Martin Luther King Jr.

===Atlanta sit-ins, prison sentence, and the 1960 elections===
[[File:Ebenezer-Baptist-from-pulpit.jpg|thumb|King led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and later became co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta (pulpit and sanctuary pictured).]]
In December 1959, after being based in Montgomery for five years, King announced his return to Atlanta at the request of the SCLC.<ref>{{cite web |title=SCLC Press Release |date=January 28, 2015 |url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/sclc-press-release-dr-king-leaves-montgomery-atlanta |access-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-date=November 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116161217/https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/sclc-press-release-dr-king-leaves-montgomery-atlanta |url-status=live }}</ref> In Atlanta, King served until his death as co-pastor with his father at the [[Ebenezer Baptist Church (Atlanta)|Ebenezer Baptist Church]]. Georgia governor [[Ernest Vandiver]] expressed open hostility towards King's return. He claimed that "wherever M. L. King Jr., has been there has followed in his wake a wave of crimes", and vowed to keep King under surveillance.<ref>{{cite web |title=Samuel Vandiver, in the MLK Encyclopedia |date=July 6, 2017 |url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/vandiver-samuel-ernest-jr |access-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-date=February 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225180318/https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/vandiver-samuel-ernest-jr |url-status=live }}</ref> On May 4, 1960, King drove writer [[Lillian Smith (author)|Lillian Smith]] to [[Emory University]] when police stopped them. King was cited for "driving without a license" because he had not yet been issued a Georgia license. King's Alabama license was still valid, and Georgia law did not mandate any time limit for issuing a local license.<ref>{{cite news |title=Traffic stop 60 years ago spurred Martin Luther King Jr. into greater action |url=https://romesentinel.com/stories/traffic-stop-60-years-ago-spurred-martin-luther-king-jr-into-greater-action,97644 |work=The Rome Sentinel |date=May 4, 2020 |access-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-date=November 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116021726/https://romesentinel.com/stories/traffic-stop-60-years-ago-spurred-martin-luther-king-jr-into-greater-action,97644 |url-status=dead }}</ref> King paid a fine but was unaware that his lawyer agreed to a plea deal that included [[probation]].

Meanwhile, the [[Atlanta Student Movement]] had been acting to desegregate businesses and public spaces, organizing the [[Atlanta sit-ins]] from March 1960 onwards. In August the movement asked King to participate in a mass October sit-in, timed to highlight how [[1960 United States presidential election|1960's Presidential election campaign]] had ignored civil rights. The coordinated day of action took place on October 19. King participated in a sit-in at the restaurant inside [[Rich's (department store)|Rich's]], Atlanta's largest department store, and was among the many arrested that day. The authorities released everyone over the next few days, except for King. Invoking his probationary plea deal, judge J. Oscar Mitchell sentenced King on October 25 to four months of hard labor. Before dawn the next day, King was transported to [[Georgia State Prison]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Negro Integration Leader Sentenced to Four Months |url=https://accesswdun.com/article/2020/5/900021 |agency=Associated Press |date=October 25, 1960 |access-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-date=November 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120082602/https://accesswdun.com/article/2020/5/900021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The arrest and harsh sentence drew nationwide attention. Many feared for King's safety, as he started a prison sentence with people convicted of violent crimes, many of them White and hostile to his activism.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Levingston |first1=Steven |title=John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Phone Call That Changed History |url=https://time.com/4817240/martin-luther-king-john-kennedy-phone-call/ |work=Time.com |date=June 20, 2017 |access-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109043524/https://time.com/4817240/martin-luther-king-john-kennedy-phone-call/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Both Presidential candidates were asked to weigh in, at a time when both parties were courting the support of Southern Whites and their political leadership including Governor Vandiver. Nixon, with whom King had a closer relationship before, declined to make a statement despite a personal visit from [[Jackie Robinson]] requesting his intervention. Nixon's opponent [[John F. Kennedy]] called the governor (a Democrat) directly, enlisted his brother [[Robert F. Kennedy|Robert]] to exert more pressure on state authorities, and, at the personal request of [[Sargent Shriver]], called King's wife to offer his help. The pressure from Kennedy and others proved effective, and King was released two days later. King's father decided to openly endorse Kennedy's candidacy for the November 8 election which he narrowly won.<ref>{{cite book |last=King |first=Martin Luther Jr. |title=The Autobiography Of Martin Luther King, Jr. |publisher=Hatchette |chapter=Chapter 15: Atlanta Arrest and Presidential Politics}}</ref>

After the October 19 sit-ins and following unrest, a 30-day truce was declared in Atlanta for desegregation negotiations. However, the negotiations failed and sit-ins and boycotts resumed for several months. On March 7, 1961, a group of Black elders including King notified student leaders that a deal had been reached: the city's lunch counters would desegregate in fall 1961, in conjunction with the court-mandated desegregation of schools.<ref>{{cite news |title=Photos: How Atlanta Public Schools integrated in 1961 |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/local/photos-how-atlanta-public-schools-integrated-1961/c4isBuwZmZxJsdU2u9FBpJ/ |work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |access-date=November 15, 2020 |archive-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019235659/https://www.ajc.com/news/local/photos-how-atlanta-public-schools-integrated-1961/c4isBuwZmZxJsdU2u9FBpJ/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Burns |first1=Rebecca |title=The integration of Atlanta Public Schools |url=https://www.atlantamagazine.com/civilrights/the-integration-of-atlanta-public-schools/ |work=Atlanta Magazine |date=August 1, 2011 |access-date=November 15, 2020 |archive-date=November 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117022606/https://www.atlantamagazine.com/civilrights/the-integration-of-atlanta-public-schools/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Many students were disappointed at the compromise. In a large meeting on March 10 at Warren Memorial Methodist Church, the audience was hostile and frustrated. King then gave an impassioned speech calling participants to resist the "cancerous disease of disunity", helping to calm tensions.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hatfield |first1=Edward A. |title=Atlanta Sit-ins |url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/atlanta-sit-ins |website=New Georgia Encyclopedia |access-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-date=December 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201223194432/https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/atlanta-sit-ins |url-status=live }}</ref>