Martin Luther King Jr. Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Activism and organizational leadership== ===Montgomery bus boycott, 1955=== {{Main|Montgomery bus boycott|Jim Crow laws#Public arena}} [[File:Rosa Parks (detail).tiff|thumb|King (left) with civil rights activist [[Rosa Parks]] (right) in 1955]] The [[Dexter Avenue Baptist Church]] was influential in the Montgomery African-American community. As the church's pastor, King became known for his oratorical preaching in Montgomery and the surrounding region.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Martin Luther King Jr. |url=http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1426 |access-date=January 23, 2022 |website=Encyclopedia of Alabama |language=en |archive-date=January 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123161105/http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1426 |url-status=live }}</ref> In March 1955, [[Claudette Colvin]]—a fifteen-year-old black schoolgirl in Montgomery—refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in violation of [[Jim Crow laws]], local laws in the Southern United States that enforced [[racial segregation]].{{sfn|Manheimer|2004|p=103}} Nine months later on December 1, 1955, [[Rosa Parks]] was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus.<ref>{{cite news |title=December 1, 1955: Rosa Parks arrested |date=March 11, 2003 |work=CNN |access-date=June 8, 2008 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2003/US/03/10/sprj.80.1955.parks/ |archive-date=September 18, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070918150509/http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/03/10/sprj.80.1955.parks/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The two incidents led to the Montgomery bus boycott, which was urged and planned by [[Edgar Nixon]] and led by King.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Montgomery Bus Boycott|page=[https://archive.org/details/montgomerybusboy0000wals/page/24 24]|last=Walsh|first=Frank|publisher=Gareth Stevens|year= 2003|isbn= 0-8368-5375-X|url=https://archive.org/details/montgomerybusboy0000wals/page/24}}</ref> The other ministers asked him to take a leadership role because his relative newness to community leadership made it easier for him to speak out. King was hesitant but decided to do so if no one else wanted it.<ref name="Prize 1">Interview with Coretta Scott King, Episode 1, PBS TV series [[Eyes on the Prize]].</ref> The boycott lasted for 385 days,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bA1azdRdD18C&pg=PA25|title=Ethical Leadership Through Transforming Justice|last=McMahon|first=Thomas F.|page=25|isbn=0-7618-2908-3|publisher=University Press of America|year=2004|access-date=May 29, 2020|archive-date=January 23, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123124315/https://books.google.com/books?id=bA1azdRdD18C&pg=PA25#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> and the situation became so tense that King's house was bombed.<ref>{{cite book|title=Patterns of Conflict, Paths to Peace|last1=Fisk|first1=Larry J.|page=[https://archive.org/details/patternsofconfli0000unse/page/115 115]|publisher=Broadview Press|isbn=1-55111-154-3|first2=John|last2=Schellenberg|year=1999|url=https://archive.org/details/patternsofconfli0000unse/page/115}}</ref> King was arrested for traveling 30 mph in a 25 mph zone<ref>{{cite web |title=King arrested for speeding; MIA holds seven mass meetings |date=June 22, 2017 |url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/king-arrested-speeding-mia-holds-seven-mass-meetings |publisher=The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute, Stanford University |access-date=November 10, 2022 |archive-date=November 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221110144232/https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/king-arrested-speeding-mia-holds-seven-mass-meetings |url-status=live }}</ref> and jailed, which overnight drew the attention of national media, and greatly increased King's public stature. The controversy ended when the United States District Court issued a ruling in ''[[Browder v. Gayle]]'' that prohibited racial segregation on Montgomery public buses.{{sfn|King|1992|p=9}}{{sfn|Jackson|2006|p=53}}<ref name="Prize 1"/> King's role in the bus boycott transformed him into a national figure and the best-known spokesman of the civil rights movement.{{sfn|Frady|2002|p=52}} [[File:Dexter Avenue Baptist.jpg|alt=|thumb|upright|King first rose to prominence in the civil rights movement while minister of [[Dexter Avenue Baptist Church]] in Montgomery, Alabama.]] ===Southern Christian Leadership Conference=== In 1957, King, [[Ralph Abernathy]], [[Fred Shuttlesworth]], [[Joseph Lowery]], and other civil rights activists founded the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]] (SCLC). The group was created to harness the [[moral authority]] and organizing power of black churches to conduct nonviolent protests in the service of civil rights reform. The group was inspired by the crusades of evangelist [[Billy Graham]], who befriended King,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/billygrahamriseo0000mill/page/92|title=Billy Graham and the Rise of the Republican South|page=[https://archive.org/details/billygrahamriseo0000mill/page/92 92]|first=Steven P.|last=Miller|year=2009|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-4151-8|access-date=April 8, 2015}}</ref> as well as the national organizing of the group In Friendship, founded by King allies [[Stanley Levison]] and [[Ella Baker]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/levison-stanley-david|title=Levison, Stanley David|date=May 17, 2017|website=The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute|language=en|access-date=January 30, 2020|last3=California 94305|archive-date=January 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115075615/https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/levison-stanley-david|url-status=live}}</ref> King led the SCLC until his death.<ref>{{cite book|title=Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices of Resistance, Reform, and Renewal: an African American Anthology|url=https://archive.org/details/letnobodyturnusa00mann|url-access=registration|last1= Marable| first1= Manning | first2=Leith|last2=Mullings|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=0-8476-8346-X|year=2000|pages=[https://archive.org/details/letnobodyturnusa00mann/page/391 391–392]}}</ref> The SCLC's 1957 [[Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom]] was the first time King addressed a national audience.<ref>{{cite web|title=Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom|url=http://crdl.usg.edu/events/prayer_pilgrimage/?Welcome|publisher=Civil Rights Digital Library|access-date=October 25, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193659/http://crdl.usg.edu/events/prayer_pilgrimage/?Welcome|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Harry H. Wachtel|Harry Wachtel]] joined King's legal advisor [[Clarence B. Jones]] in defending four ministers of the SCLC in the libel case ''[[Abernathy et al. v. Sullivan]]''; the case was litigated about the newspaper advertisement "[[Heed Their Rising Voices]]". Wachtel founded a tax-exempt fund to cover the suit's expenses and assist the nonviolent civil rights movement through a more effective means of fundraising. King served as honorary president of this organization, named the "Gandhi Society for Human Rights". In 1962, King and the Gandhi Society produced a document that called on President Kennedy to issue an executive order to deliver a blow for civil rights as a kind of [[Second Emancipation Proclamation]]. Kennedy did not execute the order.<ref name="Stanford University">{{cite web|url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/gandhi-society-human-rights|title=Martin Luther King Jr. and the Global Freedom Struggle: Gandhi Society for Human Rights|publisher=Stanford University|access-date=August 30, 2013|archive-date=June 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612015745/https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/gandhi-society-human-rights|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], under written directive from Attorney General [[Robert F. Kennedy]], began [[telephone tapping|tapping]] King's telephone line in the fall of 1963.<ref>{{cite book|title=The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide|last1=Theoharis|first1=Athan G.|first2=Tony G.|last2=Poveda|first3=Richard Gid|last3=Powers|first4=Susan|last4=Rosenfeld|page=[https://archive.org/details/fbicomprehensive0000theo/page/148 148]|isbn=0-89774-991-X|publisher=Greenwood Publishing|year=1999|url=https://archive.org/details/fbicomprehensive0000theo/page/148}} </ref> Kennedy was concerned that public allegations of communists in the SCLC would derail the administration's civil rights initiatives. He warned King to discontinue these associations and later felt compelled to issue the written directive that authorized the FBI to wiretap King and other SCLC leaders.{{sfn|Herst|2007|pp=372–74}} FBI Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] feared the civil rights movement and investigated the allegations of communist infiltration. When no evidence emerged to support this, the FBI used the incidental details caught on tape over the next five years, as part of its [[COINTELPRO]] program, in attempts to force King out of his leadership position.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite book|title=The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide|last1=Theoharis|first1=Athan G.|first2=Tony G.|last2=Poveda|first3=Richard Gid|last3=Powers|first4=Susan|last4=Rosenfeld|page=[https://archive.org/details/fbicomprehensive0000theo/page/123 123]|isbn=0-89774-991-X|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=1999|url=https://archive.org/details/fbicomprehensive0000theo/page/123}}</ref> King believed that organized, nonviolent protest against the system of southern segregation known as [[Jim Crow laws]] would lead to extensive media coverage of the struggle for black equality. Journalistic accounts and televised footage of the daily indignities suffered by southern blacks, and of segregationist violence and harassment of civil rights supporters, produced a wave of sympathetic public opinion that convinced the majority of Americans that the civil rights movement was the most important issue in American politics in the early 1960s.<ref>{{cite book|title=Race and Labor Matters in the New U.S. Economy|last1=Wilson|first1=Joseph|first2=Manning|last2=Marable|first3=Immanuel|last3=Ness|page=[https://archive.org/details/racelabormatters0000unse/page/47 47]|isbn=0-7425-4691-8|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2006|url=https://archive.org/details/racelabormatters0000unse/page/47}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title= Architects of Political Change: Constitutional Quandaries and Social Choice Theory|last= Schofield|first= Norman|isbn= 0-521-83202-0|publisher= Cambridge University Press|year= 2006|page= [https://archive.org/details/architectsofpoli00norm/page/189 189]|url= https://archive.org/details/architectsofpoli00norm/page/189}}</ref> King organized and led marches for blacks' right to [[Voting|vote]], [[Desegregation in the United States|desegregation]], [[labor rights]], and other basic civil rights.{{sfn|Jackson|2006|p=53}} Most of these rights were successfully enacted into law with the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the 1965 [[Voting Rights Act]].<ref>{{cite book| title= International Encyclopedia of Public Policy and Administration|last=Shafritz|first= Jay M.|page= 1242|year= 1998| isbn=0-8133-9974-2| publisher= Westview Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title= The Civil Rights Act of 1964: The Passage of the Law that Ended Racial Segregation| last1=Loevy | first1=Robert D.|first2=Hubert H.|last2=Humphrey|first3=John G.|last3=Stewart|isbn= 0-7914-3361-7 |publisher=SUNY Press|year= 1997| page=337}}</ref> The SCLC used tactics of nonviolent protest with great success by strategically choosing the methods and places in which protests were carried out. There were often dramatic stand-offs with segregationist authorities, who sometimes turned violent.{{sfn|Glisson|2006|p=190}} ===Survived knife attack, 1958=== On September 20, 1958, King was signing copies of his book ''[[Stride Toward Freedom]]'' in Blumstein's department store in Harlem<ref>{{cite book |last=Pearson |first=Hugh |year=2002 |title=When Harlem Nearly Killed King: The 1958 Stabbing of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. |publisher=Seven Stories Press |page=37 |isbn=978-1-58322-614-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RyVQUJHo55IC&pg=PA37 |access-date=June 3, 2020 |archive-date=January 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123124428/https://books.google.com/books?id=RyVQUJHo55IC&pg=PA37#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> when [[Izola Curry]]—a mentally ill black woman who thought that King was conspiring against her with communists—stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener, which nearly impinged on the aorta. King received first aid by police officers [[Al Howard]] and Philip Romano.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=Michael |title=Before 'I Have a Dream,' Martin Luther King Almost Died. This Man Saved Him |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/nyregion/martin-luther-king-stabbed-harlem.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113101051/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/nyregion/martin-luther-king-stabbed-harlem.html |archive-date=November 13, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 13, 2020 |access-date=November 13, 2020}}</ref> King underwent emergency surgery by [[Aubre de Lambert Maynard]], [[Emil Naclerio]] and [[John W. V. Cordice]]; he remained hospitalized for several weeks. Curry was later found mentally incompetent to stand trial.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7694472.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514044835/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7694472.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 14, 2013 |title='King' is a Deft Exploration of the Civil Rights Leader's Stabbing |date=February 4, 2002 |author=Graham, Renee |work=The Boston Globe |access-date=January 20, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-51d3eceac5094ac7a08d8dd326287c79.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514060644/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-51d3eceac5094ac7a08d8dd326287c79.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 14, 2013 |title=Today in History, September 20 |agency=Associated Press |date=September 19, 2012|access-date=January 20, 2013}}</ref> ===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> ===Albany Movement, 1961=== {{Main|Albany Movement}} The Albany Movement was a desegregation coalition formed in [[Albany, Georgia]], in November 1961. In December, King and the SCLC became involved. The movement mobilized thousands of citizens for a nonviolent attack on every aspect of segregation in the city and attracted nationwide attention. When King first visited on December 15, 1961, he "had planned to stay a day or so and return home after giving counsel."<ref name=Hatchette>{{cite book |last=King |first=Martin Luther Jr. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pynSnGuC964C&pg=PT147 |title=The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. |publisher=Hatchette Digital |year=2001 |page=147 |isbn=978-0-7595-2037-0 |access-date=January 4, 2013 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727202925/https://books.google.com/books?id=pynSnGuC964C&pg=PT147 |url-status=live }}</ref> The following day he was swept up in a [[mass arrest]] of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city made concessions. According to King, "that agreement was dishonored and violated by the city" after he left.<ref name=Hatchette /> King returned in July 1962 and was given the option of forty-five days in jail or a $178 fine ({{Inflation|US|178|1962|r=-2|fmt=eq}}); he chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Police Chief Laurie Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. "We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools ... ejected from churches ... and thrown into jail ... But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail."<ref>{{cite book|title=A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. |last=King |first=Martin Luther Jr. |year=1990 |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=978-0-06-064691-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/testamentofhope00mart/page/105 105] |url=https://archive.org/details/testamentofhope00mart/page/105 }}</ref> It was later acknowledged by the King Center that [[Billy Graham]] was the one who bailed King out.<ref>[http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/theme/2179 King Center:Billy Graham] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315074536/http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/theme/2179 |date=March 15, 2015 }} Accessed September 15, 2014</ref> After nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a "Day of Penance" to promote nonviolence and maintain the moral high ground. Divisions within the black community and the canny, low-key response by local government defeated efforts.{{sfn|Glisson|2006|pp=190–193}} Though the Albany effort proved a key lesson in tactics for King and the national civil rights movement,<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhis61.htm#1961albany| title= Albany, GA Movement| publisher= Civil Rights Movement Archive| access-date= September 8, 2008| archive-date= July 7, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100707051408/http://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhis61.htm#1961albany| url-status= live}}</ref> the national media was highly critical of King's role in the defeat, and the SCLC's lack of results contributed to a growing gulf between the organization and the more radical [[SNCC]]. After Albany, King sought to choose engagements for the SCLC in which he could control the circumstances, rather than entering into pre-existing situations.{{sfn|Frady|2002|p=96}} [[File:Photograph of White House Meeting with Civil Rights Leaders. June 22, 1963 - NARA - 194190 (no border).tif|thumb|Vice President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] and Attorney General [[Robert F. Kennedy]] with King, [[Benjamin Mays]], and other civil rights leaders, June 22, 1963]] ===Birmingham campaign, 1963=== {{Main|Birmingham campaign}} [[File:MLK mugshot birmingham.jpg| thumb| right | King was arrested in 1963 for protesting the treatment of blacks in Birmingham.<ref>{{cite news |title=Martin Luther King mugshot April 12 1963 |date=April 16, 2013 |newspaper=[[The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate]] |url=http://photos.nola.com/tpphotos/2013/04/martin_luther_king_mugshot_apr.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617203216/http://photos.nola.com/tpphotos/2013/04/martin_luther_king_mugshot_apr.html |archive-date=June 17, 2013}}</ref>]] In April 1963, the SCLC began a campaign against racial segregation and economic injustice in [[Birmingham, Alabama]]. The campaign used nonviolent but intentionally confrontational tactics, developed in part by [[Wyatt Tee Walker]]. Black people in Birmingham, organizing with the SCLC, occupied public spaces with marches and [[sit-in]]s, openly violating laws that they considered unjust. King's intent was to provoke mass arrests and "create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation."{{sfn|Garrow|1986|p=246}} The campaign's early volunteers did not succeed in shutting down the city, or in drawing media attention to the police's actions. Over the concerns of an uncertain King, SCLC strategist [[James Bevel]] changed the course of the campaign by recruiting children and young adults to join the demonstrations.<ref name="McWhorter 2001">{{cite book|last=McWhorter|first=Diane|title=Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution|year=2001|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-7432-2648-6|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780743217729|url-access=registration|chapter=Two Mayors and a King}}</ref> ''[[Newsweek]]'' called this strategy a [[Children's Crusade]].<ref name="Harrell 2005 1055">{{cite book|title=Unto a Good Land: A History of the American People, Volume 2|page=1055|first2=Edwin S.|last2=Gaustad|first3=Randall M.|last3=Miller|first4=John B.|last4=Boles|first5=Randall Bennett|last5=Woods|first6=Sally Foreman|last6=Griffith|last1=Harrell|first1=David Edwin|isbn= 0-8028-2945-7 |publisher=Wm B Eerdmans Publishing|year=2005}}</ref><ref name="newsweek5-13">{{cite journal|title=Birmingham USA: Look at Them Run|journal=[[Newsweek]]|date=May 13, 1963|page=27}}</ref> The Birmingham Police Department, led by [[Eugene "Bull" Connor]], used high-pressure water jets and police dogs against protesters, including children. Footage of the police response was broadcast on national television news, shocking many white Americans and consolidating black Americans behind the movement.{{sfn|Frady|2002|pp=113–114}} Not all of the demonstrators were peaceful, despite the avowed intentions of the SCLC. In some cases, bystanders attacked the police, who responded with force. King and the SCLC were criticized for putting children in harm's way. But the campaign was a success: Connor lost his job, the "Jim Crow" signs came down, and public places became more open to blacks. King's reputation improved immensely.<ref name="Harrell 2005 1055"/> King was arrested and jailed early in the campaign—his 13th arrest<ref name="newsweek4-22">{{cite journal|title=Integration: Connor and King|journal=[[Newsweek]]|date=April 22, 1963|pages=28, 33}}</ref> out of 29.<ref name="holiday">{{cite web|last=King |first=Coretta Scott |title=The Meaning of The King Holiday |url=http://www.thekingcenter.org/meaning-king-holiday |publisher=The King Center |access-date=August 22, 2012 |archive-date=May 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514204850/http://www.thekingcenter.org/meaning-king-holiday |url-status=live }}</ref> From his cell, he composed the now-famous "[[Letter from Birmingham Jail]]" that responds to [[A Call for Unity|calls to pursue legal channels for social change]]. The letter has been described as "one of the most important historical documents penned by a modern [[political prisoner]]".<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last1=Greene|first1=Helen Taylor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v_9yAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Political+prisoner%22|title=Encyclopedia of Race and Crime|last2=Gabbidon|first2=Shaun L.|year=2009|publisher=Sage Publications|isbn=978-1-4522-6609-1|pages=636–639|language=en|chapter=Political Prisoners|access-date=June 7, 2022|archive-date=January 23, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123124418/https://books.google.com/books?id=v_9yAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Political+prisoner%22#v=snippet&q=%22Political%20prisoner%22&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> King argues that the crisis of racism is too urgent, and the current system too entrenched: "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."<ref name=LetterFromBirmJail /> He points out that the [[Boston Tea Party]], a celebrated act of rebellion in the American colonies, was illegal civil disobedience, and that, conversely, "everything [[Adolf Hitler]] did in Germany was 'legal'."<ref name=LetterFromBirmJail /> [[Walter Reuther]], president of the [[United Auto Workers]], arranged for $160,000 to bail out King and his fellow protestors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hoover.org/research/great-society-new-history-amity-shlaes-0|title=The Great Society: A New History with Amity Shlaes|website=Hoover Institution|language=en|access-date=April 28, 2020|archive-date=July 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701062533/https://www.hoover.org/research/great-society-new-history-amity-shlaes-0|url-status=live}}</ref> {{quote box|width=23em|"I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season."|salign=right|source=—Martin Luther King Jr.<ref name=LetterFromBirmJail>{{cite web|last=King |first=Martin Luther Jr. |title=Letter from Birmingham Jail|publisher=The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute |url=http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/resources/article/annotated_letter_from_birmingham/ |access-date=August 22, 2012 |archive-date=January 7, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130107002405/http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/resources/article/annotated_letter_from_birmingham/ |url-status=live }} King began writing the letter on newspaper margins and continued on bits of paper brought by friends.</ref>}} ===March on Washington, 1963=== {{Main|March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom}} [[File:Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. (Leaders of the march posing in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln... - NARA - 542063 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Leaders of the March on Washington posing in front of the Lincoln Memorial]] [[File:March on Washington edit.jpg|thumb|upright|The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (1963)]] King, representing the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference|SCLC]], was among the leaders of the "[[Big Six (activists)|Big Six]]" civil rights organizations who were instrumental in the organization of the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]], which took place on August 28, 1963. The other leaders and organizations comprising the Big Six were [[Roy Wilkins]] from the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]]; [[Whitney Young]], [[National Urban League]]; [[A. Philip Randolph]], [[Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters]]; [[John Lewis]], [[SNCC]]; and [[James L. Farmer Jr.]], [[Congress of Racial Equality]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience|last1=Gates|first1=Henry Louis|first2=Anthony|last2=Appiah|publisher=Basic Civitas Books|isbn=0-465-00071-1|year=1999|page=[https://archive.org/details/africanaencyclop00appi/page/1251 1251]|url=https://archive.org/details/africanaencyclop00appi/page/1251}}</ref> [[Bayard Rustin]]'s open homosexuality, support of [[socialism]], and former ties to the [[Communist Party USA]] caused many white and African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/freedomriders1960000arse |url-access=registration | page=[https://archive.org/details/freedomriders1960000arse/page/62 62] | last=Arsenault|first=Raymond|title=Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice|isbn= 0-19-513674-8| publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2006}}</ref> which King agreed to do.{{sfn|Frady|2002|p=42}} However, he did collaborate in the 1963 March on Washington, for which Rustin was the primary organizer.<ref>{{cite book|pages= [https://archive.org/details/leadersfrom1960s0000unse/page/138 138]–43|first= David|last= De Leon|title= Leaders from the 1960s: A biographical sourcebook of American activism|year=1994|publisher=Greenwood Publishing |isbn= 0-313-27414-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/leadersfrom1960s0000unse|url-access= registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title= African-Americans and the Quest for Civil Rights, 1900–1990| url= https://archive.org/details/africanamericans00cash| url-access= registration| last= Cashman| first= Sean Dennis| page=[https://archive.org/details/africanamericans00cash/page/162 162] | isbn=0-8147-1441-2|publisher=NYU Press|year=1991}}</ref> For King, this role was another which courted controversy, since he was one of the key figures who acceded to the wishes of [[John F. Kennedy|President Kennedy]] in changing the focus of the march.<ref>{{cite book|title=Robert Kennedy and His Times|last=Schlesinger |first= Arthur M. Jr. |page= [https://archive.org/details/robertkennedyhis00arth/page/351 351]| isbn=0-345-28344-9|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Books|orig-year=1978 | year=2002|url=https://archive.org/details/robertkennedyhis00arth/page/351}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/racereformrebell00mara_0/page/74 74]|last=Marable|first=Manning|isbn=0-87805-493-6|year=1991|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|title=Race, Reform, and Rebellion: The Second Reconstruction in Black America, 1945–1990|url=https://archive.org/details/racereformrebell00mara_0/page/74}} </ref> Kennedy initially opposed the march outright, because he was concerned it would negatively impact the drive for passage of [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|civil rights legislation]]. However, the organizers were firm that the march would proceed.<ref>{{cite book| title= Kennedy, Johnson, and the Quest for Justice: The Civil Rights Tapes| last1= Rosenberg| first1= Jonathan| first2= Zachary| last2= Karabell| page= [https://archive.org/details/kennedyjohnsonth00rose/page/130 130]| isbn= 0-393-05122-6| year= 2003| publisher= WW Norton & Co| url= https://archive.org/details/kennedyjohnsonth00rose/page/130}}</ref> With the march going forward, the Kennedys decided it was important to ensure its success. President Kennedy was concerned the turnout would be less than 100,000 and enlisted the aid of additional church leaders and [[Walter Reuther]], president of the [[United Automobile Workers]], to help mobilize demonstrators.<ref>{{cite book|title=Robert Kennedy and His Times|last=Schlesinger |first= Arthur M. Jr. |pages= [https://archive.org/details/robertkennedyhis00arth/page/376 376]| isbn=0-345-28344-9|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Books|orig-year=1978 | year=2002|url=https://archive.org/details/robertkennedyhis00arth/page/376}}</ref> [[File:The March (1964 film).webm|thumb|''[[The March (1964 film)|The March]]'', a 1964 documentary film produced by the [[United States Information Agency]]. King's speech has been redacted from this video because of the [[I Have a Dream#Copyright dispute|copyright held by King's estate]].]] The march originally was planned to dramatize the desperate condition of blacks in the southern U.S. and place organizers' concerns and grievances squarely before the seat of power in the nation's capital. Organizers intended to denounce the federal government for its failure to safeguard the civil rights and physical safety of civil rights workers and blacks. The group acquiesced to presidential pressure, and the event ultimately took on a far less strident tone.<ref name=farce>{{cite book | title=Living for Change: An Autobiography| url=https://archive.org/details/livingforchangea00bogg| url-access=limited|last=Boggs|first=Grace Lee|page= [https://archive.org/details/livingforchangea00bogg/page/n145 127]|publisher= U of Minnesota Press|year= 1998 | isbn=0-8166-2955-2}}</ref> As a result, some civil rights activists felt it presented an inaccurate, sanitized pageant of racial harmony; Malcolm X called it the "Farce on Washington", and the Nation of Islam forbade its members from attending.<ref name=farce/><ref>{{cite book|title=Mysteries in History: From Prehistory to the Present|last=Aron|first=Paul|pages=398–399|isbn=1-85109-899-2|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=82zu_Aw5VFgC&pg=PA398|access-date=May 29, 2020|archive-date=January 23, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123124426/https://books.google.com/books?id=82zu_Aw5VFgC&pg=PA398|url-status=live}}</ref> [[File:Martin Luther King - March on Washington.jpg|thumb|upright|King gave his most famous speech, "I Have a Dream", before the [[Lincoln Memorial]] during the 1963 [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]].]] {{listen | filename = I Have A Dream sample.ogg | title = I Have a Dream | description = 30-second sample from "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech by Martin Luther King Jr. at the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]] on August 28, 1963 | filetype = [[Ogg]] | image = none }} The march made specific demands: an end to racial segregation in public schools; meaningful civil rights legislation, including a law prohibiting racial discrimination in employment; protection of civil rights workers from police brutality; a $2 [[minimum wage]] for all workers ({{Inflation|US|2|1963|r=0|fmt=eq}}); and self-government for Washington, D.C., then governed by congressional committee.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Sixties in America|last1=Singleton|first1=Carl|first2=Rowena|last2=Wildin|page= [https://archive.org/details/sixtiesinamerica03sing/page/454 454]|isbn= 0-89356-982-8 |publisher=Salem Press|year=1999|url=https://archive.org/details/sixtiesinamerica03sing/page/454}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bennett|first=Scott H.|page= 225|year= 2003| publisher =Syracuse University Press|isbn=0-8156-3003-4|title=Radical Pacifism: The War Resisters League and Gandhian Nonviolence in America, 1915–1963}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title= Celebrating the Birthday and Public Holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr|last= Davis|first= Danny|author-link= Danny K. Davis|publisher= Library of Congress|url= http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r110:H16JA7-0046:|journal= Congressional Record|access-date= July 11, 2011|date= January 16, 2007|archive-date = July 28, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130728081414/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r110:H16JA7-0046:|url-status= live}}</ref> Despite tensions, the march was a resounding success.<ref name="Powers 1997 313">{{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/protestpowerchan00roge/page/313 313]|last1=Powers|first1=Roger S.|first2=William B.|last2=Vogele|first3=Christopher |last3=Kruegler|first4=Ronald M.|last4=McCarthy|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1997|isbn=0-8153-0913-9|title=Protest, power, and change: an encyclopedia of nonviolent action from ACT-UP to Women's Suffrage|url=https://archive.org/details/protestpowerchan00roge/page/313}}</ref> More than a quarter of a million people of diverse ethnicities attended, sprawling from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the [[National Mall]]. At the time, it was the largest gathering of protesters in Washington, D.C.'s history.<ref name="Powers 1997 313"/> King delivered a 17-minute speech, later known as "[[I Have a Dream]]". In the speech's most famous passage{{snd}}in which he departed from his prepared text, possibly at the prompting of [[Mahalia Jackson]], who shouted behind him, "Tell them about the dream!"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/aug/21/usa.comment|title=I have a dream|last=Younge|first=Gary|author-link=Gary Younge|date=August 21, 2003|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=January 9, 2013|archive-date=August 27, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827063459/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/aug/21/usa.comment|url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Dream: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation |last=Hansen |first=Drew |year=2005 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-008477-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dreammartinluthe00hans/page/98 98] |url=https://archive.org/details/dreammartinluthe00hans/page/98}}</ref>{{snd}}King said:<ref>{{cite book |title=The Words of Martin Luther King Jr. |edition=Second |last=King |first=Martin Luther Jr. |author2=King, Coretta Scott |year=2008 |publisher=Newmarket Press |isbn=978-1-55704-815-8 |page=95 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=irMxJS36904C&pg=PA95 |access-date=May 29, 2020 |archive-date=January 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123124316/https://books.google.com/books?id=irMxJS36904C&pg=PA95 |url-status=live }}</ref> {{poemquote|I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: [[United States Declaration of Independence|"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."]] I have a dream that one day on the red hills of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of [[Mississippi]], a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. 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. I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with [[George Wallace|its governor]] having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.}} "I Have a Dream" came to be regarded as one of the finest speeches in the history of American oratory.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dream Assignment |work=Smithsonian |date=August 1, 2003 |access-date=August 27, 2008 |last=Moore |first=Lucinda |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/dream-speech.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105000547/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/dream-speech.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 5, 2013 }}</ref> The March, and especially King's speech, helped put civil rights at the top of the agenda of reformers and facilitated passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.<ref>{{cite book|first=James T.|last=Patterson|author-link=James T. Patterson (historian)|title=Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945–1974|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=1996|pages=482–85, 542–46<}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Harvard|last=Sitkoff|author-link=Harvard Sitkoff|title=The Struggle for Black Equality|publisher=Hill and Wang|date=2008|pages=152–53}}</ref> {{clear|left}} ===St. Augustine, Florida, 1964=== {{Main|St. Augustine movement}} In March 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with Robert Hayling's then-controversial movement in St. Augustine, Florida. Hayling's group had been affiliated with the NAACP but was forced out of the organization for advocating armed self-defense alongside nonviolent tactics. However, the pacifist SCLC accepted them.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.visitstaugustine.com/history/black_history/dr_robert_hayling/ |website=Augustine.com |title=Black History: Dr. Robert B. Hayling |first=David J. |last=Garrow |access-date=June 3, 2020 |archive-date=June 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610042317/https://www.visitstaugustine.com/history/black_history/dr_robert_hayling/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>''Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference'' (HarperCollins, 1987) pp. 316–18</ref> King and the SCLC worked to bring white Northern activists to [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]], including a delegation of rabbis and the 72-year-old mother of the governor of Massachusetts, all of whom were arrested.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/civilrights/f1.htm|title=We Shall Overcome – Lincolnville Historic District|work=nps.gov|access-date=January 17, 2014|archive-date=November 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103084850/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/civilrights/f1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title= African Americans in Florida: An Illustrated History| pages= [https://archive.org/details/africanamericans0000jone/page/113 113–115]| last1= Jones| first1= Maxine D.| first2= Kevin M.| last2= McCarthy| isbn= 1-56164-031-X| publisher= Pineapple Press| year= 1993| url= https://archive.org/details/africanamericans0000jone/page/113}}</ref> During June, the movement marched nightly through the city, "often facing counter demonstrations by the Klan, and provoking violence that garnered national media attention." Hundreds of the marchers were arrested and jailed. During this movement, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/st-augustine-florida |title=St. Augustine, Florida |encyclopedia=King Encyclopedia |publisher=[[Stanford University#Research centers and institutes|Stanford University {{!}} Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute]] |date=July 7, 2017 |access-date=December 18, 2018 |archive-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706074301/https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/st-augustine-florida |url-status=live }}</ref> === Biddeford, Maine, 1964 === On May 7, 1964, King spoke at [[University of New England (United States)|Saint Francis College]]'s "The Negro and the Quest for Identity", in [[Biddeford, Maine]]. This was a symposium that brought together many civil rights leaders.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Koenig |first=Seth |date=December 24, 2013 |title=UNE prepares to mark 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech in Biddeford |url=https://bangordailynews.com/2013/12/24/news/une-prepares-to-mark-50th-anniversary-of-martin-luther-king-jr-s-speech-in-biddeford/ |access-date=April 17, 2021 |website=Bangor Daily News |language=en-US |archive-date=April 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417042220/https://bangordailynews.com/2013/12/24/news/une-prepares-to-mark-50th-anniversary-of-martin-luther-king-jr-s-speech-in-biddeford/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=St. Francis College History Collection {{!}} University of New England Research {{!}} DUNE: DigitalUNE|url=https://dune.une.edu/sfchc/|access-date=April 17, 2021|website=dune.une.edu|archive-date=April 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417041657/https://dune.une.edu/sfchc/|url-status=live}}</ref> King spoke about how "We must get rid of the idea of superior and inferior races," through nonviolent tactics.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 16, 2021 |title=Rev. Dr. King in Biddeford |url=https://mcarthurarchives.org/2021/01/16/mlk-biddeford/ |access-date=April 17, 2021 |website=McArthur Library's: The Backlog |publisher=Biddeford-Saco Journal |language=en |archive-date=April 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417041654/https://mcarthurarchives.org/2021/01/16/mlk-biddeford/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ===New York City, 1964=== [[File:Martin Luther King press conference 01269u edit.jpg|thumb|King at a press conference in March 1964]] On February 6, 1964, King delivered the inaugural speech<ref>{{Cite web|last=King|first=Martin Luther|title=Lecture: The Summer of Our Discontent|url=https://digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS070204_ARC_King_speech|access-date=January 14, 2022|website=The New School Archives And Special Collections|archive-date=January 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114172227/https://digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS070204_ARC_King_speech|url-status=live}}</ref> of a lecture series initiated at the [[New School]] called "The American Race Crisis". In his remarks, King referred to a conversation he had recently had with [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] in which he compared the sad condition of many African Americans to that of India's [[Dalit|untouchables]].<ref name="El Naggar">{{cite news|last=El Naggar|first=Mona|title=Found After Decades, a Forgotten Tape of King 'Thinking on His Feet{{'-}}|url=http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/22/found-after-decades-a-forgotten-tape-of-king-thinking-on-his-feet/|access-date=August 31, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 22, 2013|archive-date=November 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105213505/http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/22/found-after-decades-a-forgotten-tape-of-king-thinking-on-his-feet/|url-status=live}}</ref> In his March 18, 1964, interview with [[Robert Penn Warren]], King compared his activism to his father's, citing his training in non-violence as a key difference. He also discusses the next phase of the civil rights movement and integration.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Martin Luther King Jr. {{!}} Who Speaks for the Negro?|url=https://whospeaks.library.vanderbilt.edu/interview/martin-luther-king-jr|access-date=January 18, 2021|website=whospeaks.library.vanderbilt.edu|archive-date=January 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116121126/https://whospeaks.library.vanderbilt.edu/interview/martin-luther-king-jr|url-status=live}}</ref> === Scripto strike in Atlanta, 1964 === {{Main|1964–1965 Scripto strike}} Starting in November 1964, King supported a [[labor strike]] by several hundred workers at the [[Scripto]] factory in Atlanta, just a few blocks from Ebenezer Baptist.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Hooper |first1=Hartwell |last2=Hooper |first2=Susan |date=Fall 1999 |title=The Scripto Strike: Martin Luther King's 'Valley of Problems': Atlanta, 1964–1965 |url=https://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/digital/collection/AHBull/id/16887/ |journal=[[Atlanta History: A Journal of Georgia and the South]] |publisher=[[Atlanta Historical Society]] |volume=XLIII |issue=3 |pages=5–34 |access-date=September 26, 2022 |archive-date=September 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921211150/https://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/digital/collection/AHBull/id/16887/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Many of the strikers were congregants of his church, and the strike was supported by other civil rights leaders.<ref name=":5" /> King helped elevate the labor dispute from a local to nationally known event and led the SCLC to organize a nationwide boycott of Scripto products.<ref name=":5" /> However, as the strike stretched into December, King, who was wanting to focus more on a civil rights campaign in [[Selma, Alabama]], began to negotiate in secret with Scripto's president [[Carl Singer]] and eventually brokered a deal where the SCLC would call off their boycott in exchange for the company giving the striking employees their Christmas bonuses.<ref name=":5" /> King's involvement in the strike ended on December 24 and a contract between the company and union was signed on January 9.<ref name=":5" /> ===Selma voting rights movement and "Bloody Sunday", 1965=== {{Main|Selma to Montgomery marches}} [[File:Selma to Montgomery Marches protesters.jpg|thumb|The civil rights [[Selma to Montgomery marches|march from Selma to Montgomery]], Alabama, in 1965]] In December 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] (SNCC) in Selma, Alabama, where the SNCC had been working on voter registration for several months.<ref>{{cite news|last= Haley|first= Alex|title= Martin Luther King|work= Interview|author-link= Alex Haley|publisher= [[Playboy]]|date= January 1965|url= http://www.alex-haley.com/alex_haley_martin_luther_king_interview.htm|access-date= June 10, 2012|archive-date = May 5, 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120505054207/http://www.alex-haley.com/alex_haley_martin_luther_king_interview.htm|url-status= dead}}</ref> A local judge issued an injunction that barred any gathering of three or more people affiliated with the SNCC, SCLC, DCVL, or any of 41 named civil rights leaders. This injunction temporarily halted civil rights activity until King defied it by speaking at [[Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church (Selma, Alabama)|Brown Chapel]] on January 2, 1965.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhis64.htm#1964selmainj |title=The Selma Injunction |publisher=Civil Rights Movement Archive |access-date=September 8, 2008 |archive-date=December 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121225052448/http://www.crmvet.org/tim/tim64c.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> During the 1965 march to [[Montgomery, Alabama]], violence by state police and others against the peaceful marchers resulted in much publicity, which made racism in Alabama visible nationwide. Acting on [[James Bevel]]'s call for a march from Selma to Montgomery, Bevel and other SCLC members, in partial collaboration with SNCC, attempted to organize a march to the state's capital. The first attempt to march on March 7, 1965, at which King was not present, was aborted because of mob and police violence against the demonstrators. This day has become known as [[Selma to Montgomery marches|Bloody Sunday]] and was a major turning point in the effort to gain public support for the civil rights movement. It was the clearest demonstration up to that time of the dramatic potential of King and Bevel's nonviolence strategy.{{sfn|King|1998|p=6}} On March 5, King met with officials in the [[Lyndon B. Johnson Administration|Johnson Administration]] to request an [[injunction]] against any prosecution of the demonstrators. He did not attend the march due to church duties, but he later wrote, "If I had any idea that the state troopers would use the kind of brutality they did, I would have felt compelled to give up my church duties altogether to lead the line."{{sfn|King|1998|pp=276–79}} Footage of [[police brutality]] against the protesters was broadcast extensively and aroused national public outrage.{{sfn|Jackson|2006|pp=222–23}} King next attempted to organize a march for March 9. The SCLC petitioned for an injunction in federal court against Alabama; this was denied and the judge issued an order blocking the march until after a hearing. Nonetheless, King led marchers on March 9 to the [[Edmund Pettus Bridge]] in Selma, then held a short prayer session before turning the marchers around and asking them to disperse so as not to violate the court order. The unexpected ending of this second march aroused the surprise and anger of many within the local movement.{{sfn|Jackson|2006|p=223}} The march finally went ahead fully on March 25, 1965.<ref>{{cite book|last1= Isserman|first1= Maurice|title= America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s|first2= Michael|last2= Kazin|page= [https://archive.org/details/americadividedci0000isse/page/175 175]|publisher= Oxford University Pressk|year= 2000|isbn= 0-19-509190-6|url= https://archive.org/details/americadividedci0000isse/page/175}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Riotmakers|last=Azbell|first=Joe|publisher= Oak Tree Books|year= 1968|page= 176}}</ref> At the conclusion of the march on the steps of the [[Alabama State Capitol|state capitol]], King delivered a speech that became known as "[[How Long, Not Long]]". King stated that equal rights for African Americans could not be far away, "because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice" and "you shall reap what you sow".{{efn|Though commonly attributed to King, this expression originated with 19th-century abolitionist [[Theodore Parker]].<ref name=NPR />}}<ref name=NPR>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129609461 |title=Theodore Parker And The 'Moral Universe' |newspaper=NPR |date=September 2, 2010 |publisher=National Public Radio |access-date=January 24, 2013 |archive-date=June 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627091901/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129609461 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Leeman|first=Richard W.|title=African-American Orators: A Bio-critical Sourcebook|page=[https://archive.org/details/africanamericano00leem_0/page/220 220]|isbn=0-313-29014-8|publisher=Greenwood Publishing|year=1996|url=https://archive.org/details/africanamericano00leem_0/page/220}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media| people = Democracy Now!| title = Rare Video Footage of Historic Alabama 1965 Civil Rights Marches, MLK's Famous Montgomery Speech| access-date = May 5, 2018| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBm48Scju9E| archive-date = April 20, 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220420080513/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBm48Scju9E| url-status = live}}</ref> ===Chicago open housing movement, 1966=== {{Main|Chicago Freedom Movement}} [[File:Lyndon Johnson signing Civil Rights Act, July 2, 1964.jpg|thumb|King standing behind President Johnson as he signs the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]]] In 1966, after several successes in the south, King, Bevel, and others in the civil rights organizations took the movement to the North. King and Ralph Abernathy, both from the middle class, moved into a building at 1550 S. Hamlin Avenue, in the slums of [[North Lawndale]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/901.html|title=North Lawndale|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia|publisher=Chicago History|access-date=September 8, 2008|archive-date=January 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130063532/http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/901.html|url-status=live }}</ref> on Chicago's West Side, as an educational experience and to demonstrate their support and empathy for the poor.{{sfn|Cohen|Taylor|2000|pp=360–62}} The SCLC formed a coalition with Coordinating Council of Community Organizations (CCCO), an organization founded by [[Albert Raby]], and the combined organizations' efforts were fostered under the aegis of the [[Chicago Freedom Movement]].<ref name=Ralph>{{cite book| last=Ralph| first=James| isbn=0-674-62687-7| publisher=Harvard University Press| year=1993| title=Northern Protest: Martin Luther King Jr., Chicago, and the Civil Rights Movement| page=[https://archive.org/details/northernprotestm00ralp/page/1 1]| url=https://archive.org/details/northernprotestm00ralp/page/1}}</ref> During that spring, several white couple/black couple tests of real estate offices uncovered [[racial steering]], discriminatory processing of housing requests by couples who were exact matches in income and background.{{sfn|Cohen|Taylor|2000|p=347}} Several larger marches were planned and executed: in Bogan, [[Belmont Cragin, Chicago|Belmont Cragin]], [[Jefferson Park, Chicago|Jefferson Park]], [[Evergreen Park, Illinois|Evergreen Park]], [[Gage Park, Chicago|Gage Park]], [[Marquette Park (Chicago)|Marquette Park]], and others.<ref name=Ralph />{{sfn|Cohen|Taylor|2000|p=416}}<ref>{{cite book | last= Fairclough|first= Adam|page=[https://archive.org/details/toredeemsoulofam00fair/page/299 299]| title= To Redeem the Soul of America: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference & Martin Luther King Jr.| year= 1987| publisher=University of Georgia Press | isbn=0-8203-2346-2| url=https://archive.org/details/toredeemsoulofam00fair/page/299}}</ref> [[File:Martin Luther King, Jr. and Lyndon Johnson 2.jpg|thumb|President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] meeting with King in the [[Cabinet Room (White House)|White House Cabinet Room]] in 1966]] King later stated and Abernathy wrote that the movement received a worse reception in Chicago than in the South. Marches, especially the one through Marquette Park on August 5, 1966, were met by thrown bottles and screaming throngs. Rioting seemed very possible.<ref>{{cite book| title=Chicago: City Guide| last=Baty| first=Chris| page=[https://archive.org/details/chicago00baty/page/52 52]| publisher=Lonely Planet| isbn=1-74104-032-9| year=2004| url=https://archive.org/details/chicago00baty/page/52}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title=Jesse Jackson| last=Stone| first=Eddie| pages=[https://archive.org/details/jessejackson0000ston/page/59 59–60]| isbn=0-87067-840-X| publisher=Holloway House Publishing| year=1988| url=https://archive.org/details/jessejackson0000ston/page/59}}</ref> King's beliefs militated against his staging a violent event, and he negotiated an agreement with Mayor [[Richard J. Daley]] to cancel a march in order to avoid the violence that he feared would result.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lentz|first=Richard|title=Symbols, the News Magazines, and Martin Luther King|page=230|publisher=LSU Press|year=1990|isbn=0-8071-2524-5}}</ref> King was hit by a brick during one march, but continued to lead marches in the face of personal danger.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Isserman|first1=Maurice|title=America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s|first2=Michael|last2=Kazin|page=[https://archive.org/details/americadividedci0000isse/page/200 200]|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2000|isbn=0-19-509190-6|url=https://archive.org/details/americadividedci0000isse/page/200}} See also: {{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/voiceofdeliveran00mill/page/139 139]|last=Miller|first=Keith D.|title=Voice of Deliverance: The Language of Martin Luther King Jr. and Its Sources|isbn=0-8203-2013-7|publisher=University of Georgia Press|year=1998|url=https://archive.org/details/voiceofdeliveran00mill/page/139}}</ref> When King and his allies returned to the South, they left [[Jesse Jackson]], a seminary student who had previously joined the movement in the South, in charge of their organization.<ref>{{cite book|title=Meet Martin Luther King, Jr|page=[https://archive.org/details/meetmartinluther0000mism/page/20 20]|last=Mis|isbn=978-1-4042-4209-8|publisher=Rosen Publishing Group|year=2008|first=Melody S.|url=https://archive.org/details/meetmartinluther0000mism/page/20}}</ref> Jackson continued their struggle for civil rights by organizing the [[Operation Breadbasket]] movement that targeted chain stores that did not deal fairly with blacks.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Betrayal of the Urban Poor|last=Slessarev|first=Helene|page=[https://archive.org/details/betrayalofurbanp0000sles/page/140 140]|publisher=Temple University Press|year=1997|isbn=1-56639-543-7|url=https://archive.org/details/betrayalofurbanp0000sles/page/140}}</ref> A 1967 [[CIA]] document declassified in 2017 downplayed King's role in the "black militant situation" in Chicago, with a source stating that King "sought at least constructive, positive projects."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/docid-32397511.pdf |title=Views on Black Militant Situation in Chicago |author=CIA |date=October 5, 1967 |access-date=February 13, 2018 |archive-date=September 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917225428/https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/docid-32397511.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> ===Opposition to the Vietnam War=== {{quote box|width=23em|The black revolution is much more than a struggle for the rights of Negroes. It is forcing America to face all its interrelated flaws—racism, poverty, militarism, and materialism. It is exposing evils that are rooted deeply in the whole structure of our society. It reveals systemic rather than superficial flaws and suggests that radical reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced|salign=right|source=–Martin Luther King Jr.<ref name=liberal>{{cite news|last1=King|first1=Martin Luther Jr.|title=MLK An American Legacy.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g4FRDAAAQBAJ&q=The+black+revolution+is+much+more+than+a+struggle+for+the+rights+of+Negroes.+It+is+forcing+America+to+face+all+its+interrelated+flaws%E2%80%94racism,+poverty,+militarism,+and+materialism.+It+is+exposing+evils+that+are+rooted+deeply+in+the+whole+structure+of+our+society.+It+reveals+systemic+rather+than+superficial+flaws+and+suggests+that+radical+reconstruction+of+society+itself+is+the+real+issue+to+be+faced%3D21+Jan+2013&pg=PT1078|newspaper=MLK An American Legacy|year=2013|isbn=978-1-5040-3892-8|access-date=August 15, 2021|archive-date=January 23, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123124317/https://books.google.com/books?id=g4FRDAAAQBAJ&q=The+black+revolution+is+much+more+than+a+struggle+for+the+rights+of+Negroes.+It+is+forcing+America+to+face+all+its+interrelated+flaws%E2%80%94racism,+poverty,+militarism,+and+materialism.+It+is+exposing+evils+that+are+rooted+deeply+in+the+whole+structure+of+our+society.+It+reveals+systemic+rather+than+superficial+flaws+and+suggests+that+radical+reconstruction+of+society+itself+is+the+real+issue+to+be+faced%3D21+Jan+2013&pg=PT1078#v=onepage&q=The%20black%20revolution%20is%20much%20more%20than%20a%20struggle%20for%20the%20rights%20of%20Negroes.%20It%20is%20forcing%20America%20to%20face%20all%20its%20interrelated%20flaws%E2%80%94racism%2C%20poverty%2C%20militarism%2C%20and%20materialism.%20It%20is%20exposing%20evils%20that%20are%20rooted%20deeply%20in%20the%20whole%20structure%20of%20our%20society.%20It%20reveals%20systemic%20rather%20than%20superficial%20flaws%20and%20suggests%20that%20radical%20reconstruction%20of%20society%20itself%20is%20the%20real%20issue%20to%20be%20faced%3D21%20Jan%202013&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>}} {{quote box|width=23em|We must recognize that we can't solve our problem now until there is a radical redistribution of economic and political power... this means a revolution of values and other things. We must see now that the evils of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism are all tied together… you can't really get rid of one without getting rid of the others… the whole structure of American life must be changed. America is a hypocritical nation and [we] must put [our] own house in order.|salign=right|source=—Martin Luther King Jr.<ref name=capitalism>{{cite web|last1=King|first1=Martin Luther Jr.|title=The 11 Most Anti-Capitalist Quotes from Martin Luther King Jr.|url=https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/21/11-most-anti-capitalist-quotes-martin-luther-king-jr|access-date=21 Jan 2019|archive-date=April 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415181804/https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/21/11-most-anti-capitalist-quotes-martin-luther-king-jr|url-status=live}}</ref>}} {{see also|Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War}} King was long opposed to [[American involvement in the Vietnam War]],<ref name=kingandvietnam1 /> but at first avoided the topic in public speeches to avoid the interference with civil rights goals that criticism of President Johnson's policies might have created.<ref name=kingandvietnam1>{{cite book|title=The Sixties Chronicle|first=Peter|last=Braunstein|publisher=Legacy Publishing|page=[https://archive.org/details/sixtieschronicle0000unse/page/311 311]|year=2004|isbn=1-4127-1009-X|url=https://archive.org/details/sixtieschronicle0000unse}}</ref> At the urging of SCLC's former Director of Direct Action and now the head of the [[Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam]], James Bevel, and inspired by the outspokenness of [[Muhammad Ali]],<ref name=kingandvietnam2>{{cite news|url=https://latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-bevel25-2008dec25-story.html|title=The Rev. James L. Bevel dies at 72; civil rights activist and top lieutenant to King|first=Alexander|last=Remington|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=December 24, 2008|access-date=September 15, 2014|archive-date=September 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140916034118/http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-bevel25-2008dec25-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> King eventually agreed to publicly oppose the war as opposition was growing among the American public.<ref name=kingandvietnam1 /> During an April 4, 1967, appearance at the New York City [[Riverside Church]], King delivered a speech titled "[[Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence]]".<ref name=vwar29>{{cite book|title= The African American Voice in U.S. Foreign Policy Since World War II| last=Krenn|first=Michael L.|page=29|isbn=0-8153-3418-4|publisher= Taylor & Francis|year= 1998}}</ref> He spoke strongly against the U.S.'s role in the war, arguing that the U.S. was in Vietnam "to occupy it as an American colony"{{sfn|Robbins|2007|p=107}} and calling the U.S. government "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today".{{sfn|Robbins|2007|p=102}} He connected the war with economic injustice, arguing that the country needed serious moral change: {{blockquote|A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: "This is not just."{{sfn|Robbins|2007|p=109}} }} King opposed the Vietnam War because it took money and resources that could have been [[Social programs in the United States|spent on social welfare at home]]. He summed up this aspect by saying, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."{{sfn|Robbins|2007|p=109}} He stated that North Vietnam "did not begin to send in any large number of supplies or men until American forces had arrived in the tens of thousands",{{sfn|Robbins|2007|p=106}} and accused the U.S. of having killed a million Vietnamese, "mostly children".<ref>{{cite book|last=Baldwin|first= Lewis V.|page=273|title= To Make the Wounded Whole: The Cultural Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. |isbn= 0-8006-2543-9| publisher=Fortress Press|year=1992}}</ref> King also criticized American opposition to North Vietnam's land reforms.<ref>{{cite book | title=Against Us, But for Us: Martin Luther King Jr. and the State|page=199|last=Long|first=Michael G.|isbn=0-86554-768-8|publisher=Mercer University Press|year= 2002}}</ref> King's opposition cost him significant support among white allies including President Johnson, [[Billy Graham]], union leaders, and powerful publishers.<ref name=MED08>{{cite book|last=Dyson|first=Michael Eric|title=April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr.'s death and how it changed America|year=2008|publisher=Basic Civitas Books|isbn=978-0-465-00212-2|chapter=Facing Death|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/april41968martin00dyso|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/april41968martin00dyso}}</ref><ref name="Shellnutt 2018">{{cite web | last=Shellnutt | first=Kate | title=What Is Billy Graham's Friendship with Martin Luther King Jr. Worth? | website=News & Reporting | date=February 23, 2018 | url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/february/billy-graham-martin-luther-king-jr-friendship-civil-rights.html | access-date=October 11, 2021 | archive-date=October 11, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011101448/https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/february/billy-graham-martin-luther-king-jr-friendship-civil-rights.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Blake 2018">{{cite web | last=Blake | first=John | title=Where Billy Graham 'missed the mark' | website=CNN | date=February 22, 2018 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/22/us/billy-graham-mlk-civil-rights/index.html | access-date=October 11, 2021 | archive-date=March 20, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320230948/https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/22/us/billy-graham-mlk-civil-rights/index.html | url-status=live }}</ref> "The press is being stacked against me", King said,<ref>David J. Garrow, ''Bearing the Cross'' (1986), pp. 440, 445.</ref> complaining of what he described as a double standard that applauded his nonviolence at home, but deplored it when applied "toward little brown Vietnamese children".<ref name=Pierre2011>{{cite news|last=Pierre|first=Robert E.|title=Martin Luther King Jr. made our nation uncomfortable|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/martin-luther-king-jr-made-our-nation-uncomfortable/2011/10/16/gIQA78NPoL_blog.html|access-date=August 17, 2012|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=October 16, 2011|archive-date=November 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109183117/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/martin-luther-king-jr-made-our-nation-uncomfortable/2011/10/16/gIQA78NPoL_blog.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine called the speech "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for [[Radio Hanoi]]",{{sfn|Robbins|2007|p=109}} and ''[[The Washington Post]]'' declared that King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people."<ref name=Pierre2011 />{{sfn|Lawson|Payne|Patterson|2006|p=148}} [[File:Martin Luther King Jr St Paul Campus U MN.jpg|thumb|King speaking to an anti-Vietnam war rally at the [[University of Minnesota]] in St. Paul on April 27, 1967]] The "Beyond Vietnam" speech reflected King's evolving political advocacy in his later years, which paralleled the teachings of the progressive [[Highlander Research and Education Center]], with which he was affiliated.<ref>{{cite book|title= Restaging the Sixties: Radical Theaters and Their Legacies|page=297|last1=Harding|first2=Cindy|last2=Rosenthal|isbn= 0-472-06954-3| publisher =University of Michigan Press|year=2006|first1= James M.}} </ref><ref>{{cite book| title= Symbols, the News Magazines, and Martin Luther King|last=Lentz|first=Richard|page=64|publisher=LSU Press|year=1990|isbn=0-8071-2524-5}}</ref> King began to speak of the need for fundamental changes in the American political and economic situation, and more frequently expressed his opposition to the war and his desire to see a redistribution of resources to correct injustice.<ref>{{cite book| title= Martin Luther King, Jr. | url= https://archive.org/details/martinlutherking00ling | url-access= registration | last= Ling| first= Peter J. |page=[https://archive.org/details/martinlutherking00ling/page/277 277]|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|isbn=0-415-21664-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-university-of-impossible-to-get-into/|website=freakonomics.com|first=Stephen|last=Dubner|year=2022|title=Episode 501: The University of Impossible-to-Get-Into|quote=education is preparation for citizenship ... citizenship has to do with contributing to your own economic well-being, as well as contributing to the economic well-being of the broader society|access-date=May 2, 2022|archive-date=April 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428031323/https://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-university-of-impossible-to-get-into/|url-status=live}}</ref> He guarded his language in public to avoid being linked to [[communism]], but in private he sometimes spoke of his support for [[democratic socialism]].<ref name="Sturm1990">{{Cite journal|last=Sturm|first=Douglas|date=1990|title=Martin Luther King, Jr., as Democratic Socialist|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40015109|journal=The Journal of Religious Ethics|volume=18|issue=2|pages=79–105|jstor=40015109|issn=0384-9694|access-date=September 4, 2017|archive-date=March 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316162437/http://www.jstor.org/stable/40015109|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Martin Luther Jr. |last=King |editor-first=Cornel |editor-last=West |editor-link=Cornel West |title=The Radical King |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PHAOBAAAQBAJ |year=2015 |publisher=[[Beacon Press]] |isbn=978-0-8070-1282-6 |access-date=June 17, 2015 |archive-date=January 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123124044/https://books.google.com/books?id=PHAOBAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> King stated in "Beyond Vietnam" that "true compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar ... it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring."<ref name="Zinn 2002">{{cite book|title=The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace|last=Zinn|first=Howard|publisher=Beacon Press|isbn=0-8070-1407-9|year=2002|pages=[https://archive.org/details/powerofnonviolen0000unse_y5s7/page/122 122–23]|url=https://archive.org/details/powerofnonviolen0000unse_y5s7/page/122}}</ref> King quoted a U.S. official who said that from Vietnam to Latin America, the country was "on the wrong side of a world revolution."<ref name="Zinn 2002" /> King condemned America's "alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America", and said that the U.S. should support "the shirtless and barefoot people" in the [[Third World]] rather than suppressing their attempts at revolution.<ref name="Zinn 2002" /> King's stance on Vietnam encouraged [[Allard K. Lowenstein]], [[William Sloane Coffin]] and [[Norman Thomas]], with the support of anti-war Democrats, to attempt to persuade King to run against President Johnson in the [[1968 United States presidential election|1968 presidential election]]. King contemplated but ultimately decided against the proposal as he felt uneasy with politics and considered himself better suited to activism.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Engler|first1=Mark|last2=Engler|first2=Paul|title=Why Martin Luther King Didn't Run for President|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-martin-luther-king-didnt-run-for-president-20160118|access-date=March 16, 2017|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=January 18, 2016|archive-date=January 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113150449/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-martin-luther-king-didnt-run-for-president-20160118|url-status=dead}}</ref> On April 15, 1967, King spoke at an anti-war march from Manhattan's Central Park to the United Nations. The march was organized by the [[Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam]] under chairman James Bevel. At the U.N. King brought up issues of civil rights and the draft: {{blockquote|I have not urged a mechanical fusion of the civil rights and peace movements. There are people who have come to see the moral imperative of equality, but who cannot yet see the moral imperative of world brotherhood. I would like to see the fervor of the civil-rights movement imbued into the peace movement to instill it with greater strength. And I believe everyone has a duty to be in both the civil-rights and peace movements. But for those who presently choose but one, I would hope they will finally come to see the moral roots common to both.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1967/Protests/12303074818188-15/ |title=1967 Year In Review |work=United Press International |access-date=November 30, 2010 |archive-date=January 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130103142011/http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1967/Protests/12303074818188-15/ |url-status=live }}</ref>}} Seeing an opportunity to unite civil rights and anti-war activists,<ref name=kingandvietnam2 /> Bevel convinced King to become even more active in the anti-war effort.<ref name=kingandvietnam2 /> Despite his growing public opposition to the Vietnam War, King was not fond of the [[counterculture movement|hippie culture]] which developed from the anti-war movement.<ref name=kingandvietnam3>{{Cite web|last=Theophrastus|date=January 17, 2013|title=Martin L. King on hippies|url=https://bltnotjustasandwich.com/2013/01/17/martin-l-king-on-hippies/|access-date=March 18, 2022|website=BLT|language=en|archive-date=July 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706162922/https://bltnotjustasandwich.com/2013/01/17/martin-l-king-on-hippies/|url-status=live}}</ref> In his 1967 [[Massey Lectures|Massey Lecture]], King stated: {{blockquote|The importance of the hippies is not in their unconventional behavior, but in the fact that hundreds of thousands of young people, in turning to a flight from reality, are expressing a profoundly discrediting view on the society they emerge from.<ref name=kingandvietnam3 />}} On January 13, 1968, King called for a large march on Washington against "one of history's most cruel and senseless wars":<ref name="kurlansky2004">{{cite book| title= 1968: The Year That Rocked the World| last =Kurlansky|first=Mark|author-link=Mark Kurlansky|page=[https://archive.org/details/196800mark/page/46 46]|year=2004|publisher=[[Jonathan Cape]] ([[Random House]])|isbn=978-0-345-45582-6|url=https://archive.org/details/196800mark/page/46}} </ref><ref name="nyt-13jan1968">{{cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0B1EFD3C5E1A7B93C1A8178AD85F4C8685F9|title=Dr. King Calls for Antiwar Rally in Capital February 5–6|last=Robinson|first=Douglas|page=4|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 13, 1968|access-date=April 22, 2010|archive-date=November 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105214612/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0B1EFD3C5E1A7B93C1A8178AD85F4C8685F9|url-status=live}}</ref> {{blockquote|We need to make clear in this political year, to congressmen on both sides of the aisle and to the president of the United States, that we will no longer tolerate, we will no longer vote for men who continue to see the killings of Vietnamese and Americans as the best way of advancing the goals of freedom and self-determination in Southeast Asia.<ref name="kurlansky2004"/><ref name="nyt-13jan1968"/>}} ==== Correspondence with Thích Nhất Hạnh ==== [[Thích Nhất Hạnh]] was an influential Vietnamese [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] who wrote a letter to Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965 entitled: "In Search of the Enemy of Man". It was during his 1966 stay in the US that Nhất Hạnh met with King and urged him to publicly denounce the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aavw.org/protest/king_journey_abstract09.html|title=Searching for the Enemy of Man" in Nhat Nanh, Ho Huu Tuong, Tam Ich, Bui Giang, Pham Cong Thien|date=1965|work=Dialogue|publisher=Saigon: La Boi|pages=11–20|access-date=September 13, 2010|archive-date=October 27, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061027112237/http://www.aavw.org/protest/king_journey_abstract09.html|url-status=live}}, Archived on the African-American Involvement in the Vietnam War website</ref> In 1967, King gave a famous speech at the [[Riverside Church]] in New York City, his first to publicly question U.S. involvement in Vietnam.<ref>{{cite speech|url=http://www.aavw.org/special_features/speeches_speech_king01.html|title=Beyond Vietnam|first=Martin Luther Jr.|last=King|location=Riverside Church, NYC|date=April 4, 1967|publisher=Archived on the African-American Involvement in the Vietnam War website|access-date=September 13, 2010|archive-date=August 20, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820044643/http://www.aavw.org/special_features/speeches_speech_king01.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Later that year, King nominated Nhất Hạnh for the [[Nobel Peace Prize]]. In his nomination, King said, "I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of [this prize] than this gentle monk from Vietnam. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to [[ecumenism]], to world brotherhood, to humanity".<ref name="nomination">{{cite letter|url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/025.html|subject=Nomination of Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize |first=Martin Luther Jr. |last=King |recipient=The Nobel Institute |date=January 25, 1967 |access-date=September 13, 2010}}</ref> ===Poor People's Campaign, 1968=== {{Main|Poor People's Campaign}} [[File:Resurrection City Washington D.C. 1968.jpg|alt=Rows of tents|thumb|A shantytown established in Washington, D.C. to protest economic conditions as a part of the [[Poor People's Campaign]]]] In 1968, King and the SCLC organized the "[[Poor People's Campaign]]" to address issues of economic justice. King traveled the country to assemble "a multiracial army of the poor" that would march on Washington to engage in nonviolent [[civil disobedience]] at the Capitol until Congress created an "economic bill of rights".<ref>{{cite book| first= Ernesto B.|last=Vigil|title=The Crusade for Justice: Chicano Militancy and the Government's War on Dissent|page= 54| publisher =University of Wisconsin Press|isbn=0-299-16224-9|year=1999}}</ref><ref name=lied>{{cite book|last= Kick|first= Russell |page=[https://archive.org/details/You_Are_Being_Lied_To_-_The_Disinformation_Guide_to_Media_Distortion_Historical_/page/1991 1991]|isbn=0-9664100-7-6 |publisher=The Disinformation Campaign|year=2001|title=You are Being Lied to: The Disinformation Guide to Media Distortion, Historical Whitewashes and Cultural Myths|url=https://archive.org/details/You_Are_Being_Lied_To_-_The_Disinformation_Guide_to_Media_Distortion_Historical_/page/1991}}</ref> The campaign was preceded by King's final book, ''[[Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?]]'' which laid out his view of how to address social issues and poverty. King quoted from [[Henry George]]'s book ''[[Progress and Poverty]]'', particularly in support of a [[basic income|guaranteed basic income]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sullivan|first1=Dan|title=Where Was Martin Luther King Heading?|url=http://savingcommunities.org/issues/race/king.martin.html|website=savingcommunities.org|access-date=January 20, 2015|archive-date=April 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415091914/http://savingcommunities.org/issues/race/king.martin.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Martin Luther King – Final Advice |url=http://www.progress.org/tpr/martin-luther-king-final-advice/ |date=January 9, 2007 |website=The Progress Report |access-date=February 4, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204201039/https://www.progress.org/tpr/martin-luther-king-final-advice/ |archive-date=February 4, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Yglesias|first1=Matthew|title=Martin Luther King's Case for a Guaranteed Basic Income|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/08/28/martin_luther_king_guaranteed_basic_income.html|access-date=January 20, 2015|work=Slate|date=August 28, 2013|archive-date=January 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120082638/http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/08/28/martin_luther_king_guaranteed_basic_income.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The campaign culminated in a march on Washington, D.C., demanding economic aid to the poorest communities of the U.S. King and the SCLC called on the government to invest in rebuilding America's cities. He felt that Congress had shown "hostility to the poor" by spending "military funds with alacrity and generosity". He contrasted this with the situation faced by poor Americans, claiming that Congress had merely provided "poverty funds with miserliness".<ref name=lied/> His vision was for change that was more revolutionary than mere reform: he cited systematic flaws of "racism, poverty, militarism and materialism", and argued that "reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced."{{sfn|Lawson|Payne|Patterson|2006|pp=148–49}} The Poor People's Campaign was controversial even within the civil rights movement. Rustin resigned from the march, stating that the goals of the campaign were too broad, that its demands were unrealizable, and that he thought that these campaigns would accelerate repression on the poor and the black.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Other American: The Life of Michael Harrington|url=https://archive.org/details/otheramericanlif0000isse|url-access=registration|last=Isserman|first=Maurice|page=[https://archive.org/details/otheramericanlif0000isse/page/281 281]|isbn=1-58648-036-7|publisher=Public Affairs|year=2001}}</ref> === Global policy === King was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a [[world constitution]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Letter from World Constitution Coordinating Committee to Helen, enclosing current materials |url=https://www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive?a=d&d=A-HK01-07-B154-F05-028.1.9 |access-date=July 3, 2023 |website=Helen Keller Archive |publisher=American Foundation for the Blind |archive-date=July 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230719103258/https://www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive?a=d&d=A-HK01-07-B154-F05-028.1.9 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=June 7, 1962 |title=Pakistan Announces Delegates Named |page=5 |work=Arizona Sun |url=https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/118619}}</ref> As a result, in 1968 a [[World Constituent Assembly]] convened to draft and adopt the [[Constitution for the Federation of Earth]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Preparing earth constitution {{!}} Global Strategies & Solutions |url=http://encyclopedia.uia.org/en/strategy/193465 |url-status=live |access-date=July 15, 2023 |website=The Encyclopedia of World Problems |archive-date=July 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230719215501/http://encyclopedia.uia.org/en/strategy/193465 }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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