn't want him to go to the march because they didn't want
him associated with those deemed more "radical" like Kwame Ture (he opposed the Vietnam War) and
other anti-war activists. Dr. King takes James Bevel's advice to join the Mobilization March. Dr. King on April
15, 1967 participated in the march with Harry Belafonte, Kwame Ture, Dr. Benjamin Spock, and Dave
Dellinger. The protesters numbered in 125,000 people. Kwame Ture gave his speech. The crowd marched
to the United Nations and Dr. King also gives a speech in front of the United Nations building. He
encourages people to be a conscientious objector. On April 30, 1967, Dr. King gave his historic "Why I am
Opposed to the Vietnam War" speech in the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. King invited
Kwame Ture to the church and he agrees to come.

After the speech, Kwame Ture applauded Dr. King heroic, courageous words. Dr. King spoke the following
words in the sermon on April 30, 1967:

"...For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of
thousands trembling under our violence I cannot be silent. Been a lot of applauding over the last few
years. They applauded our total movement; they've applauded me. America and most of its newspapers
applauded me in Montgomery. And I stood before thousands of Negroes getting ready to riot when my
home was bombed and said, we can't do it this way. They applauded us in the sit-in movement--we
non-violently decided to sit in at lunch counters. The applauded us on the Freedom Rides when we
accepted blows without retaliation. They praised us in Albany and Birmingham and Selma, Alabama. Oh,
the press was so noble in its applause, and so noble in its praise when I was saying, Be non-violent
toward Bull Connor; when I was saying, Be non-violent toward [Selma, Alabama segregationist sheriff]
Jim Clark. There's something strangely inconsistent about a nation and a press that will praise you
when you say, Be non-violent toward Jim Clark, but will curse and damn you when you say, "Be
non-violent toward little brown Vietnamese children. There's something wrong with that
press!...With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this
faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our world into a beautiful symphony of
brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to speed up the day when justice will roll down like waters,
and righteousness like a mighty stream. With this faith we will be able to speed up the day when the
lion and the lamb will lie down together, and every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree, and
none shall be afraid because the words of the Lord have spoken it. With this faith we will be able to
speed up the day when all over the world we will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old
Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we're free at last!" With this faith, we'll
sing it as we're getting ready to sing it now. Men will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears
into pruning hooks. And nations will not rise up against nations, neither shall they study war anymore.
And I don't know about you, I ain't gonna study war no more."
 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a constant traveler. He used jets and planes constantly to travel nationwide
and worldwide to spread his message of peace, justice, and nonviolence. Dr. King traveled into Louisville,
Kentucky on May 10, 1967 to join with his younger brother A.D. King (and others) to fight housing
discrimination. Many landlords were discriminating against people based upon race and that is wrong. He
told 75 white people in Louisville's South End to promote equality. The whites there became angry and
almost hit him with a rock. Photojournalist Ken Rowland provided more context to the encounter in
“Freedom on the Border: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky,” a collection by
Catherine Fosl and Tracy E. K’Meyer. Rowland was at the corner of Central and Taylor, waiting for King to
arrive, when King’s car pulled up and he began speaking to two little white girls.

Rowland mentioned this information: “And all of a sudden, one of the kids spit at King. Little white girl.
Neighborhood kids. And one little girl said, “I hate you.” And I heard King say, “I love you.” The rock (that
almost hit Dr. King) fell into the car, and King took it with him to the podium, where he addressed a West
End church later that night, saying “Upon this rock, we are going to build an open city.”

Well known Anti-Vietnam War Demonstrations

The massive April 15, 1967 On October 21, 1967, there On November 15, 1969, This protests against the
demonstrations in New York was the March on the crowds of up to half a million Vietnam War existed in
City and across the world Pentagon. It was a large people participated in an Washington D.C. on April 24,
were in opposition to the demonstration organized by anti-war demonstration in 1971. Anti-War war protests
Vietnam War. On this day, the National Mobilization Washington, D.C. and a continue heavily into 1972.
400,000 people (being Committee to End the War in similar demonstration was The anti-war movement
organized by the Spring Vietnam. It included a crowd held in San Francisco. These persists today during the 21st
Mobilization Committee to of nearly 100,000 meeting at protests were organized by century in the year of 2018.
end the Vietnam War) the Lincoln Memorial in the New Mobilization We won’t stop, because we
marched from Central to the Washington, D.C. and at least Committee to End the War in can’t stop. We will always
UN building in New York City. 30,000 people then marched Vietnam (New Mobe) and the believe in social justice and
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to the Pentagon for another Student Mobilization human freedom.
Benjamin Spock, and others rally and an all-night vigil. Committee to End the War in
spoke at that rally. On the Vietnam (SMC).
same date 100,000,
including Coretta Scott King,
marched in San Francisco.
By the end of 1967, Louisville would finally pass an open housing ordinance. Frankfort (in KY) would do the
same in 1968. Louisville is Muhammad Ali's hometown. By this time, Ali is overtly against the Vietnam War
and Dr. King supports his decision. Both Muhammad Ali and Dr. King were friends.

By the third week of May 1967, he traveled into South Carolina (from Savannah, Georgia. Tom Barnwell
greets him). He came into St. Helena Island as a place to relax and discuss strategy with the SCLC. About 70
SCLC staff members were there. There are young people there who want changes. In the meeting, Frieda
Mitchell talked to Dr. King. She was a teacher who would be the first black school board member of
Deaufort County, South Carolina (in Penn Center). She talks about her unjust mistreatment by racists and
Dr. King inspires her. Other members in the discussion debate tactics, money, and some want to just focus
on the Poor People's Campaign. In the meeting, Dr. King warned that the road ahead would be much
harder.

“It is necessary for us to realize that we have moved from the era of civil rights to the era of
human rights ... when you deal with human rights, you are not dealing with something clearly
defined in the Constitution,” Burton quotes King as saying at Penn in May 1967. “They are rights
that are clearly defined by the mandates of humanitarian concern ... We are talking about a
good, solid, well-paying job. We are talking about a good, sound, sanitary house. We are talking
not merely about desegregated education, but we are talking about quality education.”

The early Six Day War in the Middle East of June of 1967 shocked the world. Israel executed a quick
preemptive strike against Egyptian plus other Muslim forces. Israel receives an easy victory in a matter of
days. Many people celebrate and others don't. Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Syria were defeated. It also relates
to the African American and Jewish relationship in America. Many black people and Jewish people were
united in civil rights. Yet, many younger black people viewed Israel with suspicion and view it as an imperial
force against Palestinians. One person who believed in this view was of course Kwame Ture. Christian
theologians signed a document calling for Johnson to back Israel. Yet, Dr. King (in private) said that he
didn't read the text and he wouldn't have signed it if he known of its contents. FBI wiretaps recorded this
conversation with his ally Stanley Levison. On June 6, 1967 (which was a day after the Six Day War started),
Dr. King said the following words:

"...Did you seen the ad in the New York Times Sunday [June 4)? This was the ad that they got me to sign
with [John C.] Bennett. I really hadn't seen the statement. I felt, after seeing it, it was a little unbalanced
and pro-Israel. It put us in the position almost of setting turning hawks on the Middle East while being
doves on Vietnam and I wouldn't have given a statement like that at all."

On June 18, Dr. King appeared on the ABC Sunday interview program, “Issues and Answers.” He answered
the question on whether Israel should give back the land it has taken in the conflict without certain
guarantees of security. Dr. King gave the following answer: “Well, I think these guarantees should all be
worked out by the United Nations. I would hope that all of the nations, and particularly the Soviet Union
and the United States and I would say France and Great Britain, these four powers can really determine
how the situation is going. I think that the Israelis will have to have access to the Gulf of Aqaba. I mean the
very survival of Israel may well depend on access to not only the Suez Canal, but the Gulf and the Strait of
Tiran. These things are very important. But I think for the ultimate peace and security of the situation, it will
probably be necessary for Israel to give up this conquered territory because to hold on to it will only
exacerbate the tensions and deepen the bitterness of the Arabs.”

Dr. King supported Israel’s right to exist, but he didn’t want it to hold onto territories that it conquered. Dr.
King believed in a Marshall Plan to help those of Arabic descent in the Middle East. The day after the case-
fire, Dr. King told his advisors that Israel “now faces the danger of being smug and unyielding.” Dr. King
canceled his trip to Israel in late 1967, because he wanted to be balanced in his approach to Middle Eastern
affairs (while having solidarity with Africa and Asia.). He planned for a new trip to Israel in 1968, but it never
came because of his assassination. Therefore, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted a balanced, moderate
approach to Middle East affairs in acknowledging the humanity among both sides.

On June 13, 1967, President Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court following the
retirement of Justice Tom C. Clark, saying that this was "the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the
right man and the right place." He was appointed by August 30, 1967. A lot of people don't know that
Marshall didn't like Dr. King on many issues. Marshall criticized Dr. King because of his policies of civil
disobedience and social activism in the streets. He said that Dr. King benefited from his legal efforts.
Marshall was the man who argued in the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954. While Thurgood
Marshall was right to support many progressive causes, he supported Johnson's policies in Vietnam. Dr.
King rightfully opposed the Vietnam War. While Marshall worked with Hoover in eliminating Communists in
the NAACP, Dr. King opposed Hoover's extremism and Hoover illegally wiretapped Dr. King (and his
advisors). Marshall said that Dr. King was a bad organizer and he opposed Malcolm X in harsh terms. The
truth is that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a great organizer and Malcolm X has built up consciousness of
tons of black people worldwide. Now, you know the truth. Still, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. took the high
road. When other black leaders and white reactionaries attacked Dr. King, he didn't respond in kind. Dr.
King maintained his principles while not demonizing his critics in public. That takes a lot of strength and
courage.

In 1967, more rebellions happened in Detroit, Newark, Cincinnati, Buffalo, and Cambridge (in Maryland).
Dr. Martin Luther King condemned violence, but he said that a riot is the language of the unheard. We have
to know the causes of the rebellions (which included poverty, police occupation, desperation, hurt,
discrimination, etc.) in order for anyone to establish solutions. Dr. King wanted Congress to pass federal
legislation to address the needs of black people suffering in the ghettos of America. The FBI continued to
illegally monitor Dr. King, other civil rights leaders, and the rest of the progressive movement (which
included the Black Panthers, SNCC, the NAACP, other anti-war activists, student activist groups, the SDS,
labor rights groups, women rights groups, Native American groups, Latinx rights groups, etc.). The anti-war
movement was diverse and international in its influence too.
 The Poor People's Campaign
He published his “Where do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community” book on June 1967. The book was
ahead of its time and it was very enlightening. It would be his final book that he would write. By August 2,
1967, Dr. King tried to travel via airplane from Atlanta to Louisville to call for voter registration. He missed
his flight, but is encouraged by his wife Coretta Scott King to keep on moving forward and people believe in
him. He takes another flight to go into Louisville. On August 1967, he addressed black radio deejays to talk
about racism, contrasting the views of Booker T. Washington to active social activism, and calls for justice.
On August 31, 1967, Dr. King attended the National Conference of New Politics (in the Chicago Coliseum). It
was a meeting of the New Left, black activists, and other progressives in trying to form a strategy for a
possible third party movement. It was organized by Martin Peretz. It was used to try to organize the anti-
war movement, but it failed. In recent years, Dr. King's speech there has been praised as revolutionary (as it
was since it criticized capitalism, it exposed FBI illegal surveillance, it condemned the Vietnam War, and
called for economic justice. In my view, it is his most progressive, revolutionary public speech that he has
given). It was one of his most radical speeches. Yet, back then, many people booed him and disrespected
him for no reason. It is called the “The Three Evils of Society” speech as it is also found in YouTube where
people have praised it today. In that speech, he said the following words:

“…When scientific power outruns moral power, we end up with guided missiles and misguided men. When
we foolishly maximize the minimum and minimize the maximum, we sign the warrant for our own day of
doom. It is this moral lag in our thing-oriented society that blinds us to the human reality around us and
encourages us in the greed and the exploitation which creates the sector of poverty in the midst of wealth.
Again we have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that Capitalism grew and prospered out of the
protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifice. The fact is that Capitalism was built on the exploitation and
suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor both black and white, both
here and abroad…”
On September 1, 1967, he gave another speech for the American Psychological Association in Washington,
D.C. It is called, "The Role of the Behavioral Scientist in the Civil Rights Movement." It talked about the
psychological harm racism has done to black children, complex explanations of the rebellions in the cities of
America, opposition to the Vietnam War, and his call for justice. By mid-September 1967, he goes into
Warrenton, Virginia at the Airlie Center to plan for the future with his staff. Funds are short, so the SCLC
uses a fundraising effort to get economic funds. He received an honorary degree on November 13, 1967 at
the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in England. Also on 1967, track stars Tommie Smith, Lee Evans, John
Carlos and others were organizing the Olympic Project for Human Rights arguing that African-American
athletes should boycott the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Their demands were to have Muhammad Ali's
title restored, to have apartheid South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) disinvited from the Olympics,
to hire more African- American coaches and to see IOC president Avery Brundage removed after 32 years of
iron rule.

Many moderate civil rights leaders viewed this proposed boycott as unpatriotic, but Dr. King supported the
young athletes 100%. Dr. King offered his unwavering support saying, "This is a protest and a struggle
against racism and injustice and that is what we are working to eliminate in our organization and in our
total struggle ... No one looking at these demands can ignore the truth of them. Freedom always
demands sacrifice and ... they have the courage to say, 'We're going to be men and the United States of
America have deprived us of our manhood, of our dignity and our native worth, and consequently we're
going to stand up and make the sacrifices ..." By November 1967, Eugene McCarthy declares his candidacy
for President, which was before Robert Kennedy doing it.

He formed the Poor Peoples’ Campaign in Washington, D.C. (which was inspired from Marian Wright
Edelman and so many other human beings) to try to force the government to end poverty with living
wages, economic rights given to people, and an end to racial injustice. Marian Wright Edelman was a civil
rights advocate and children’s rights advocate too. She allowed Robert F. Kennedy to witness the massive
poverty in America firsthand in the Deep South. The Poor People’s Campaign was progressive, multiracial,
and it was very inspirational. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went in Mississippi and in other places of America to
gain funds and resources to develop it. The problem is that many people opposed it, even some of his
closest advisers.
On early December 1967, he travels to Bimini in the Bahamas. He relaxes and meets Adam Clayton Powell.
By this time, Powell supports Black Power and rejects nonviolence as a way of life. Dr. King also spoke in
support of imprisoned anti-war activists in Santa Rita, California on December 14, 1967. In that speech, he
expressed support and solidarity with people from the peace movement (with people like Joan Baez, Dr.
Spock, and others. Some anti-war activists were imprisoned at the Santa Rita rehabilitation center) in
eloquent terms. In that speech, he said the following accurate words: "...There can be no justice without
peace and there can be no peace without justice...." This December 14, 1967 speech was part of a
broadcast narrated by Colin Edwards of Pacifica Radio and was aired on January 14, 1968. On Christmas Eve
1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. expressed his sermon on peace (as recorded by the Massey Lectures). He
spoke of this sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church (in Atlanta, Georgia). He talked about the interrelatedness
of humankind and how we have to either have nonviolence or nonexistence.

Sister Xernona Clayton Brady was one of the closest friends and advisers to Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. being am member of the Ebenezer Baptist Church where Dr. King was the
pastor of back then. She was also a great friend to Coretta Scott King. They traveled to
concert tours together. She worked for the National Urban League and the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference. She was the first African American from the South to
host a daily prime time talk show. She created the Trumpet Awards Foundation as well.
Xernona Clayton co-authored a revised edition of her first husband’s biography of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. It is entitled, The Peaceful Warrior. Her first husband (whose name
was Ed Clayton) passed away in 1966. Her husband now is the first African American to be
appointed as a Federal Administrative Law Judge. His name is Paul L. Brady. Her civil
rights activism and broadcasting history represent excellence personified. She is almost 88
years old. I wish more blessings for Sister Xernona Clayton Brady.
Dr. King’s famous Christmas sermon would be his last Christmas sermon in his life. Some of his words in the
sermon include the following:

"...And the leaders of the world today talk eloquently about peace. Every time we drop our bombs
in North Vietnam, President Johnson talks eloquently about peace. What is the problem? They are
talking about peace as a distant goal, as an end we seek, but one day we must come to see that
peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal.
We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means. All of this is saying that, in the final
analysis, means and ends must cohere because the end is preexistent in the means, and ultimately
destructive means cannot bring about constructive ends.

Now let me say that the next thing we must be concerned about if we are to have peace on earth
and good will toward men is the nonviolent affirmation of the sacredness of all human life. Every
man is somebody because he is a child of God. And so when we say "Thou shalt not kill," we're
really saying that human life is too sacred to be taken on the battlefields of the world. Man is more
than a tiny vagary of whirling electrons or a wisp of smoke from a limitless smoldering. Man is a
child of God, made in His image, and therefore must be respected as such. Until men see this
everywhere, until nations see this everywhere, we will be fighting wars. One day somebody should
remind us that, even though there may be political and ideological differences between us, the
Vietnamese are our brothers, the Russians are our brothers, the Chinese are our brothers; and one
day we've got to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. But in Christ there is neither Jew
nor Gentile. In Christ there is neither male nor female. In Christ there is neither Communist nor
capitalist. In Christ, somehow, there is neither bound nor free. We are all one in Christ Jesus. And
when we truly believe in the sacredness of human personality, we won't exploit people, we won't
trample over people with the iron feet of oppression, we won't kill anybody..."
 Memphis and the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr.
On January of 1968, in Atlanta, his staff celebrates his final Birthday on Earth as a thirty-nine year old man.
Andrew Young is with him along with a black woman sending him a cup in a funny way to make light of the
War on Poverty. He continues to try to gain funds for the Poor People's Campaign, but many of his closest
advisers are skeptical of his plan. Some want to focus on voting, some want to deal with Operation
Breadbasket, and some want to delay the march to Washington for months after April 1968. Yet, Dr. King is
steadfast in working on his goals. Dorothy Cotton is one of his closest friends too. On February 4, 1968,
Martin Luther King, Jr. preached ‘‘The Drum Major Instinct’’ from the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church in
Atlanta, Georgia. This was one of his great speeches and it would be two months before his assassination.
In his speech, he outlined the great definition of leadership. Leadership is not about egoism, but Dr. King
wanted to stress the point that the greatest leader is the person who serves the people and the interests of
the people too. He used biblical imagery in his sermon and other concepts in conveying his message. For
example, Dr. King described the life of Jesus Christ as a person who wasn't rich, was harmed, and he was
rejected by many, but he was a great leader. The reason was that Jesus Christ served his community,
helped the sick, and transformed the lives of fellow people in a great way with his compassionate love for
the human race.

Love being a powerful force can make a way to social renewal and a transformation of society. He also
wanted his congregation to know that he was a drum major for justice, for peace, and for helping the
hungry. He wanted to imagine if his funeral took place and people wanted to decipher his legacy. It was a
sermon that wanted human beings to realize that material possessions are not more important than
helping humanity in positive ways. On February 8, 1968, Dr. King was on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show.
Harry Belafonte is the host. Dr. King shows humors and talks about politics. Belafonte asks Dr. King does he
fears for his life. Dr. King responds in the following words: "... I'm far more concerned about doing
something for humanity and what I consider the will of God than longevity. Ultimately it isn't an
important how long you live. The important thing is how well you live." He's right on that point.
Afterwards, Dr. King traveled into Philadelphia and learns more about the Memphis sanitation strike on
February 1968. At February of 1968, he also was in a preacher's conference in Miami.

One of the most unsung events of the life of Dr. King was his speech honoring Dr. W.E.B Du Bois on
February 23, 1968. This was very near to the end of his life. Back then, Dr. King was very unpopular. Most
Americans didn't agree with his opposition to the Vietnam War. Moderate black civil rights leaders didn't
like his views on opposing that war and his views on combating poverty by a redistribution of wealth. Many
black people (who called themselves "militant" but weren't militant enough to fight in the class struggle for
proletarian liberation) hated his views in support of nonviolence and using protest in getting solutions
made. White racists hated his anti-war views, his pro-labor views, his promotion of racial justice, and his
pro-economic justice views. So, he was attacked by many quarters. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his
speech at Carnegie Hall in New York City. He said that Du Bois represented black intellectual strength and
that he was courageous to expose Jim Crow apartheid in eloquent, honest terms. Du Bois mastered the
sociological research of black and poor human beings. His studies cultivated a greater understanding about
sociology. Dr. King gave his speech to celebrate the 100th Birthday of Du Bois and praise his research on the
history of Reconstruction (which was a noble experiment and saw historical firsts among many African
Americans). Today, we live during this time in the span of over 150 years after his birth.

We know now that injustice can never be ended by token talk or token action, but radical action in
changing the system itself. Du Bois was a radical and he was once a socialist and became a Communist by
the end of his life. To be a Communist or not is part of the freedom of speech. Some of my greatest heroes
were Communists like Paul Robeson, Claudia Jones, Williana Burroughs, and Du Bois. Are these men or
women not my Brothers and my Sisters because they are Communists? No. They are still my Brothers and
my Sisters regardless of their political views. Therefore, Dr. King made that point in his speech along with
exposing the evil, unjust war in Vietnam. We learn lessons from Du Bois and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that
intellectual curiosity and the fight for justice are the preeminent goals of our generation. The oppressed
deserve our empathy and we will fight for freedom in this world.

On March 14, 1968, Dr. King takes a plane to Detroit and goes into the suburb of Grosse Point, Michigan.
He gives a speech at Grosse Point High school. He speaks at the Human Relations Council. The audience is
mostly white and many people don't like him. Protesters have signs that say "Traitor!" and "Commie!"
because of his anti-Vietnam War stance. Many in the crowd heckle him, but he keeps his composure and
gives his message. Rosa Parks was in attendance too. In his speech, he promotes racial justice, opposes the
Vietnam War, he promotes the beauty of the color black, and desires social change. In the speech, he said
the following words:

"...Secondly, we've got to get rid of two or three myths that still pervade our nation. One is the myth of
time. I'm sure you've heard this notion. It is the notion that only time can solve the problem of racial
injustice. And I've heard it from many sincere people. They've said to the Negro and/to his allies in the
white community you should slow up, you're pushing things too fast, only time can solve the problem. And
if you'll just be nice and patient and continue to pray, in a hundred or two hundred years the problem will
work itself out. There is an answer to that myth. It is the time is neutral. It can be used either constructively
or destructively. And I'm sad to say to you tonight I'm absolutely convinced that the forces of ill will in our
nation, the forces on the wrong side in our nation, the extreme righteous of our nation have often used
time much more effectively than the forces of good will and it may well be that we may have to repent in
this generation not merely for the vitriolic words of the bad people who will say bad things in a meeting like
this or who will bomb a church in Birmingham, Alabama, but for the appalling silence and indifference of
the good people who sit around and say wait on time. Somewhere we must come to see that human
progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability, it comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent
work of dedicated individuals who are willing to be co-workers with God and without this hard work time
itself becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation. And so we must always help time and
realize that the time is always right to do right..."

On March of 1968, he is involved in supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis, TN. The Memphis
sanitation workers movement inspired him and he spoke out in favor of labor rights. The March 28, 1968
demonstration ended when the atmosphere was filled with violence, property being damaged, and police
brutality. A 16 year old teenage boy was killed by the police. Businesses had their windows broken. Tear gas
was everywhere. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was falsely scapegoated for the violence by reactionary
politicians like Robert Byrd of West Virginia and many in the media. Dr. King was rushed from the scene.
Yet, he promised to make another peaceful march in Memphis. He was very depressed during this time,
because he felt that his actions could do little to resolve the Memphis sanitation workers' strike. He showed
his melancholy attitude to his closest friends. Yet, he never gave up and he continued in his cause of
nonviolence and social justice.

On March 30, 1968, he and his advisers had an emergency meeting at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in
Atlanta. Many of his advisers wanted to focus on opposing the Vietnam War. Some wanted to focus on the
Operation Breadbasket Campaign. Others wanted to end the Memphis involvement. Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. decided to continue to be involved in the Memphis movement for labor rights. Dr. King believed that if
the Memphis sanitation protest was successful then that would cause a higher level of success for the Poor
Peoples Campaign. On Sunday of March 31, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his historic speech in the
National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. It is called, "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution." It was
an eloquent sermon and speech that discussed about a diversity of issues. The speech wanted to oppose
the Horatio Alger myth that a bootless man must get up by his own bootstrap to survive. It desires to
support the revolutionary movements of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It wanted an end to the unjust
Vietnam War and a promotion of the Poor Peoples Campaign (in defeating poverty and having a radical
redistribution of wealth). He expressed empathy to the suffering of the poor in Marks, Mississippi, in Africa,
in Asia, and in Latin America. In that speech, Dr. King was very emotional and wanted to lift his spirits and
the spirits of his audience in that historic church.

A snowstorm came about in Memphis for a time. When it ends, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. returns to
Memphis to continue in his work for economic justice. On April 3, 1968, he spoke at an evening rally at
Mason Temple in Memphis. Ralph Abernathy called Dr. King from the Lorraine Hotel in order for him to
come into the Temple. He gave his final speech entitled, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” In that speech,
he talked about history, boycotts, the dignity of the sanitation workers, and carrying on the struggle. Also,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. advocated building up black institutions in that great speech too. The speech
galvanized the crowd. He was emotional and excited at the future. During his speech, Dr. King said the
following words:

"...Now we've got to go on in Memphis just like that. I call upon you to be with us when we go out
Monday. (Yes) Now about injunctions. We have an injunction and we're going into court
tomorrow morning (Go ahead) to fight this illegal, unconstitutional injunction. All we say to
America is to be true to what you said on paper. [Applause] If I lived in China or even Russia, or
any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand some of these illegal injunctions. Maybe I
could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they haven't
committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly.
Somewhere I read (Yes) of the freedom of speech. (Yes) Somewhere I read (All right) of the
freedom of press. (Yes) Somewhere I read (Yes) that the greatness of America is the right to
protest for right. [Applause] And so just as I say we aren't going to let any dogs or water hoses turn
us around, we aren't going to let any injunction turn us around. [Applause] We are going on. We
need all of you..,Now not only that, we've got to strengthen black institutions. (That's right, Yeah) I
call upon you to take your money out of the banks downtown and deposit your money in Tri-
State Bank. (Yeah) [Applause] We want a "bank-in" movement in Memphis. (Yes) Go by the
savings and loan association.

I'm not asking you something that we don't do ourselves in SCLC. Judge Hooks and others will
tell you that we have an account here in the savings and loan association from the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference. We are telling you to follow what we're doing, put your money
there. [Applause] You have six or seven black insurance companies here in the city of Memphis.
Take out your insurance there. We want to have an "insurance-in." [Applause] Now these are
some practical things that we can do. We begin the process of building a greater economic base,
and at the same time, we are putting pressure where it really hurts. (There you go) And I ask you
to follow through here. [Applause]...And they were telling me. [Applause] Now it doesn't matter
now. (Go ahead) It really doesn't matter what happens now. I left Atlanta this morning, and as we
got started on the plane–there were six of us–the pilot said over the public address system: "We
are sorry for the delay, but we have Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane. And to be sure that all
of the bags were checked, and to be sure that nothing would be wrong on the plane, we had to
check out everything carefully. And we've had the plane protected and guarded all night."

And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that
were out (Yeah), or what would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers.

Well, I don't know what will happen now; we've got some difficult days ahead. (Amen) But it
really doesn't matter to with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. (Yeah) [Applause]
And I don't mind. [Applause continues] Like anybody, I would like to live a long life–longevity
has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. (Yeah) And He's
allowed me to go up to the mountain. (Go ahead) And I've looked over (Yes sir), and I've seen the
Promised Land. (Go ahead) I may not get there with you. (Go ahead) But I want you to know
tonight (Yes), that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. [Applause] (Go ahead, Go
ahead) And so I'm happy tonight; I'm not worried about anything; I'm not fearing any man.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. [Applause]..."

After his great speech, Dr. King meets with his brother, A.D. King, and Kentucky state senator Georgia Davis.
The day of April 4th started with Dr. King feeling joyful. He talks with friends. He gave his secretary Dora
McDonald an idea about his future sermon in Atlanta on "Why America may go to hell." He calls his
relatives. He feels that victory is imminent involving the Memphis sanitation strike. Dr. King plans to eat
dinner with his advisers and friends. He stands on the balcony and talks with Jesse Jackson. On April 4,
1968, he was murdered by one bullet while he was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine motel in
Memphis. The bullet came from a rifle and it hit his jaw. He was only 39 years old. The nation mourns and
cities throughout America experience massive rebellions (which are the largest since the Civil War in over
100 cities).

I certainly recommend this book, “Where do we Go From Here: Chaos

or Community?” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I read the book before
and it has a great amount insights and true solutions.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was buried in Atlanta on April 9, 1968. James Earl Ray was the man caught by
authorities. James Earl Ray was a fugitive from Missouri State Penitentiary. He was born poor and lived
around racism. He had Ulster Scots and Irish ancestry. He was raised Roman Catholic. He was a criminal
throughout his life and he escaped from prison in 1967. He traveled in St. Louis, Chicago, Toronto,
Montreal, and Birmingham. He came into Mexico too by October 1967. He left Mexico by November 1967.
He came into Los Angeles and supported the reactionary 1968 Presidential campaign of George Wallace. It
is no secret that during this time, James Earl Ray was very racist against black people and agreed with
Wallace’s segregationist platform. He worked in the Wallace campaign in Los Angeles, California. By early
1968, he traveled into Atlanta. Those, who believed that Ray killed Dr. King alone believe that after Atlanta,
he traveled into Memphis on April 2, 1968. The rest of what happened was very tragic and Dr. King was
shot dead when a bullet hit his jaw by a rifle.

James Earl Ray was arrested in London Heathrow Airport by authorities on June 8, 1968. James Earl Ray had
a fake Canadian passport. He confessed to the crime of murdering Dr. King on March 10, 1969. He was
convicted after pleading guilty being sentenced to 99 years in prison. 3 days later, Ray recanted his
confession on advice of his attorney Percy Foreman. Questions abound about how he received a passport
and money to travel from America to Canada, and then to the UK in such a short span of time when he was
a poor convict. That is why many people (including the family of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) believe that a
conspiracy involved the assassination of Dr. King. We know that the FBI and the NSA illegally and unjustly
monitored Dr. King constantly. A historic 1999 court case found the government complicit in the
assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The United States Department of Justice to this day believe that
James Earl Ray killed Dr. King alone. President Johnson signed the Civil rights Act of 1968 on April 10, 1968,
which prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race,
religion, and national origin. It also made it a federal crime to "by force or by threat of force, injure,
intimidate, or interfere with anyone … by reason of their race, color, religion, or national origin."

This shows the 3,000 person

shantytown called Resurrection City,
which was created on the National
Mall during the end of the Poor
People’s Campaign in 1968. This
heroic, historic campaign has inspired
the Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives
Matter, welfare rights, and other labor
st
rights movements during the 21
century.
 Information on the Poor Peoples’ Campaign
The many campaigns of A Crucial part of the Civil Rights Movement
the late Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom
Youth March for Integrated Schools
Albany Movement and the Birmingham Campaign
Walk to Freedom (in Detroit)
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
St. Augustine Movement
Selma to Montgomery marches These are Demonstrators in the Poor People’s March at
Chicago Open Housing Movement Lafayette Park and Connecticut Avenue in Washington,
March Against Fear D.C. on June 1968
Memphis Sanitation strike
Poor People’s Campaign Date May 12-June 24, 1968
Location Began in Marks, Mississippi and ended in
Washington, D.C.
Parties in Favor of the The Enemy of this
Campaign Campaign
• The Southern • The Federal
Christian Bureau of
Leadership Investigation (FBI)
Conference (SCLC) via Operation
• The Committee of POCAM.
100
Lead Figures
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Bernard Lafayette
Ralph Abernathy Rodolfo Gonzales
Jesse Jackson Reies Tijerina
Stanley Levison Hosea Williams
Rev. Fred C. Bennette Walter Fauntroy
Andrew Young Stoney Cooks
Dr. David Carter James Bevel
 Legacy
Years later, we see some progress, but we have a long way to go. We see the rise of the black middle class
and the black wealthy (some of the rich have unfortunately mocked the poor and refuse to develop a class
analysis on issues), but income inequality has grown since 1968. We still have massive poverty (which is
why the Fight for 15 movement is in existence today), struggling schools, the mass incarceration state,
sexism, health care issues, environmental problems, imperialism, and policy brutality in the world. Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was much more than the "I Have a Dream Speech." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a
revolutionary, radical person. He criticized capitalism, he condemned white racism, he opposed the death
penalty, he wanted total nuclear disarmament worldwide, and he believed in social justice. If Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. was alive today, he would call out the corporate mainstream media, Donald Trump, Mitt
Romney, and other reactionary extremists. Dr. King said that Black is Beautiful in public. He said the
following words in a rare speech:

"Somebody told a lie one day. They couched it in language. They made everything Black ugly and
evil. Look in your dictionaries and see the synonyms of the word black. It’s always something
degrading and low and sinister. Look at the word white, it’s always something pure, high and clean.
Well I want to get the language right tonight. "I want to get the language so right that everyone
here will cry out: ‘Yes, I’m Black, I’m proud of it. I’m Black and I’m beautiful.”
 The former World Trade Center in Today, the One
Lower Manhattan during September World Trade
11 attacks in 2001 were destroyed. Center is built and
The events of 9/11 changed the world has been a
forever. I am further inspired to shining example
believe in equality, and justice. Also, I of resiliency and
reject imperialism and militarism too. architectural
greatness.

With the events involving the Iranian nuclear deal and progressive Americans establishing solutions, it
shows that peaceful diplomacy can cause positive results in international affairs. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
taught us that love, tolerance, and nonviolent actions are not weak actions. They are stridently powerful
deeds which have historically enriched the lives of the human race. We believe in justice for the poor.
Mutual cooperation, anti-imperialism, and helping the poor are strong concepts and strong actions that
should be executed in order to make the world better. The current Resistance movement is a further
example of progressive heroes continuing the aim of making the Dream into a reality. Dr. King wanted
peace and goodwill to exist in the world. No human is perfect and Dr. King admitted his imperfections, but
God wants us to learn from others so we can be better people overall. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was right
to advocate for economic justice. He was right to advance love for humanity. He was right in opposing Jim
Crow apartheid. He was right to oppose the unjust Vietnam War. One of his greatest accomplishments was
his articulation of the concept of love in powerful, eloquent, and real terms. He showed the world that Love
is not a weak force, but a strong force which can develop social change in the midst of oppression. That is
why we believe in Love since Love can harbor the influence to establish true peace and justice. So, we are
inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King. He was a man with a loving wife and many children. Still, we rise and we
believe in black liberation too. Freedom and justice is our credo.

By Timothy
 Epilogue

Dr. Martin Luther King’s Closest Advisors & Allies

Dorothy Cotton Andrew Young Hosea Williams Harry Belafonte Ralph Abernathy

Benjamin Hays Coretta Scott King Walter Fauntroy Rev. Jesse Jackson Rev. Joseph E.
Lowery

Septima Poinsette Rev. Wyatt Tee Rev. Fred Rev. C.T. Vivian Stanley Levison
Clark Walker Shuttlessworth
 *I have been thinking about doing this for a long time. Now, it is time to do another series about the
total history and culture of the United States of America. I have learned a lot from other series from
art to African American history. Today is the perfect time to start on this new series too. This series will
span from 2018 and to 2019. It will start covering American history from prehistory in America to the
present near 2020. It will show heroic Americans doing what is right (we know of their names like
Harriet Tubman and Ida B. Wells) and villainous Americans who did evil (like Andrew Jackson and Bull
Connor). Here are parts of what this new series will consist of:

The History of the United States of America Series

This is the history of us (who are Americans) literally.

Part 1 Prehistory, Pre-colonial period, and the Colonial period

Part 2 1776-1789

Part 3 1789-1849

Part 4 1849-1865

Part 5 1865-1918

Part 6 1918-1945

Part 7 1945-1964

Part 8 1964-1980

Part 9 1980-1991

Part 10 1991-2008

Part 11 2008-Present

Part 12 The Culture of the United States of America

 We will work in service to truth and social
activism, so the Dream can be made real for all.

Rest in Power Brother Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Let Freedom Ring