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Martin Luther King, Jr.,
was assassinated in Memphis
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on Thursday, April 4, 1968
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Fifty years later his friends sat down
to recall the last years of his life
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ATLANTA, GEORGIA
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I came over in the morning
to pick Martin up
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to drive him to the airport
to go to Memphis.
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The children saw him going
to the airport all the time.
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But this day, the boys blocked the door
and said "Daddy, don't leave."
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And he said,
"Oh I'll be right back.
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I'm just going down to Memphis!
I'll be back."
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Then they ran ahead of him
and blocked the stairs,
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and said,
"Daddy, don't leave us."
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And he said,
"Listen, I'm coming right back.
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I'm gonna go down there for a march.
You know I explained why I'm going.
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These people have been
mistreated in Memphis
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and I'm going to do something about it.
That's my work and you know that."
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They ran over to my car, and then they
jumped on the hood of the car,
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pleading
again through the window,
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"Daddy, please don't go. Daddy, please
don't leave us. Daddy, please!"
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Such pleading.
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We backed out of the driveway
and got on the way.
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And he said, "What in the world
happened to these kids?
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They must be trying to tell me
that they're missing me more.
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And when I come back, I've gotta change
my habits. I can't go through this."
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I watched the transformation
take place
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from the man that I met
in the first instance
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to the man he became in the end.
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With all of his experience,
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he really was not quite ready for the
human heart to reveal as much villainy.
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What he saw
was more hate than he saw resolve.
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We were trying to redeem
the soul of America
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from the triple evils of racism,
war, and poverty,
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and Martin had become
far more exposed to enemies
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by taking on both
civil rights and the war issue.
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I couldn't imagine the pressure
that was on him nobody could.
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None of us could imagine that.
It was just too overwhelming.
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The most difficult time of his life was
the 18 months before his assassination.
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Very difficult time.
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The Moses of nineteen hundred
and sixty-eight, Martin Luther King.
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He was disappointed,
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and he wondered whether or not
he could do any more than he'd done.
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It had bothered him deeply that
the nation had turned against him
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and I always tell people
he died of a broken heart.
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I think he worried about dying
before he had accomplished enough.
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It's as though he knew that
he was not going to be here
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for the rest of the struggle.
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We've got some difficult days ahead.
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The movement ceased to be political
for him it was spiritual.
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But it really doesn't matter
with me now.
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He said, 'We have wondered in
the wilderness of separate but equal,
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and we're about to move into the
promised land of creative integration,
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and I don't know
whether I'll get there,
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but my people
will get to the promised land.
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Mine eyes have seen the glory
of the coming of the Lord!'
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I'm 86, and you know, there's an
African proverb that says,
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"If the surviving lions
don't tell their stories,
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the hunters will get all the credit."
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I tell the story of Martin Luther King
as I knew it.
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I lived it.
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I value all of what they gave me now
that I can remember.
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I'm not just telling stories.
I'm not making a speech.
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I'm telling you what happened.
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KING IN THE WILDERNESS
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Speed. Civil Rights, King,
Vanocur, roll 20, sound 36.
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Dr. King, this church
is as good a place as any
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to go back over your commitment
to the Civil Rights Movement.
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When you went to Montgomery, Alabama
and started the Bus Boycotts there,
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what was the philosophy of the Civil
Rights movement as you saw it then,
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more than ten years ago?
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I would say, then, the philosophy was
that we must go all out
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to use legal and nonviolent methods
to gain full citizenship rights
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for the negro people of our country.
And that particular struggle centered
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on breaking down all
of the barriers of legal segregation.
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That period was a great period of hope
for me, and I'm sure for many others.
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Many of the negroes who had lost hope
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saw a solid decade of progress
in the South.
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And I think we are in a new era,
a new phase of the struggle,
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where we have moved from
a struggle for decency,
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which characterized our struggle
for 10 or 12 years,
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to a struggle for genuine equality,
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because there are three evils
in our nation;
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it's not only racism, but economic
exploitation of poverty would be one,
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and then militarism.
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And I think, in a sense,
and in a very real sense,
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these three are tied
inextricably together,
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and we aren't gonna get rid of one
without getting rid of the other.
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When you stood
in that August day in 1963
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on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial,
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and you said, "I had a dream,"
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did that dream envision a war in Asia,
and in the ghettos of the North?
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No, I didn't envision that then. In
1963, to be in the March on Washington,
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it meant a great deal; it was a high
moment, a great watershed moment.
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But I must confess that that
dream that I had that day
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has in many points
turned into a nightmare.
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
AUGUST 11, 1965
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We were all caught off guard
when we saw the rebellions begin.
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They started in Harlem
and then Philadelphia in 1964,
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and then Watts in 1965,
which was the most massive.
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Martin called me
early in the morning saying that,
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"There's a riot in Watts.
We've gotta go to Los Angeles."
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Thank you very much my dear friends
of Los Angeles
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and the Watts area of this city.
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Now I live approximately 2,500
miles from here.
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I'm not free there and our brothers
and sisters are not free there,
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and you are not free in California
and in the North.
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I've said all over America, and I come
out to Watts to tell ya today,
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no matter what color you are,
you are somebody!
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00:10:09,650 --> 00:10:13,738
And all over
the United States of America,
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the negro must join hands
and we must work.
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Dr. King once said that,
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"The riot became the language
of the unheard."
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You all know my philosophy; you all know
that I believe firmly in nonviolence.
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00:10:42,141 --> 00:10:44,310
Or maybe some of you
don't quite agree with this.
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Nonviolent is more than a tactic.
It is one of those immutable principles
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that you cannot deviate from
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if you're going to be able
to redeem the soul of America.
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The issues in Watts,
and in the North,
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were far more complex
than black and white,
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as they had been in the South.
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He was dealing with racism,
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00:11:06,999 --> 00:11:10,336
but he was dealing with racism
that was complicated by unemployment
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and unprepared migrants moving
from the South to the North.
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And I realized we were
in a different movement.
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What we saw it as...
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a lot of people who were suffering
from the same kind of poverty,
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00:11:25,810 --> 00:11:28,949
the same kind of absence
of employment opportunities,
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00:11:28,979 --> 00:11:32,066
and police brutality
were in the urban areas,
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00:11:32,149 --> 00:11:37,238
and they responded with whatever
weapons they could find.
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00:11:39,573 --> 00:11:44,578
The president during the riots
was just depressed.
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About a week before,
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Johnson had signed
the Voting Rights Act tells me,
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00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:54,171
"this is the most important
piece of legislation I'll pass.
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00:11:54,964 --> 00:11:57,299
Even more important
than the '64 Civil Rights Act."
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00:11:58,259 --> 00:12:02,388
He's virtually carried out
of the room on shoulders,
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00:12:02,471 --> 00:12:05,599
and then,
we start the massive rioting in Watts.
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00:12:06,642 --> 00:12:09,603
So he tells me, "Call Dr. King."
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- Hello?
- Yes, Dr. King.
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00:12:11,730 --> 00:12:15,025
Yes, we're expecting
a difficult situation here.
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00:12:15,818 --> 00:12:16,956
How do you see it?
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00:12:16,986 --> 00:12:21,240
I'll tell ya, Mr. President, I have met
with people in the Watts area.
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00:12:21,282 --> 00:12:25,202
I'm fearful that if something isn't done
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to give a new sense of hope
to the people in that area,
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that a full-scale race war
can develop here.
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00:12:33,752 --> 00:12:36,881
I've spent the biggest part of my life
for the last four years
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on civil rights bills,
but all of it comes to naught
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if you have a situation like war in
the world or a situation in Los Angeles.
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Yes.
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All of this was happening
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about the same time that the war
in Vietnam heated up,
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00:12:54,189 --> 00:12:57,443
and the President was
in the midst of a very heavy burden
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00:12:58,319 --> 00:13:00,571
both with the war and domestically.
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I want peace as much as you do,
and more so,
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'cause I'm the fellow that had to wake
up with morning with 50 Marines killed.
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00:13:07,870 --> 00:13:10,926
But these folks,
they all got the impression, too,
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that you're against me in Vietnam.
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00:13:12,916 --> 00:13:16,295
And I have said this, Mr. President.
I am concerned about peace.
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Dr. King made the decision in '65
that he had to be against the war.
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NEW YORK CITY
SEPTEMBER 10, 1965
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We went to meet with Ambassador
Goldberg at the United Nations.
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00:13:27,723 --> 00:13:30,726
And Goldberg pretty
much agreed with us
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00:13:30,768 --> 00:13:33,937
that the war in Vietnam
was not in anybody's interest.
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But the press said
that he had no business
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having an opinion about foreign affairs.
He was a civil rights leader, see.
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And it hurt him.
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He said to me, "Vivian, you don't think
I know what I'm talking about do you?"
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But he knew how he felt about the war.
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00:13:58,837 --> 00:14:05,094
Also, I think Martin knew that he had to
be a part of the North sooner or later.
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00:14:06,095 --> 00:14:07,274
One must understand
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00:14:07,304 --> 00:14:12,434
that the civil rights legislation that
we have had over the last few years,
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00:14:12,476 --> 00:14:15,687
even the voting bill rights bill
which came the other day
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00:14:16,647 --> 00:14:20,734
didn't do too much to improve the lot
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00:14:21,693 --> 00:14:26,031
of the thousands and millions of negroes
in teeming ghettoes of the north.
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I opposed SCLC moving North
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because we weren't finished
in the South.
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00:14:39,545 --> 00:14:43,757
We needed to continue
political education.
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00:14:44,716 --> 00:14:47,970
And we needed to work
on building an economic base.
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00:14:50,055 --> 00:14:55,102
Martin could sit there for an hour,
listen to us argue about,
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00:14:55,144 --> 00:14:59,398
"no let's go here. Let's go there.
Let's teach this, let's... whatever."
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00:15:00,023 --> 00:15:03,068
But he would teach
a lot by asking questions.
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00:15:03,277 --> 00:15:06,321
Then a sudden quiet
would come over the room
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00:15:06,405 --> 00:15:10,450
because he wanted to make people
think about what they wanted.
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00:15:12,619 --> 00:15:16,790
Martin could be very quiet and
have all the power in the room.
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Martin had decided
that we had to prove
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00:15:21,879 --> 00:15:26,008
that nonviolence
was relevant in the North.
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00:15:26,049 --> 00:15:29,386
That we had to find a way
to get into these northern cities
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before the riots occurred.
And so, we went North, to Chicago.
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
JANUARY, 1966
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I do not know that everything
that Martin said or did
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he was quite prepared for.
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00:16:00,542 --> 00:16:02,669
He had felt that in many ways,
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00:16:03,211 --> 00:16:06,548
dealing with the South
was a more predictable outcome,
192
00:16:07,466 --> 00:16:12,721
because in the North,
the racial hypocrisy was very subverted.
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It gave the appearance of being
not like the South;
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00:16:17,934 --> 00:16:20,145
the South was the center of all evil,
195
00:16:20,937 --> 00:16:24,232
and that the North
was a place of the higher experience.
196
00:16:25,108 --> 00:16:27,402
And Dr. King said,
"No, that's not the case."
197
00:16:32,491 --> 00:16:36,787
We moved into an apartment
on 16th and Hamlin.
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00:16:38,914 --> 00:16:43,001
It was a walk-up apartment,
with no lights, no heat,
199
00:16:44,002 --> 00:16:49,341
and it took quite an adjustment.
I never got scared in the South.
200
00:16:51,259 --> 00:16:54,441
SELMA, ALABAMA
MARCH 7, 1965
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00:16:54,471 --> 00:17:00,727
I knew the dangers, and I was prepared
to get killed in the South,
202
00:17:01,686 --> 00:17:05,857
but I wasn't ready to, you know,
to have a junkie stick a knife in me
203
00:17:06,191 --> 00:17:09,361
in the middle of the night,
coming into that apartment
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00:17:10,445 --> 00:17:13,615
for maybe fifteen or twenty dollars
that I had in my pocket.
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00:17:16,618 --> 00:17:18,745
That first night was a very cold night,
206
00:17:18,787 --> 00:17:22,844
and I got really worried that there
weren't gonna be enough blankets,
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00:17:22,874 --> 00:17:24,042
so we went and got the blankets,
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00:17:24,084 --> 00:17:27,129
and went over to see Dr. King
in his apartment.
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00:17:28,213 --> 00:17:30,185
And, as we were sitting there,
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00:17:30,215 --> 00:17:33,427
the doorbell rang,
and there was a young man there.
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00:17:34,386 --> 00:17:36,441
The first thing he said
when he came in the door was,
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00:17:36,471 --> 00:17:38,598
"Are you really Martin Luther King?"
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00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:40,767
They had a very lovely conversation
214
00:17:41,685 --> 00:17:45,784
with Dr. King really saying,
"We want you to join the movement."
215
00:17:45,814 --> 00:17:48,859
Pretty soon later,
there was another knock on the door,
216
00:17:48,900 --> 00:17:52,112
and there was like a whole train
of them going down the stairs.
217
00:17:53,238 --> 00:17:57,325
And those young men came back
a number of times to see Dr. King.
218
00:18:01,413 --> 00:18:02,551
People in the community
219
00:18:02,581 --> 00:18:05,709
they would just hang around waiting
for him to come downstairs,
220
00:18:05,750 --> 00:18:07,752
so they could see him.
221
00:18:08,712 --> 00:18:11,965
But he would invite them in,
sit down and talk to people.
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00:18:12,924 --> 00:18:16,052
They didn't think he was
the kind of person he could talk to
223
00:18:16,094 --> 00:18:22,392
and it made them feel, well honestly,
that they were worthwhile as well.
224
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Martin understood
that if you ran with folk,
225
00:18:32,736 --> 00:18:33,904
you could organize folk.
226
00:18:37,073 --> 00:18:43,246
Remember, we've spent all of our lives
being hated in one form or the other.
227
00:18:45,248 --> 00:18:51,546
But when we see somebody who really
cares for people, people period,
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00:18:53,715 --> 00:18:57,719
that person is worth knowing.
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The first week we moved in,
230
00:19:02,057 --> 00:19:06,031
temperature dropped to about
sixteen degrees below zero.
231
00:19:06,061 --> 00:19:11,274
And people came to us
to complain that they had no heat.
232
00:19:12,567 --> 00:19:16,655
And, to find babies wrapped
in newspaper,
233
00:19:16,821 --> 00:19:19,824
we had to start fire the furnaces.
234
00:19:20,909 --> 00:19:22,923
So we got all the money we could
235
00:19:22,953 --> 00:19:26,122
and we got enough coal
and to get all of the furnaces to work.
236
00:19:29,209 --> 00:19:32,504
We called the movement in Chicago
the movement to end slums.
237
00:19:34,422 --> 00:19:40,804
And it plunged us into several issues.
One was the area of poor housing.
238
00:19:41,763 --> 00:19:46,101
The other was the area of quality
education, and also unemployment.
239
00:19:47,102 --> 00:19:50,271
I feel like we know more
about our problem than Dr. King
240
00:19:51,106 --> 00:19:52,160
because we live here.
241
00:19:52,190 --> 00:19:54,329
What would you suggest that he do,
Reverend Mitchell?
242
00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:57,320
I would suggest when it comes
down to our city,
243
00:19:57,362 --> 00:19:59,447
he should get the hell out of here.
244
00:20:01,533 --> 00:20:04,661
So first we ran into
stiff black resistance.
245
00:20:04,828 --> 00:20:07,956
We had never met that in Montgomery
or Birmingham or Selma before,
246
00:20:07,997 --> 00:20:09,916
that was different.
247
00:20:10,917 --> 00:20:14,254
A lot of the ministers
were part of the patronage system.
248
00:20:15,046 --> 00:20:19,229
Mayor Daley's patronage system
was one where people's jobs
249
00:20:19,259 --> 00:20:23,346
were handed out based on the number
of votes that they could produce.
250
00:20:23,388 --> 00:20:25,515
They called it
the Daley Machine.
251
00:20:27,475 --> 00:20:30,770
Martin had anxiety,
because, as he put it,
252
00:20:31,688 --> 00:20:37,902
"We don't want to flunk.
We don't want to fail in our projects."
253
00:20:39,112 --> 00:20:43,366
We met regularly with Mayor Daley,
and we disagreed,
254
00:20:45,243 --> 00:20:48,496
because we were challenging
the way Chicago was structured.
255
00:20:49,622 --> 00:20:53,543
I think we're beginning to crystalize
some of the problems
256
00:20:53,585 --> 00:20:56,921
and understand what we might do
to begin to make some changes.
257
00:20:57,714 --> 00:20:59,883
Does it mean demonstrations, too,
possibly?
258
00:21:00,008 --> 00:21:02,063
Yes, it would mean demonstrations,
259
00:21:02,093 --> 00:21:06,222
but I think just when
it would mean demonstrations,
260
00:21:06,264 --> 00:21:08,308
we wouldn't be able to say.
261
00:21:11,394 --> 00:21:14,522
At the same time, we were still
being pulled back to the South,
262
00:21:14,564 --> 00:21:18,651
and James Meredith decided
to have a march in Mississippi.
263
00:21:18,943 --> 00:21:23,239
MISSISSIPPI
JUNE 6, 1966
264
00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:25,325
When James Meredith,
265
00:21:25,366 --> 00:21:28,298
a negro who desegregated
the University of Mississippi,
266
00:21:28,328 --> 00:21:31,456
started the march only three friends
walked with him.
267
00:21:31,497 --> 00:21:34,679
The surest way to power
is through the vote.
268
00:21:34,709 --> 00:21:37,765
And it is for this reason
that I have decided
269
00:21:37,795 --> 00:21:44,969
to use all of my spare time trying to
encourage negroes to register and vote,
270
00:21:45,053 --> 00:21:48,097
and that is the purpose
of this march today.
271
00:21:48,139 --> 00:21:50,225
Mississippi wanted black folk to leave.
272
00:21:50,266 --> 00:21:52,280
They didn't want them
to be there to vote.
273
00:21:52,310 --> 00:21:54,395
They were trying to starve them out.
274
00:21:54,437 --> 00:21:57,493
They were pushing people off the land
and wanted them to go North.
275
00:21:57,523 --> 00:21:59,567
And the violence continued.
276
00:22:00,777 --> 00:22:03,905
James Meredith's march
was a march against fear.
277
00:22:03,988 --> 00:22:07,045
We had seen people
in Mississippi getting killed
278
00:22:07,075 --> 00:22:11,287
for trying to register to vote because
they didn't want them to have power.
279
00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,219
So he was trying to empower
African Americans
280
00:22:15,249 --> 00:22:18,336
to not be fearful of all the threats.
281
00:22:18,461 --> 00:22:22,590
"If I can walk through Mississippi
without harm," Meredith told reporters,
282
00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:24,979
"Other negroes
will see that they can too."
283
00:22:25,009 --> 00:22:30,151
At that time, me and Stokely Carmichael
were officers of SNCC,
284
00:22:30,181 --> 00:22:32,433
the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee.
285
00:22:32,475 --> 00:22:37,563
And someone came along and told us
that James Meredith had been shot.
286
00:22:38,523 --> 00:22:42,705
I'm hit in the leg, and in the head.
Ain't nobody gonna get me in a car.
287
00:22:42,735 --> 00:22:44,779
Here it comes right now Jimmy.
288
00:22:44,821 --> 00:22:46,906
The Meredith March wasn't
on anybody's agenda.
289
00:22:46,948 --> 00:22:48,950
He didn't consult with anybody.
290
00:22:49,075 --> 00:22:51,130
But with the shooting of Meredith,
291
00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,372
Dr. King and civil rights leaders
rallied around that.
292
00:22:55,164 --> 00:22:59,544
This march that we are continuing,
started by James Meredith,
293
00:23:00,461 --> 00:23:04,632
I am convinced
will have as great an impact,
294
00:23:04,674 --> 00:23:09,816
or probably a greater impact than
the march from Selma to Montgomery.
295
00:23:09,846 --> 00:23:14,058
If a man can be shot on the highways
in Mississippi peacefully walking,
296
00:23:14,100 --> 00:23:16,030
that march needs to be big.
297
00:23:16,060 --> 00:23:18,146
Thank you very much, gentlemen.
298
00:23:19,188 --> 00:23:22,525
Martin felt we could not ignore
what was happening in Mississippi.
299
00:23:24,402 --> 00:23:28,573
So, we had to divide
what we were doing in Chicago,
300
00:23:29,824 --> 00:23:33,911
and so we had a Mississippi March
and a Chicago Movement.
301
00:23:48,593 --> 00:23:51,679
- Nigger go home!
- Where's Meredith?
302
00:23:52,722 --> 00:23:54,849
From the moment that the civil rights
leaders rushed in
303
00:23:54,891 --> 00:23:56,893
to continue James Meredith's march,
304
00:23:56,934 --> 00:24:00,146
there has been a struggle to see whose
philosophy would guide the steps.
305
00:24:01,105 --> 00:24:03,107
The philosophical struggle deepened
306
00:24:03,149 --> 00:24:05,359
as the march
column moved deeper into Mississippi.
307
00:24:06,152 --> 00:24:07,331
The voice of Stokely Carmichael,
308
00:24:07,361 --> 00:24:10,376
young leader of the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee,
309
00:24:10,406 --> 00:24:11,574
spoke louder and louder.
310
00:24:11,616 --> 00:24:15,536
At Greenwood, he sounded
the marches new rallying call.
311
00:24:15,578 --> 00:24:17,592
It's time we stand up
and take over.
312
00:24:17,622 --> 00:24:23,961
- We want Black Power.
- Black Power!
313
00:24:25,087 --> 00:24:30,176
In SNCC, we saw
a changing movement tactically.
314
00:24:31,385 --> 00:24:34,388
Our focus was on empowering
communities.
315
00:24:34,430 --> 00:24:36,444
We don't have to be ashamed of it.
316
00:24:36,474 --> 00:24:39,614
Not only politically, but in
terms of culture and identity.
317
00:24:39,644 --> 00:24:42,855
What do you want?
That's what we gonna get.
318
00:24:43,731 --> 00:24:44,982
What they were basically saying
319
00:24:45,775 --> 00:24:49,987
is that black people
needed to appreciate black,
320
00:24:50,154 --> 00:24:53,157
and it wasn't a color,
it was a culture.
321
00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:55,409
Now, when I was growing up,
322
00:24:56,202 --> 00:25:01,457
to call a person of color black
was considered derogatory.
323
00:25:01,499 --> 00:25:03,554
Those were fighting words.
324
00:25:03,584 --> 00:25:07,880
But, there was a term that was used as
well during that period: "white power."
325
00:25:09,966 --> 00:25:14,053
Stokely Carmichael gets control
of the SNCC,
326
00:25:14,095 --> 00:25:17,235
and he purges the organization
of all white people.
327
00:25:17,265 --> 00:25:20,351
He said, "You go back and work
in your community.
328
00:25:20,393 --> 00:25:25,481
We want to have total control.
It rippled throughout the movement.
329
00:25:27,483 --> 00:25:32,738
I will never forget Dr. King's face
when Black Power first began to emerge.
330
00:25:32,863 --> 00:25:34,949
He looked like the most stricken man.
331
00:25:35,449 --> 00:25:39,745
We must never forget that there are
some white people in the United States
332
00:25:39,829 --> 00:25:44,875
just as determined to see us free
as we are to be free ourselves.
333
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,100
We were taught that there were
good people and bad people
334
00:25:49,130 --> 00:25:52,258
and we never viewed this
as black against white.
335
00:25:53,342 --> 00:25:58,472
We're taught that racism was a sickness
and you don't get mad with sick people.
336
00:25:58,514 --> 00:26:00,641
They just don't know any better.
337
00:26:01,517 --> 00:26:03,811
They'd been taught
that they are better than you.
338
00:26:04,645 --> 00:26:07,827
What do you mean when you shout
"Black Power" to these people?
339
00:26:07,857 --> 00:26:11,122
I mean that they are oppressed
because they are black,
340
00:26:11,152 --> 00:26:14,238
and their rallying cry
must be "Black Power"
341
00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:18,379
so that they can use that to ensure
justice for themselves...
342
00:26:18,409 --> 00:26:22,621
Martin was very uncomfortable,
but he knows that he has to be there
343
00:26:23,497 --> 00:26:25,678
to support the courage
of Stokely Carmichael
344
00:26:25,708 --> 00:26:30,755
without supporting the message,
or the form of the message.
345
00:26:31,922 --> 00:26:37,136
Dr. King was not opposed to power,
but to elevate so- called Black Power
346
00:26:38,053 --> 00:26:42,183
over white power would break that
which he was seeking to build
347
00:26:42,308 --> 00:26:45,436
the coalition among
white and black people.
348
00:26:46,479 --> 00:26:53,652
I feel that while believing firmly
that power is necessary,
349
00:26:53,903 --> 00:26:58,073
that it would be difficult for me
to use the phrase "Black Power"
350
00:26:58,949 --> 00:27:03,078
because of the connotative meaning
that it has for many people,
351
00:27:03,120 --> 00:27:09,460
and the feeling that this
may represent our desire to rise
352
00:27:09,502 --> 00:27:12,600
from a position of disadvantage
to one of advantage,
353
00:27:12,630 --> 00:27:15,591
thereby subverting justice.
354
00:27:15,633 --> 00:27:16,759
Some of the people on the march
355
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,857
were intimidated
by the whole effort of Black Power.
356
00:27:19,887 --> 00:27:24,016
They must ask themselves
why they are afraid of the word "black"
357
00:27:24,058 --> 00:27:26,197
and why they are afraid
of the phrase "black power."
358
00:27:26,227 --> 00:27:30,147
As long as we were talking about
non-violence and all that kind of thing,
359
00:27:30,189 --> 00:27:31,273
everybody felt comfortable.
360
00:27:31,315 --> 00:27:33,526
Do you think they're really afraid
of it or just feel not a good...
361
00:27:34,318 --> 00:27:37,500
Anytime when we talk about
black people having power
362
00:27:37,530 --> 00:27:41,825
the assumption is that black people want
to be violent against white people.
363
00:27:42,493 --> 00:27:45,716
Mr. Carmichael, are you as committed to
the nonviolent approach as Dr. King is?
364
00:27:45,746 --> 00:27:47,718
- No, I'm not.
- Why aren't you?
365
00:27:47,748 --> 00:27:50,804
I just don't see it as a way of life.
I never have.
366
00:27:50,834 --> 00:27:52,044
I grew up in the slums of New York
367
00:27:52,086 --> 00:27:57,061
and I learned there that the only way
that one survived was to use his fists.
368
00:27:57,091 --> 00:28:00,177
When Stokely
became chairman of SNCC,
369
00:28:00,219 --> 00:28:02,471
he had a different approach.
370
00:28:02,513 --> 00:28:05,569
For me, it's always been a tactic
and never a way of life.
371
00:28:05,599 --> 00:28:07,643
He believed in self-defense.
372
00:28:07,685 --> 00:28:09,657
Could you comment on that Dr. King?
373
00:28:09,687 --> 00:28:11,689
The negro has an opportunity
374
00:28:11,730 --> 00:28:15,985
to inject morality
in the veins of our civilization
375
00:28:16,860 --> 00:28:21,210
and for this reason I will continue
to preach non-violence,
376
00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:22,324
I will to continue to...
377
00:28:23,117 --> 00:28:25,286
Martin was an amazingly tolerant,
378
00:28:25,327 --> 00:28:28,372
understanding father-figure
for all of us.
379
00:28:28,539 --> 00:28:33,627
He understood Stokely's frustrations,
and he never took it personally.
380
00:28:34,753 --> 00:28:38,966
I think Dr. King never forgot
that we were all on the same side.
381
00:28:39,883 --> 00:28:41,885
He didn't have any enemies.
382
00:28:43,095 --> 00:28:47,141
What I remember was the listening,
the patience.
383
00:28:47,224 --> 00:28:49,393
He was always there to say,
384
00:28:49,435 --> 00:28:53,564
"I don't go there, but I want to really
understand why you go there."
385
00:28:54,523 --> 00:28:58,777
But that was the first real breach
in the nonviolence commitment
386
00:28:58,819 --> 00:29:00,988
that many of us had grown to accept.
387
00:29:01,905 --> 00:29:08,078
I'm sick and tired of violence. I'm
tired of shooting, I'm tired of hate,
388
00:29:08,162 --> 00:29:11,373
I'm tired of selfishness,
I'm tired of evil!
389
00:29:11,415 --> 00:29:15,461
I'm not gonna use violence
no matter who says it.
390
00:29:17,421 --> 00:29:19,673
I had not, before meeting Dr. King,
391
00:29:20,758 --> 00:29:23,886
ever taken the option
of violence off the table.
392
00:29:25,846 --> 00:29:30,100
We are a minority
living in the belly of the beast.
393
00:29:33,145 --> 00:29:38,275
When Dr. King stepped in,
he methodically would look at violence
394
00:29:38,358 --> 00:29:42,613
and challenge those who would seek
the gun as the solution,
395
00:29:43,697 --> 00:29:48,786
because morally, you cannot defeat
the enemy by becoming the enemy.
396
00:29:49,787 --> 00:29:52,956
But Stokely really believed
that in the long run,
397
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:56,096
the gun was
gonna have to be the answer.
398
00:29:56,126 --> 00:29:59,266
We begged the president,
we begged the federal government,
399
00:29:59,296 --> 00:30:00,422
that's all we've been doing...
400
00:30:01,215 --> 00:30:06,440
I accused Stokely of being
just an angry, frustrated young man.
401
00:30:06,470 --> 00:30:08,597
It's time we stand up and take over.
402
00:30:08,722 --> 00:30:11,767
Every courthouse in Mississippi oughta
be burned down tomorrow
403
00:30:11,809 --> 00:30:12,851
to get rid of the...
404
00:30:12,893 --> 00:30:17,898
Anger eats away at your own soul,
and it hurts you.
405
00:30:18,148 --> 00:30:23,123
Everybody has a right to be angry.
Everybody has a right to be frustrated.
406
00:30:23,153 --> 00:30:28,450
But, if you give in to your anger and
your frustrations, you're gonna lose.
407
00:30:28,534 --> 00:30:35,832
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
JULY 10, 1966
408
00:30:36,875 --> 00:30:39,878
This day,
we must commit ourselves
409
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:45,217
to make any sacrifice necessary
to change Chicago, this day.
410
00:30:49,263 --> 00:30:52,391
That summer of '66 did feel like
a very turbulent time.
411
00:30:52,683 --> 00:30:56,979
We must avoid the error of building
a distrust for a white people.
412
00:30:57,062 --> 00:31:01,149
There was some question about whether
it was appropriate for white people
413
00:31:01,191 --> 00:31:03,247
to stay working with the movement.
414
00:31:03,277 --> 00:31:06,375
And I remember
one of my black friends saying to me,
415
00:31:06,405 --> 00:31:09,408
"We need to know
we can do this ourselves."
416
00:31:12,536 --> 00:31:15,831
And in the middle of all that,
was the rising of the Vietnam War.
417
00:31:17,791 --> 00:31:20,961
Many of the staff who were
very strongly opposed to the war
418
00:31:21,003 --> 00:31:24,131
were trying to get
Dr. King to speak out against it.
419
00:31:27,175 --> 00:31:32,389
Martin was now being pulled back in
to the war issue by the student left
420
00:31:32,556 --> 00:31:37,519
and so you had almost three things
coming together in Chicago,
421
00:31:37,644 --> 00:31:40,897
pulling the same leadership
in different directions.
422
00:31:41,732 --> 00:31:45,068
This day,
we must decide that our votes
423
00:31:45,902 --> 00:31:50,198
will determine who will be
the Mayor of Chicago next year.
424
00:31:53,243 --> 00:31:56,496
Mayor Daley was very upset
about what was going on here
425
00:31:57,247 --> 00:31:59,344
and he was in touch
with Lyndon Johnson and said,
426
00:31:59,374 --> 00:32:02,306
"Get this Martin Luther King
off my back."
427
00:32:02,336 --> 00:32:04,588
- How are you, my friend?
- Good. How are you, Mr. President?
428
00:32:04,629 --> 00:32:08,592
What shape have you got King in?
Is he about ready to get out?
429
00:32:08,633 --> 00:32:09,843
Well, I don't think so.
430
00:32:10,677 --> 00:32:15,849
I think we've gone a long way
with the Good Doctor, Mr. President.
431
00:32:15,932 --> 00:32:19,156
He's not your friend,
he's against you on Vietnam.
432
00:32:19,186 --> 00:32:21,146
He's a goddamn faker.
433
00:32:21,188 --> 00:32:24,286
Do you think that you got things
in pretty good shape in Chicago?
434
00:32:24,316 --> 00:32:26,526
Well, as good as they can be...
435
00:32:27,444 --> 00:32:31,585
The area that the movement insisted
on getting into was open housing.
436
00:32:31,615 --> 00:32:34,618
What is the make-up
of the community here,
437
00:32:34,659 --> 00:32:37,913
what would be the reaction of the
community to a Negro family moving in?
438
00:32:37,954 --> 00:32:42,042
I don't think they'd like it.
They're very clannish in a way.
439
00:32:42,167 --> 00:32:46,088
Chicago is probably the most
segregated city I know.
440
00:32:48,340 --> 00:32:52,552
It's not only segregated black and
white, but the Irish, the Italians,
441
00:32:53,428 --> 00:32:55,597
the Polish, the Jewish community.
442
00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:58,850
Almost everybody lives
in its own enclave in Chicago.
443
00:33:00,727 --> 00:33:04,064
And so we started marching
into those ethnic neighborhoods,
444
00:33:04,981 --> 00:33:09,152
and we were challenging Chicago
simply by marching.
445
00:33:10,237 --> 00:33:12,209
I've moved out of a neighborhood
that was colored.
446
00:33:12,239 --> 00:33:14,294
Everybody that lives with
a colored has to move.
447
00:33:14,324 --> 00:33:15,378
Why?
448
00:33:15,408 --> 00:33:17,380
Because you're not safe walkin'
the streets at night.
449
00:33:17,410 --> 00:33:18,537
You cannot leave the house.
450
00:33:18,578 --> 00:33:21,676
Negroes have a right to move in
under the constitution.
451
00:33:21,706 --> 00:33:24,751
The only thing is,
what kind of a negro?
452
00:33:28,004 --> 00:33:31,007
Our marches were
to the real estate offices,
453
00:33:31,091 --> 00:33:35,178
because the real estate agents
controlled the movement of people.
454
00:33:36,263 --> 00:33:40,475
They're the ones who were managing
this discrimination.
455
00:33:42,435 --> 00:33:46,565
Every time Negroes went in,
the real estate agents said,
456
00:33:46,606 --> 00:33:48,900
"I'm sorry,
we don't have anything listed."
457
00:33:50,777 --> 00:33:55,001
And then we sent some of our fine
white staff members in
458
00:33:55,031 --> 00:33:58,255
to those same real estate offices and
the minute the white persons got in
459
00:33:58,285 --> 00:33:59,327
they open up the book,
460
00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:03,456
"Oh yes, well we have several things.
Now what exactly do you want?"
461
00:34:07,335 --> 00:34:13,550
Something is gonna happen as a result
of this, and I'm not losing faith.
462
00:34:14,718 --> 00:34:17,804
I still have faith in the future.
463
00:34:18,888 --> 00:34:23,059
Communist!
464
00:34:23,852 --> 00:34:25,145
Move it back!
465
00:34:27,063 --> 00:34:32,235
I remember marching through Gage
Park,
466
00:34:32,402 --> 00:34:36,406
and the difference in the South...
467
00:34:37,532 --> 00:34:41,578
you had maybe
a couple hundred, at most,
468
00:34:41,703 --> 00:34:46,875
of the riff raff of the Klan.
469
00:34:51,004 --> 00:34:57,260
But, in Chicago it was ten thousand.
I mean everybody came out.
470
00:34:57,302 --> 00:34:59,399
- Get out of here!
- I live in here!
471
00:34:59,429 --> 00:35:00,483
Get out of here!
472
00:35:00,513 --> 00:35:03,558
I live here! Those fucking
niggers don't live here!
473
00:35:06,770 --> 00:35:11,816
I remember coming on those marches,
prepared for anything.
474
00:35:15,111 --> 00:35:17,083
Dr. King, did you get hit?
475
00:35:17,113 --> 00:35:21,242
I said, "Did you know that I've been hit
so many times, I'm immune to it."
476
00:35:21,284 --> 00:35:24,454
But it was well beyond
what we anticipated.
477
00:35:31,795 --> 00:35:36,883
The superintendent of police of Chicago
said that your civil rights tactics
478
00:35:36,966 --> 00:35:40,023
have aroused hatred among Chicago
white residents
479
00:35:40,053 --> 00:35:42,233
and are hampering
the negroes' progress.
480
00:35:42,263 --> 00:35:47,280
There is no doubt about the fact that
there are many latent hostilities
481
00:35:47,310 --> 00:35:51,481
existing within certain
white groups in the North.
482
00:35:51,606 --> 00:35:55,735
And these latent hostilities
have come out in the open
483
00:35:55,777 --> 00:35:58,947
and I don't think you can blame
the civil rights movement for that.
484
00:35:58,988 --> 00:36:01,991
Certainly no one would blame a physician
485
00:36:02,033 --> 00:36:06,049
for using his instruments
and his know-how
486
00:36:06,079 --> 00:36:09,332
to reveal to a patient
that he has cancer.
487
00:36:09,999 --> 00:36:12,127
Now we have only revealed in Chicago
488
00:36:12,252 --> 00:36:17,382
that there is a blatant social
hate-filled cancer.
489
00:36:19,509 --> 00:36:22,512
And what we're trying
to get rid of is hate.
490
00:36:24,556 --> 00:36:28,768
Nonviolence had the power to pull
the worst fever out of them
491
00:36:29,978 --> 00:36:34,065
and show our moral strength.
They had the stick, we had the bible.
492
00:36:36,025 --> 00:36:41,197
I remember this one young lady came up
to Dr. King just spitting in his face,
493
00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:42,490
calling him all kinds of names.
494
00:36:43,283 --> 00:36:47,620
And he said, "You know, you're
much too beautiful to be so mean."
495
00:36:50,665 --> 00:36:52,792
Why don't you go home
and act like adult people?
496
00:36:52,834 --> 00:36:57,881
And, when we came back through there,
she came out of the crowd again
497
00:36:58,006 --> 00:36:59,173
and went up to him and said,
498
00:36:59,966 --> 00:37:04,220
"I'm sorry, I never
should have been so rude."
499
00:37:07,348 --> 00:37:10,602
The nonviolent approach is radical.
500
00:37:12,729 --> 00:37:17,900
Radical enough to believe that under
the worst conditions, there's hope.
501
00:37:20,987 --> 00:37:22,905
It's radical enough to believe
502
00:37:22,947 --> 00:37:29,162
that people who display some of the most
insensitive kind of attitudes
503
00:37:31,289 --> 00:37:33,333
can be changed.
504
00:37:34,417 --> 00:37:36,669
Its ultimate goal is to win
your opponents over.
505
00:37:37,587 --> 00:37:40,715
So, you had to psychologically
disarm them.
506
00:37:41,799 --> 00:37:45,898
You confront your opponent, and you
look at your opponent in the eyes
507
00:37:45,928 --> 00:37:49,140
so that they will not see you
as a target, but as a human being.
508
00:37:49,182 --> 00:37:52,143
So, you are forcing
your humanity on them.
509
00:37:56,439 --> 00:38:00,568
Mayor Daley was very distressed
and he really wanted it to end.
510
00:38:00,610 --> 00:38:04,781
So, one of the religious groups in
Chicago decided to call a meeting
511
00:38:05,656 --> 00:38:08,868
to try to come to some agreement
that would stop the marches.
512
00:38:09,994 --> 00:38:15,208
Through the democratic process of
discussion around the conference table,
513
00:38:15,875 --> 00:38:18,920
an agreement has been reached
unanimously,
514
00:38:19,962 --> 00:38:24,342
and I think all of Chicago will be
indebted to them. Thank you very much.
515
00:38:31,474 --> 00:38:35,603
Would you hold it one second please.
Just hold your questions.
516
00:38:37,688 --> 00:38:38,743
Dr. King.
517
00:38:38,773 --> 00:38:42,985
One of the most significant programs
ever conceived
518
00:38:43,027 --> 00:38:48,127
to make open housing a reality
in a metropolitan area
519
00:38:48,157 --> 00:38:52,411
was agreed upon here today
at the table of reconciliation.
520
00:38:53,371 --> 00:38:56,624
Therefore, the Chicago Freedom
Movement hereby agrees
521
00:38:57,583 --> 00:39:01,754
to halt neighborhood marches
and demonstrations in Chicago
522
00:39:01,796 --> 00:39:03,840
on the issue of open housing,
523
00:39:03,881 --> 00:39:09,178
so long as these pledged programs
are being carried out.
524
00:39:10,054 --> 00:39:13,182
Dr. King, you say you're satisfied,
but are you?
525
00:39:13,224 --> 00:39:17,490
You don't sound too happy about
what's happened in there. Are you?
526
00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:20,481
I don't know what you mean.
What do you mean?
527
00:39:20,606 --> 00:39:22,745
You don't seem like
you really are happy.
528
00:39:22,775 --> 00:39:23,943
I'm a very honest man,
529
00:39:23,985 --> 00:39:28,042
and I wouldn't say on this paper
something that I don't believe.
530
00:39:28,072 --> 00:39:32,326
I think that this
is a very significant step forward.
531
00:39:33,327 --> 00:39:38,583
I'm not happy about the total problem
532
00:39:39,375 --> 00:39:41,502
that we face
in the United States of America.
533
00:39:41,544 --> 00:39:44,755
I always have to look at the ultimate,
and in terms of the ultimate,
534
00:39:44,797 --> 00:39:47,800
we are still a long, long way
from our goals.
535
00:39:49,927 --> 00:39:55,111
The staff was really disappointed.
We did not get a definitive statement
536
00:39:55,141 --> 00:39:59,186
from them that discrimination
in housing will end in Chicago.
537
00:40:00,438 --> 00:40:03,482
But one of the things
that Andrew Young said was:
538
00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:06,569
"Sometimes you only win half a loaf
539
00:40:06,736 --> 00:40:10,656
and then you have to keep
pushing for the rest of it."
540
00:40:10,823 --> 00:40:13,910
The extent that there were
successes that came later,
541
00:40:14,994 --> 00:40:17,997
Dr. King didn't get to see that.
542
00:40:22,335 --> 00:40:24,462
Up to the moment of his death,
543
00:40:25,463 --> 00:40:30,468
I think that Dr. King referred
to the experiences in Chicago
544
00:40:30,509 --> 00:40:33,721
more regularly
than any other experience.
545
00:40:33,804 --> 00:40:38,934
I think Chicago
was a huge awakening for him.
546
00:40:40,895 --> 00:40:42,063
He saw that the movement now
547
00:40:42,104 --> 00:40:46,037
was reflective more of the truth
of what America was about
548
00:40:46,067 --> 00:40:48,402
than just what
we'd experienced in the south.
549
00:40:49,445 --> 00:40:56,619
And Martin said to me, "Clarence, I've
seen some hate filled eyes and mouths
550
00:40:57,662 --> 00:40:59,872
in Mississippi and Alabama."
551
00:41:01,749 --> 00:41:05,961
He said,
"But the hate I saw in Illinois
552
00:41:07,004 --> 00:41:11,133
was equal or greater than any
of the hate I've seen in Mississippi."
553
00:41:11,217 --> 00:41:13,344
He was really shaken.
554
00:41:15,346 --> 00:41:20,726
When we left Chicago, I remember
his battles with conscience.
555
00:41:22,561 --> 00:41:27,900
He was very depressed that he hadn't
been more forceful in his non-violence.
556
00:41:29,402 --> 00:41:33,572
I will continue to work against violence
and riots with all my might
557
00:41:33,697 --> 00:41:37,785
that it is just as important to work
passionately and unrelentingly
558
00:41:37,827 --> 00:41:41,872
to get rid of the conditions
that bring violence into being.
559
00:41:41,914 --> 00:41:46,168
Do I sense that it is your feeling
that the Civil Rights Movement,
560
00:41:47,002 --> 00:41:50,339
as a movement,
has entered sort of a different stage...
561
00:41:51,215 --> 00:41:54,468
I said "Wait a minute, you're doing
better than anybody else is doing,
562
00:41:54,510 --> 00:41:56,554
there's no reason
for you to feel guilty."
563
00:41:56,595 --> 00:41:59,610
But he always felt
he was not doing enough.
564
00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:02,893
It was easier
to integrate public facilities;
565
00:42:03,686 --> 00:42:05,771
it was easier to gain the right to vote
566
00:42:05,813 --> 00:42:07,993
because it didn't cost
the nation anything.
567
00:42:08,023 --> 00:42:12,027
And the fact is that we are dealing
with issues now
568
00:42:12,069 --> 00:42:16,282
that will call for something
of a restructuring
569
00:42:16,323 --> 00:42:20,619
of the architecture of American society.
It's gonna cost the nation something.
570
00:42:21,412 --> 00:42:25,791
As much as he did, he always blamed
himself for not doing enough.
571
00:42:28,711 --> 00:42:32,923
He was a kind of workaholic
where he was never content.
572
00:42:34,258 --> 00:42:38,387
He was driven by a kind of a need
for perfection.
573
00:42:40,681 --> 00:42:44,727
And he was always feeling
that he wasn't doing his best.
574
00:42:45,769 --> 00:42:47,855
I think because of his feeling
575
00:42:47,897 --> 00:42:52,067
that somehow he wasn't good enough
to be the leader.
576
00:42:54,195 --> 00:42:59,283
Those were periods when he was really
just physically exhausted.
577
00:43:11,712 --> 00:43:14,924
Dr. King came to New York
with great regularity,
578
00:43:15,049 --> 00:43:22,222
and whenever he was here on quiet time,
he often stayed at our home.
579
00:43:23,349 --> 00:43:26,352
And we also made sure that his space
580
00:43:26,393 --> 00:43:28,604
was filled with the things
that brought him pleasure,
581
00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:33,692
including his favorite drink,
Bristol Cream Sherry.
582
00:43:46,205 --> 00:43:49,500
I think one of the things that attracted
him to my environment
583
00:43:51,377 --> 00:43:55,547
was that here I was
a very prominent black American.
584
00:43:55,714 --> 00:43:59,855
And my wife then was a young woman
named Julie Robinson
585
00:43:59,885 --> 00:44:03,013
who was white
and she and I were married
586
00:44:03,889 --> 00:44:05,986
and brought children into the world
587
00:44:06,016 --> 00:44:10,104
and at no point was her presence
in my life ever obscured.
588
00:44:10,229 --> 00:44:15,484
And Dr. King watched the environment
around me accept that
589
00:44:15,567 --> 00:44:19,571
and treated us
with a lot of kindness and respect.
590
00:44:21,740 --> 00:44:25,953
In Martin's earlier life,
in his youth as a student,
591
00:44:26,995 --> 00:44:31,166
his first real love was a white woman.
592
00:44:32,126 --> 00:44:36,380
He adored this young lady
and was deeply pained
593
00:44:37,256 --> 00:44:42,469
when the wrath of Daddy King and
everybody else came down on him
594
00:44:42,886 --> 00:44:47,975
when he suggested that he wantrd
a relationship with this young lady.
595
00:44:48,058 --> 00:44:52,146
It betrayed everything that
Daddy King had in mind for his son.
596
00:44:54,356 --> 00:44:57,401
It's rare, Doctor, that we get a
chance to see you in New York.
597
00:44:57,443 --> 00:44:59,498
You've discovered it's a fun city?
598
00:44:59,528 --> 00:45:05,784
I haven't quite discovered
that side of New York.
599
00:45:06,743 --> 00:45:10,914
Being a Baptist clergyman,
they keep me involved in other areas.
600
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:16,211
Your home is actually in Atlanta?
Atlanta, Georgia.
601
00:45:17,045 --> 00:45:19,226
Do you have a church
at this time in Atlanta?
602
00:45:19,256 --> 00:45:24,440
Yes, I am the co-pastor of the
Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta,
603
00:45:24,470 --> 00:45:29,558
and my father is Pastor. So, we are
working together there as a team.
604
00:45:29,683 --> 00:45:31,685
Both you and your father?
605
00:45:31,727 --> 00:45:33,979
- That's right...
- Is there any seniority?
606
00:45:34,980 --> 00:45:37,024
He makes it clear,
607
00:45:38,025 --> 00:45:42,070
sometimes consciously
and sometimes unconsciously,
608
00:45:42,196 --> 00:45:47,284
that he is the pastor
and I'm the co-pastor.
609
00:45:51,580 --> 00:45:54,791
Jesus was the leader in the way.
610
00:45:55,751 --> 00:46:02,925
For he said, "I am the way,
the truth, and the light."
611
00:46:02,966 --> 00:46:04,062
Now that gets all of it...
612
00:46:04,092 --> 00:46:06,261
When I met Daddy King in Atlanta,
613
00:46:07,179 --> 00:46:10,307
I understood
the real meaning of patriarch.
614
00:46:10,432 --> 00:46:15,479
He was a huge force in the community
as a black minister.
615
00:46:15,562 --> 00:46:16,647
Glory God.
616
00:46:16,688 --> 00:46:18,577
Very imposing.
617
00:46:18,607 --> 00:46:20,746
Something wrong with your head.
618
00:46:20,776 --> 00:46:27,032
And when you met him you understood
that you were dealing with the power.
619
00:46:29,076 --> 00:46:31,286
What was also fascinating for me
620
00:46:32,120 --> 00:46:37,459
was the subservience that Martin
reflected when talking with his father.
621
00:46:38,460 --> 00:46:39,628
Not just parental,
622
00:46:40,545 --> 00:46:44,800
but as someone whose view of where
we should be going as a people
623
00:46:45,717 --> 00:46:47,928
held great substance for Martin.
624
00:46:48,887 --> 00:46:51,974
Martin really understood his father,
625
00:46:52,224 --> 00:46:58,438
but he understood also the difference
between he and his father.
626
00:46:58,480 --> 00:47:00,649
So in a sense we look into a future
627
00:47:01,525 --> 00:47:04,695
shrouded with impenetrable
uncertainties.
628
00:47:05,654 --> 00:47:09,825
There was a great difference between
he and his father's preaching.
629
00:47:11,952 --> 00:47:15,080
Martin made his points
at a different level
630
00:47:15,163 --> 00:47:19,292
and in a different way
than most other preachers did.
631
00:47:20,335 --> 00:47:25,465
And the reason for that was is because
he had this unusual education.
632
00:47:27,592 --> 00:47:31,817
Dr. King finished high school at 15.
He finished Morehouse at 19.
633
00:47:31,847 --> 00:47:35,851
He finished seminary at 22,
his PHD at 26.
634
00:47:36,893 --> 00:47:40,021
He knew that strong minds
break strong chains.
635
00:47:42,107 --> 00:47:45,360
I think his faith in the teachings
that he had studied,
636
00:47:45,444 --> 00:47:50,490
his constant references to Thoreau
and I never knew of these guys,
637
00:47:50,615 --> 00:47:53,785
never heard of these people,
until Martin came in one day
638
00:47:54,619 --> 00:47:58,927
and in the midst of some
rather casual moment,
639
00:47:58,957 --> 00:48:03,181
he would evoke what Nietzsche
said, and what Thoreau...
640
00:48:03,211 --> 00:48:07,174
and I'm sitting there saying,
"Well who's Nietzsche?"
641
00:48:08,341 --> 00:48:11,511
Daddy King used to say,
"Just get in there and talk the gospel,
642
00:48:11,553 --> 00:48:13,638
stop all with this college stuff
643
00:48:14,431 --> 00:48:17,642
and all these highfalutin people
you keep evoking.
644
00:48:17,684 --> 00:48:20,854
People don't know who they are.
He said, "Yes they do."
645
00:48:24,858 --> 00:48:29,112
You could wake Martin up from a nap
and he could do a sermon.
646
00:48:30,197 --> 00:48:32,294
I remember saying to him,
647
00:48:32,324 --> 00:48:35,368
"You are due at the church
in twenty minutes."
648
00:48:35,452 --> 00:48:37,579
I mean like his mother.
649
00:48:38,663 --> 00:48:40,665
And when he got to the church,
650
00:48:40,707 --> 00:48:43,793
you would think
he'd been studying all night.
651
00:48:43,835 --> 00:48:45,921
He was a natural preacher.
652
00:48:49,883 --> 00:48:53,094
Everybody loved Martin
as soon as they heard him.
653
00:48:54,095 --> 00:49:00,477
There was a desire for people to be
a part of an educated ministry.
654
00:49:02,312 --> 00:49:05,357
The only thing that we had
was Christianity.
655
00:49:07,275 --> 00:49:13,657
The only thing that white America
allowed us to have was our churches.
656
00:49:16,868 --> 00:49:21,915
Martin's moments
when the curtain was drawn,
657
00:49:21,998 --> 00:49:24,125
and he was not on public display,
658
00:49:25,043 --> 00:49:29,297
was a man who revealed
his deepest concerns
659
00:49:30,257 --> 00:49:33,426
about his right to do
what he was doing.
660
00:49:33,593 --> 00:49:39,641
The fact that he was touched by that
calling in history, disturbed him
661
00:49:39,808 --> 00:49:42,852
because he didn't quite understand it.
662
00:49:43,812 --> 00:49:49,192
He referred everything to divine
intervention, to divine power.
663
00:49:50,110 --> 00:49:53,238
It's what God
has called on me to do.
664
00:49:57,367 --> 00:50:01,663
And in the depth of that belief,
that religious commitment,
665
00:50:02,580 --> 00:50:05,875
those voices that he heard
really existed for him.
666
00:50:09,629 --> 00:50:12,882
Daddy King, I don't think,
was fully approving
667
00:50:13,800 --> 00:50:18,179
of where the movement was going.
He saw nothing but chaos.
668
00:50:22,225 --> 00:50:24,394
Those fucking niggers
don't live here.
669
00:50:25,270 --> 00:50:29,441
He saw nothing but rage,
he saw these young, young people.
670
00:50:29,482 --> 00:50:34,582
We're gonna pitch the tents!
671
00:50:34,612 --> 00:50:35,864
With the birth of SNCC,
672
00:50:36,906 --> 00:50:41,911
and the kinds of passion that poured
forth from these young people.
673
00:50:41,953 --> 00:50:43,121
Come on, everybody follow me.
674
00:50:43,163 --> 00:50:47,125
Many of whom were not
much younger than his son.
675
00:50:48,334 --> 00:50:53,351
And the fact that his son
was at the spearhead of it,
676
00:50:53,381 --> 00:50:55,550
was even more threatening for him.
677
00:50:58,720 --> 00:51:03,975
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
678
00:51:06,060 --> 00:51:12,275
Dr. King asked me and Stokely to
come over and have dinner at his house,
679
00:51:12,692 --> 00:51:16,988
and that he just wanted to talk.
And so, we went over to his house.
680
00:51:18,948 --> 00:51:22,243
He wanted to understand
where Black Power came from.
681
00:51:23,119 --> 00:51:25,300
He wanted to know
everything we were thinking,
682
00:51:25,330 --> 00:51:27,415
where we were going with it.
683
00:51:27,457 --> 00:51:30,502
The discussion
was about three hours long.
684
00:51:31,461 --> 00:51:36,799
And then what we wanted to know was,
as a moral icon of the movement,
685
00:51:36,841 --> 00:51:41,846
when was he going to make a statement
against the war in Vietnam.
686
00:51:48,186 --> 00:51:50,396
The leaders of the peace movement
were reaching out the Dr. King
687
00:51:51,189 --> 00:51:54,526
and wanted him to get more actively
and publicly involved,
688
00:51:56,444 --> 00:51:57,499
but I resisted
689
00:51:57,529 --> 00:52:00,668
because my initial reaction is I felt
that they were trying appropriate
690
00:52:00,698 --> 00:52:02,867
the legitimacy they didn't have.
691
00:52:03,785 --> 00:52:09,093
LBJ, how many kids
did you killed today?
692
00:52:09,123 --> 00:52:11,179
Politically,
we had to be very cautious
693
00:52:11,209 --> 00:52:14,337
about whether or not we wanted
to publically criticize
694
00:52:15,296 --> 00:52:19,509
what could be described as having been
the greatest president for civil rights
695
00:52:19,551 --> 00:52:21,552
since Abraham Lincoln.
696
00:52:22,553 --> 00:52:28,726
This is after the Civil Rights Act
of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965,
697
00:52:29,852 --> 00:52:33,064
and here we're going to publically
excoriate and criticize
698
00:52:33,982 --> 00:52:38,152
the man without who's leadership
none of this would have been possible.
699
00:52:38,361 --> 00:52:42,323
The anti-war movement
was a new constituency for us.
700
00:52:44,575 --> 00:52:49,580
There was a spiritual connectivity
that we were comfortable with,
701
00:52:49,706 --> 00:52:52,792
and we understood their positions.
702
00:52:53,876 --> 00:52:56,087
They wanted to emulate our tactics.
703
00:52:57,964 --> 00:53:04,304
But, there were radical elements of
violence and anti-American discussion,
704
00:53:04,429 --> 00:53:09,392
and we didn't want him taking
his moral position
705
00:53:09,517 --> 00:53:12,520
into an extreme left environment
706
00:53:12,687 --> 00:53:15,732
with kids who were kind of
anti-American, who were communists,
707
00:53:15,773 --> 00:53:20,945
who were burning American flags.
And we could not control that.
708
00:53:29,704 --> 00:53:31,706
Johnson was worried,
709
00:53:32,915 --> 00:53:36,836
because communists
were on the other side on the war,
710
00:53:36,878 --> 00:53:42,216
and over the years the FBI
was constantly investigating King
711
00:53:43,134 --> 00:53:47,388
and citing one or two of his associates
who they said were communists.
712
00:53:48,306 --> 00:53:50,475
He was afraid that the FBI
would leak it,
713
00:53:50,558 --> 00:53:54,604
that Hoover would really get
King branded as a communist,
714
00:53:54,729 --> 00:53:57,815
and it would build up
an enormous backlash.
715
00:54:00,818 --> 00:54:02,945
For a long period of time,
716
00:54:02,987 --> 00:54:08,159
every conversation
was wire tapped secretly by the FBI.
717
00:54:08,326 --> 00:54:14,457
And the contents of the conversations,
written down, transcribed verbatim,
718
00:54:16,584 --> 00:54:19,712
and put in files marked "Top Secret".
719
00:54:20,838 --> 00:54:23,925
And a top agent at the FBI said
720
00:54:24,675 --> 00:54:27,690
that Martin Luther King Jr.
is the most dangerous
721
00:54:27,720 --> 00:54:30,765
and most powerful Negro in America.
722
00:54:32,892 --> 00:54:37,146
In 1964,
they were bugging Dr. King
723
00:54:37,271 --> 00:54:41,234
and they also picked up
his sexual activity.
724
00:54:43,444 --> 00:54:48,699
Hoover would send these memos out.
The memos would be about King's life.
725
00:54:49,700 --> 00:54:53,829
I mean, they were obviously designed
to destroy this guy.
726
00:54:57,917 --> 00:55:02,255
I think J. Edgar Hoover hated,
despised Dr. King.
727
00:55:05,216 --> 00:55:09,357
Hoover just was one of these people
with an immense amount of power
728
00:55:09,387 --> 00:55:13,641
who abused that power.
He used information improperly.
729
00:55:13,724 --> 00:55:17,687
He was singularly arrogant
about his position.
730
00:55:17,770 --> 00:55:22,984
And underlying it had this feeling
of superiority to people of color.
731
00:55:24,068 --> 00:55:25,122
And I said,
732
00:55:25,152 --> 00:55:29,282
"they should take that son-of-a-bitch's
name off the building,"
733
00:55:29,740 --> 00:55:33,035
because he was the antithesis
of what you wanted in a democracy.
734
00:55:40,251 --> 00:55:42,336
You know, during those days,
735
00:55:43,504 --> 00:55:48,676
we assume that we all were being
wiretapped or spied on.
736
00:55:49,677 --> 00:55:55,766
But I think the people who
made the recordings were really sick.
737
00:55:59,937 --> 00:56:03,232
Everything the FBI was doing
to hurt us
738
00:56:04,150 --> 00:56:08,404
made us question whether this country
was so sick that it couldn't be saved.
739
00:56:10,448 --> 00:56:13,701
We were never running a program
of personal piety.
740
00:56:14,618 --> 00:56:18,789
We were running a program of social
and political and economic justice,
741
00:56:19,749 --> 00:56:23,044
and it's while we are yet sinners
that Christ died for us.
742
00:56:23,961 --> 00:56:30,259
And it's one of the things that makes it
possible for us to understand
743
00:56:30,343 --> 00:56:33,387
the difficulties and weaknesses
in other people
744
00:56:33,721 --> 00:56:35,890
is that we're aware of them
in ourselves.
745
00:56:38,142 --> 00:56:40,227
I think it's very important
for us to see
746
00:56:41,020 --> 00:56:45,274
that you can go on doing the good works
and have slipped and fallen,
747
00:56:45,441 --> 00:56:48,569
or gotten drunk or womanized.
748
00:56:50,571 --> 00:56:54,617
But since we have no idea
how his struggle felt,
749
00:56:54,742 --> 00:56:57,745
we don't have any room to criticize it.
750
00:57:00,831 --> 00:57:04,168
Martin Luther King Jr. was a human
being, and he was imperfect.
751
00:57:06,170 --> 00:57:11,425
He was conflicted by traveling so much,
and may not have felt
752
00:57:12,510 --> 00:57:16,514
that he was being the best father
or husband that he could be,
753
00:57:16,639 --> 00:57:22,937
but his love for his family
was unchallengeable.
754
00:57:27,942 --> 00:57:34,365
When I met Martin, I had, unfortunately,
a stereotype impression of a minister.
755
00:57:34,448 --> 00:57:40,663
Piety is good but I think there's a kind
of a false piety which I don't like.
756
00:57:41,497 --> 00:57:44,512
And he was a, just a human being,
757
00:57:44,542 --> 00:57:49,797
a very, very warm, and very
down to earth, and just different.
758
00:57:51,799 --> 00:57:55,928
Coretta believed in his cause so much
759
00:57:57,137 --> 00:58:00,140
that she was willing to pay the price,
760
00:58:00,224 --> 00:58:06,325
and she tried hard to have him spend as
much time with the children as he could
761
00:58:06,355 --> 00:58:07,535
cause he wasn't home that much.
762
00:58:07,565 --> 00:58:09,608
You pass your plate this way...
763
00:58:10,526 --> 00:58:14,780
When he was home, she insisted
that he have dinner with the children.
764
00:58:16,740 --> 00:58:17,962
Daddy, you not talking.
765
00:58:17,992 --> 00:58:23,205
I'm too hungry, Marty. I'm so hungry,
I'm busy with this dinner.
766
00:58:24,248 --> 00:58:28,377
I guess this is one of the most
frustrating aspects of my life.
767
00:58:28,460 --> 00:58:30,546
The great demands that come
768
00:58:31,338 --> 00:58:35,509
as a result of my involvement
in the struggle for justice and peace.
769
00:58:35,634 --> 00:58:38,679
It's just impossible to carry out
770
00:58:38,721 --> 00:58:41,807
the responsibilities of a father
and husband
771
00:58:41,932 --> 00:58:44,977
when you have these kinds of demands,
772
00:58:45,394 --> 00:58:49,451
but fortunately I have
a most understanding wife.
773
00:58:49,481 --> 00:58:51,525
Now, alright.
This leads me to ask you,
774
00:58:51,567 --> 00:58:54,665
did you educate Mrs. King
to become equal to you
775
00:58:54,695 --> 00:58:56,780
in terms of sharing this burden
776
00:58:56,822 --> 00:58:59,867
or did you research her
before your marriage
777
00:58:59,908 --> 00:59:02,089
to see that she had the potential
for this, or...
778
00:59:02,119 --> 00:59:06,165
I wish I could say,
and satisfy my masculine ego,
779
00:59:06,206 --> 00:59:08,292
that I led her down this path,
780
00:59:08,334 --> 00:59:12,546
but I must say we went down together
because she was as actively involved
781
00:59:12,588 --> 00:59:15,591
and concerned when
we met as she is now.
782
00:59:17,843 --> 00:59:20,816
Mrs. King are you taking part
in this demonstration
783
00:59:20,846 --> 00:59:22,890
as an individual or as a wife?
784
00:59:23,057 --> 00:59:28,228
I'm taking part as an individual
and a wife. I'm both.
785
00:59:29,271 --> 00:59:33,275
Martin Luther King wrestled
with coming out publically
786
00:59:34,360 --> 00:59:37,488
taking a stand
against the war in Vietnam.
787
00:59:39,573 --> 00:59:45,829
But, Mrs. King was involved
in the anti-war movement long before,
788
00:59:46,872 --> 00:59:51,168
so she had a lot of influence on Martin
Luther King coming to that conclusion.
789
00:59:51,752 --> 00:59:58,133
I come to express my own personal
witness for the cause of peace.
790
00:59:59,259 --> 01:00:04,306
In the civil rights struggle if we win
all of the rights and privileges
791
01:00:04,348 --> 01:00:08,560
that we are fighting for and have no
world in which to exercise these,
792
01:00:09,478 --> 01:00:12,731
then there is really no need
for our efforts.
793
01:00:14,691 --> 01:00:19,863
I decided that I would leave it
to my wife to take the stands
794
01:00:19,905 --> 01:00:23,033
and make the meetings
on the peace issue,
795
01:00:23,117 --> 01:00:28,288
but I came to the conclusion that
I could no longer be a silent onlooker,
796
01:00:28,455 --> 01:00:35,546
but that in some real way, I had to be
an involved and concerned participant.
797
01:00:38,715 --> 01:00:40,717
Andy Young had called me.
798
01:00:40,926 --> 01:00:44,888
I was the Executive Director of a group
that wanted to stop the war
799
01:00:44,930 --> 01:00:48,058
and engage the religious community
to help do that.
800
01:00:49,142 --> 01:00:52,396
So, Andy proposed that Dr. King
give a speech in New York
801
01:00:53,272 --> 01:00:56,483
and Dr. King decided to make
a full-blown statement.
802
01:00:59,152 --> 01:01:02,239
So, I said, well,
what about Riverside Church?
803
01:01:02,406 --> 01:01:05,492
Because I think place
makes a big difference.
804
01:01:11,748 --> 01:01:15,752
When he came to the Vietnamese
speech he struggled with it.
805
01:01:15,836 --> 01:01:20,048
And, I remember very much because
he wrote a big part of it in our home.
806
01:01:22,009 --> 01:01:24,261
I have on my wall in the hallway,
807
01:01:25,345 --> 01:01:29,474
a copy of his writings
and the notes that he made.
808
01:01:31,351 --> 01:01:35,689
He had a habit of using a yellow pad,
constantly making notes,
809
01:01:36,607 --> 01:01:39,746
and he'd crumble up these things
at the end of an evening
810
01:01:39,776 --> 01:01:45,073
and toss it away and I just do a swan
dive right into the garbage pail
811
01:01:45,115 --> 01:01:47,117
and retrieve those papers
812
01:01:47,159 --> 01:01:51,413
'cause he always left some really
profound sentence or something
813
01:01:52,289 --> 01:01:56,376
that I thought was worth retrieving
and saving.
814
01:01:57,586 --> 01:01:59,713
Dr. King knew where his heart was,
815
01:02:00,339 --> 01:02:03,592
but he also knew the criticism
and the splits that would happen
816
01:02:03,634 --> 01:02:07,679
the moment he said anything against
the war in Vietnam,
817
01:02:07,721 --> 01:02:09,765
and, of course, he did.
818
01:02:10,932 --> 01:02:15,103
The night of April 4th 1967,
819
01:02:16,021 --> 01:02:19,036
I believe that Martin Luther King Jr.
delivered
820
01:02:19,066 --> 01:02:23,236
probably one of the most powerful
speeches I ever heard him deliver.
821
01:02:23,362 --> 01:02:25,364
Ladies and gentlemen.
822
01:02:26,365 --> 01:02:31,536
He said, in effect, that he was not
going to butcher his conscience.
823
01:02:31,661 --> 01:02:34,790
I knew that I could never again
raise my voice
824
01:02:34,831 --> 01:02:38,001
against the violence
of the oppressed in the ghettos
825
01:02:38,919 --> 01:02:41,171
without having first spoken clearly
826
01:02:41,963 --> 01:02:45,217
to the greatest purveyor of violence
in the world today
827
01:02:46,134 --> 01:02:47,302
my own government.
828
01:02:49,262 --> 01:02:53,683
He said as a nation, we talk about
nonviolence here in America,
829
01:02:54,643 --> 01:02:57,854
and then we engage
in violence abroad.
830
01:02:59,773 --> 01:03:06,029
He said in effect that the bombs
that we're dropping in Vietnam,
831
01:03:06,488 --> 01:03:09,533
they would be shattered over America.
832
01:03:10,659 --> 01:03:14,746
Dr. King was worried that the
government had gotten us into war
833
01:03:14,788 --> 01:03:18,917
where we didn't need to be,
and we were hurting ourselves.
834
01:03:19,960 --> 01:03:23,975
The returning veterans, the inflation,
the unemployment:
835
01:03:24,005 --> 01:03:26,174
the consequences of the war.
836
01:03:27,300 --> 01:03:34,391
He literally poured out his heart,
the depth and essence of his soul.
837
01:03:36,560 --> 01:03:40,689
I've heard many sermons,
I was at the March on Washington,
838
01:03:40,897 --> 01:03:46,027
but I think the speech
at Riverside Church was his best.
839
01:03:46,945 --> 01:03:50,073
If America's soul
becomes totally poisoned,
840
01:03:51,074 --> 01:03:54,286
part of the autopsy
must read "Vietnam."
841
01:03:55,245 --> 01:04:01,501
When the speech ended, the place
exploded and I knew it was electric.
842
01:04:02,586 --> 01:04:07,924
I knew he had hit it out of the park.
But, the next morning he was blasted
843
01:04:07,966 --> 01:04:11,052
in virtually every editorial column
in America.
844
01:04:27,485 --> 01:04:32,699
Some of us didn't want him to be
that hard in the speech, but he said,
845
01:04:33,491 --> 01:04:37,704
"I'm trapped by my own,
you know, beliefs,"
846
01:04:38,747 --> 01:04:43,919
and I think that that was one of
the things that J. Edgar Hoover used
847
01:04:44,044 --> 01:04:47,297
to try to turn the government
completely against him.
848
01:04:50,216 --> 01:04:52,469
Dr. King took on our government
in a war time.
849
01:04:54,471 --> 01:04:57,724
He was taking on angry people
and misguided people in a war time.
850
01:05:07,067 --> 01:05:11,071
Commie! Commie Jew!
851
01:05:14,240 --> 01:05:17,494
Stick with civil rights!
Leave the war to the generals!
852
01:05:17,535 --> 01:05:19,496
Go back to Hanoi!
853
01:05:21,706 --> 01:05:23,750
He said, "Many of my friends
are turning on me:
854
01:05:23,792 --> 01:05:26,836
many of my Morehouse friends,
my classmates.
855
01:05:26,878 --> 01:05:28,892
Preachers have said
I can't come in their pulpits
856
01:05:28,922 --> 01:05:31,925
'cause we shouldn't be engaged
in the war."
857
01:05:32,092 --> 01:05:36,179
He said, "You expect your enemies
to disagree with you.
858
01:05:37,097 --> 01:05:41,434
What I didn't understand is
how our friends would leave me."
859
01:05:42,519 --> 01:05:46,690
They stopped giving,
they stopped calling,
860
01:05:48,566 --> 01:05:52,821
they stopped caring,
and he was devastated.
861
01:05:55,949 --> 01:06:02,258
Change is painful. The loneliness
and what it must have felt like
862
01:06:02,288 --> 01:06:07,377
when he was so abandoned by so many
and told to stay in your place.
863
01:06:09,671 --> 01:06:14,759
He really felt betrayed.
And he said over and over,
864
01:06:15,718 --> 01:06:16,886
"They don't know me."
865
01:06:17,387 --> 01:06:22,642
They applauded me
and I told Negros to be nonviolent.
866
01:06:22,767 --> 01:06:26,908
These same people
are damning me when I say,
867
01:06:26,938 --> 01:06:31,985
"You ought to be nonviolent toward
little brown children in Vietnam."
868
01:06:32,110 --> 01:06:37,407
The way all of America turned on him
when he stepped into the Vietnam drama
869
01:06:39,409 --> 01:06:44,664
was perhaps the single most
challenging moment for Martin.
870
01:06:50,712 --> 01:06:55,049
Martin went through very difficult,
emotional times in 1967.
871
01:06:56,134 --> 01:07:01,347
He had a doctor in New York,
and I remember sitting with Dr. Logan,
872
01:07:02,432 --> 01:07:07,604
and he generally felt that the state of
Martin's emotional health was such that
873
01:07:08,605 --> 01:07:10,773
that he maybe should seek
874
01:07:11,566 --> 01:07:15,778
some kind of third-party independent
psychiatric counselling.
875
01:07:19,073 --> 01:07:24,120
I looked at Dr. Logan, and I said,
"That's not gonna happen."
876
01:07:24,537 --> 01:07:26,623
I was very blunt, and I said,
877
01:07:27,707 --> 01:07:31,669
"If not within 24 hours,
within 24 days,
878
01:07:33,713 --> 01:07:36,966
the FBI would find out,
879
01:07:37,091 --> 01:07:41,095
and everything that Martin King said
to that psychiatrist
880
01:07:41,220 --> 01:07:46,392
would be immediately in FBI files.
Can't take that chance."
881
01:07:49,520 --> 01:07:55,652
SUMMER 1967
882
01:08:04,994 --> 01:08:08,259
This year, major Negro riots
have broken out in Detroit and Newark,
883
01:08:08,289 --> 01:08:11,417
and about eighty cities
and towns all over the country.
884
01:08:11,459 --> 01:08:15,630
Already it's become the worst crisis
in the country since the Civil War.
885
01:08:16,506 --> 01:08:18,633
The despair is deep,
886
01:08:18,800 --> 01:08:24,806
the bitterness is wide
in the ghettos of our nation.
887
01:08:26,891 --> 01:08:34,190
And I will continue to raise my voice
with all of my might against riots
888
01:08:34,440 --> 01:08:40,488
because I know that black rioting
can mean black suicide.
889
01:08:40,613 --> 01:08:42,752
Don't point that gun at me!
890
01:08:42,782 --> 01:08:45,785
Wait a minute,
don't point that gun at me!
891
01:08:46,869 --> 01:08:51,040
What must be said it that
our nation's summers of riots
892
01:08:51,124 --> 01:08:55,253
are caused by our nation's
winters of delay.
893
01:08:56,295 --> 01:09:03,386
Pillage, looting, murder, and arson
have nothing to do with civil rights.
894
01:09:03,511 --> 01:09:05,680
We will not tolerate lawlessness.
895
01:09:06,597 --> 01:09:10,810
You gon' sit in front of your television
set and listen to LBJ tell you that,
896
01:09:10,852 --> 01:09:14,897
"Violence never accomplishes anything,
my fellow Americans."
897
01:09:19,235 --> 01:09:25,283
But the real problem with violence is
that we have never been violent.
898
01:09:25,324 --> 01:09:28,578
We have been too nonviolent.
Too nonviolent.
899
01:09:29,454 --> 01:09:31,747
I've decided to stick with love.
900
01:09:32,832 --> 01:09:39,922
I'm not gonna give you a motto or preach
a philosophy, "Burn baby burn,"
901
01:09:40,006 --> 01:09:45,136
I'm gonna say, "Build, baby, build,
organize baby organize!"
902
01:09:58,733 --> 01:10:00,943
Martin Luther King
called me from Atlanta,
903
01:10:01,986 --> 01:10:04,947
and he said to me very directly,
904
01:10:05,948 --> 01:10:12,205
"I need you to come on down here now
because this may be my last campaign,
905
01:10:13,331 --> 01:10:15,511
and we're going for broke.
906
01:10:15,541 --> 01:10:18,502
The Southern Christian Leadership
Conference
907
01:10:18,544 --> 01:10:22,882
will lead waves of the nation's poor
and disinherited
908
01:10:23,758 --> 01:10:26,928
to Washington, D.C. next spring.
909
01:10:27,887 --> 01:10:31,182
He said, "Let's go to Washington.
We're going to Washington,
910
01:10:32,099 --> 01:10:36,229
if necessary, going to jail,
civil disobedience,
911
01:10:36,354 --> 01:10:42,485
and convince this Congress to shift
from war in Vietnam to war on poverty."
912
01:10:44,612 --> 01:10:47,657
It was Marian Edelman
who came to Martin
913
01:10:47,698 --> 01:10:50,826
with the concept
of the Poor People's Campaign.
914
01:10:52,954 --> 01:10:56,082
I got called to Washington
to testify about poverty
915
01:10:56,123 --> 01:10:58,137
and what was happening in Mississippi.
916
01:10:58,167 --> 01:11:02,421
This is an urgent situation, which must
be looked into and which must be met.
917
01:11:02,463 --> 01:11:06,550
In the middle of it all, I asked them
to come and see for themselves.
918
01:11:06,592 --> 01:11:08,678
And Bobby Kennedy
came with them.
919
01:11:10,596 --> 01:11:13,778
There is a starvation and men
and women who can't find jobs.
920
01:11:13,808 --> 01:11:15,821
There's a reflection on all of us,
921
01:11:15,851 --> 01:11:18,980
the fact that you have young children in
the United States at the present time
922
01:11:19,021 --> 01:11:21,273
with the wealthiest nation in the world
who are hungry,
923
01:11:22,066 --> 01:11:25,277
and their parents are hungry.
It's completely unsatisfactory.
924
01:11:25,361 --> 01:11:28,376
Robert Kennedy
went back to Washington,
925
01:11:28,406 --> 01:11:31,450
and I told him I was going to stop
through Atlanta and see Martin
926
01:11:31,492 --> 01:11:34,704
and he said, "Well tell him to bring
the poor to Washington."
927
01:11:35,246 --> 01:11:40,292
I went down to Atlanta
and went to SCLC,
928
01:11:40,501 --> 01:11:45,589
and he was depressed.
He was sitting in his office by himself.
929
01:11:46,590 --> 01:11:48,646
And I told him
what Robert Kennedy said,
930
01:11:48,676 --> 01:11:50,720
he ought to bring the poor
to Washington
931
01:11:50,761 --> 01:11:52,847
and he lit up, he just lit up.
932
01:11:53,889 --> 01:11:57,143
I think he was realizing
that he was running out of gas.
933
01:12:00,146 --> 01:12:03,274
And the attacks
and the criticisms on him
934
01:12:03,399 --> 01:12:05,526
were getting more and more vicious.
935
01:12:06,569 --> 01:12:09,667
But he was really aware of the fact
936
01:12:09,697 --> 01:12:14,785
that we had not hardly raised
the issue of poverty.
937
01:12:21,000 --> 01:12:24,253
We have to do it
for our own sense of dignity,
938
01:12:24,295 --> 01:12:27,339
our own self-respect,
our own determination.
939
01:12:28,382 --> 01:12:32,440
But we can't do it if
we don't give our all to it.
940
01:12:32,470 --> 01:12:36,640
Martin Luther King embraced the idea
of the Poor People's campaign,
941
01:12:36,682 --> 01:12:38,851
and he wanted to move ahead with it.
942
01:12:40,394 --> 01:12:45,858
But initially, he did not have
the support of his executive staff.
943
01:12:47,735 --> 01:12:51,876
People felt already committed to what
they were working on at that time.
944
01:12:51,906 --> 01:12:54,116
From our perspective as organizers...
945
01:12:55,075 --> 01:12:59,216
He used to say that he was the pilot of
the plane, but we were the ground crew.
946
01:12:59,246 --> 01:13:01,457
And that he ground crew of the plane
cannot leave the ground.
947
01:13:01,499 --> 01:13:03,429
Given the realities of...
948
01:13:03,459 --> 01:13:06,712
Martin Luther King
went on a fast to reunite people
949
01:13:07,505 --> 01:13:10,769
and get them to think collectively
how they could participate.
950
01:13:10,799 --> 01:13:12,771
As we go into these communities...
951
01:13:12,801 --> 01:13:14,970
And, they finally thought coming aboard.
952
01:13:15,012 --> 01:13:19,111
We must remember that we are
the custodians of a philosophy.
953
01:13:19,141 --> 01:13:22,186
But he talked about his frustration.
954
01:13:22,353 --> 01:13:25,397
His staff was all concerned.
955
01:13:26,315 --> 01:13:29,526
They said, "you know,
we haven't seen him laugh in a longtime.
956
01:13:29,568 --> 01:13:32,529
Now, I don't know whether we gon' win
or lose or draw
957
01:13:32,571 --> 01:13:35,711
or what we gon' bring back tonight,
but I'm not gon' sit by and...
958
01:13:35,741 --> 01:13:40,079
So, they called me, and told me, "think
of something to do to make him laugh."
959
01:13:42,081 --> 01:13:49,213
This was January 15th, his birthday,
which ended up being his last birthday.
960
01:13:49,338 --> 01:13:51,423
Now, some folks celebrate
Abraham Lincoln,
961
01:13:51,465 --> 01:13:53,634
but we're gonna celebrate
Martin Luther King's day today.
962
01:13:54,426 --> 01:13:55,511
Don't let him outta here!
963
01:14:10,192 --> 01:14:13,320
We know that you,
you really don't need much,
964
01:14:13,445 --> 01:14:16,448
but we thought of some things
you ought to have.
965
01:14:17,408 --> 01:14:20,619
So, we searched around,
and knowing what's coming up for you,
966
01:14:20,661 --> 01:14:22,675
we thought you'd be strung out
of shoe string,
967
01:14:22,705 --> 01:14:26,959
so when you go to jail, here's some
shoestring potatoes we want you to...
968
01:14:30,045 --> 01:14:34,216
Then, we know how fond you are
of our president, Lyndon Johnson,
969
01:14:37,219 --> 01:14:39,263
and we know how you
supporting everything,
970
01:14:39,304 --> 01:14:41,527
and I got this little cup for you, and I
want this back, because this is mine.
971
01:14:41,557 --> 01:14:43,487
And it says, let me read it, it says,
972
01:14:43,517 --> 01:14:46,645
"We are cooperating
with Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty.
973
01:14:46,895 --> 01:14:48,981
Drop coins and bills in the cup."
974
01:14:50,149 --> 01:14:53,277
And this is a special gift from me,
a real one.
975
01:14:58,365 --> 01:15:02,578
I don't think anyone possessed
the capacity for humor,
976
01:15:02,619 --> 01:15:09,918
both in receiving it and responding
joyously, as Dr. King.
977
01:15:13,005 --> 01:15:15,215
Much of the time I was the victim.
978
01:15:17,259 --> 01:15:21,346
If he felt somebody was sensitive,
he wouldn't pick on 'em,
979
01:15:21,388 --> 01:15:24,475
but he would take
something that somebody else said or did
980
01:15:24,516 --> 01:15:26,518
and blame it on me.
981
01:15:26,602 --> 01:15:33,776
He had a good way of imitating people.
He would imitate Andy, or he would say,
982
01:15:33,901 --> 01:15:35,986
"Now, Andy,
if you do something foolish
983
01:15:36,028 --> 01:15:39,042
and you go out there
and get assassinated," he said,
984
01:15:39,072 --> 01:15:42,284
"I promise, I'm gonna preach
the best funeral for you."
985
01:15:43,327 --> 01:15:46,371
And then he would start preaching
your funeral.
986
01:15:46,497 --> 01:15:53,754
He would do a very sadistic caricature
of all of your faults and foibles,
987
01:15:55,255 --> 01:15:58,550
and things that you would never want
said about you in public.
988
01:15:58,592 --> 01:16:00,636
And he'd weave it into a sermon,
989
01:16:01,553 --> 01:16:05,807
and quite often he'd have a similar
demon from the bible
990
01:16:05,849 --> 01:16:07,976
who had the same problems.
991
01:16:08,769 --> 01:16:10,062
And, by the time he got through,
992
01:16:10,854 --> 01:16:15,275
he had everybody laughing
at what was a life and death situation.
993
01:16:16,193 --> 01:16:18,237
Mostly his life.
994
01:16:18,362 --> 01:16:21,335
That was the way
of externalizing the fact
995
01:16:21,365 --> 01:16:26,745
that he had somehow talk
about the elephant in the room
996
01:16:28,705 --> 01:16:30,874
that we all had to live with.
997
01:16:31,833 --> 01:16:34,878
Martin joked about it
998
01:16:36,088 --> 01:16:40,092
because there wasn't
any other way to be.
999
01:16:41,093 --> 01:16:45,347
Dr. King,
do you fear for your life?
1000
01:16:47,432 --> 01:16:54,648
Not really. I face the fact that
something can happen to my life.
1001
01:16:55,691 --> 01:16:58,944
Ultimately, it isn't so important
how long you live;
1002
01:16:59,444 --> 01:17:01,655
the important thing
is how well you live.
1003
01:17:11,999 --> 01:17:15,127
Dr. King's expression of his anxiety
1004
01:17:16,128 --> 01:17:20,424
about this whole world in which he found
himself, was not unfounded.
1005
01:17:21,550 --> 01:17:25,637
His fears were very real because
the conditions were very real.
1006
01:17:25,721 --> 01:17:28,765
And what is it that America
has failed to hear?
1007
01:17:29,641 --> 01:17:35,981
I had noticed that he had a tick.
He had occasion to get caught.
1008
01:17:36,106 --> 01:17:39,121
It has failed to hear
that the plight of the negro poor
1009
01:17:39,151 --> 01:17:43,238
has worsened
over the past few years.
1010
01:17:43,405 --> 01:17:45,323
It wasn't consistent,
1011
01:17:45,449 --> 01:17:49,661
but it was apparent in enough situations
for us to know
1012
01:17:49,703 --> 01:17:53,749
that there was a
psychological problem there.
1013
01:17:55,751 --> 01:18:01,048
And then one day, that tick was
no longer evident. I said to him,
1014
01:18:01,089 --> 01:18:06,261
I said, "Now what happened to
the tick?" He said, "No, that's gone."
1015
01:18:06,803 --> 01:18:09,806
And I said,
"Well, how'd you get rid of it,"
1016
01:18:09,890 --> 01:18:13,018
and he said,
"I made my peace with death."
1017
01:18:17,105 --> 01:18:21,329
I know all of you are studying hard
and you're just doing fine in school
1018
01:18:21,359 --> 01:18:22,486
and I'm glad to see you.
1019
01:18:22,527 --> 01:18:25,697
- We are glad to see you!
- Thank you very much.
1020
01:18:26,531 --> 01:18:30,827
I think he always knew that each
and every thing he did
1021
01:18:31,703 --> 01:18:33,830
could be the last thing that he did.
1022
01:18:35,040 --> 01:18:38,210
And he used to say that if you're
really gonna be free
1023
01:18:40,086 --> 01:18:43,381
you have to overcome the love
of wealth and the fear of death.
1024
01:18:44,382 --> 01:18:47,427
- You all just took off from school?
- Yes.
1025
01:18:47,594 --> 01:18:54,684
He was prepared to die, but he was also
determined that his death
1026
01:18:54,810 --> 01:18:56,937
and his life would have meaning,
1027
01:18:57,771 --> 01:19:01,983
and I think that's what he was
wrestling with with Vietnam
1028
01:19:05,237 --> 01:19:07,239
and Chicago...
1029
01:19:08,240 --> 01:19:10,367
Tell Hosea and Ralph to rush off...
1030
01:19:10,742 --> 01:19:11,880
...and the Poor People's Campaign.
1031
01:19:11,910 --> 01:19:18,041
- Hello, give me some sugar.
- Where we stopping?
1032
01:19:32,722 --> 01:19:36,977
It seemed to me we can begin to build
up every Sunday a big march
1033
01:19:37,018 --> 01:19:39,938
to march around
the Capitol someplace.
1034
01:19:39,980 --> 01:19:43,149
Dr. King appointed me
as program administrator.
1035
01:19:44,067 --> 01:19:46,152
Grow and develop and by the time we
get to seventh march
1036
01:19:46,194 --> 01:19:47,404
it could really
be massive for those people...
1037
01:19:47,445 --> 01:19:51,575
And usually our campaign was related
to discrimination and racism,
1038
01:19:52,409 --> 01:19:55,620
so we were talking
about black people for the most part.
1039
01:19:56,788 --> 01:20:03,878
But, I said, "There are Chicanos who are
poor, you want them to be in..."
1040
01:20:03,920 --> 01:20:06,131
He said, "Yes, we want them
to be involved."
1041
01:20:07,173 --> 01:20:12,470
I said, "Okay," and so I said,
"What about the Native Americans?"
1042
01:20:13,305 --> 01:20:15,557
He said,
"Well yeah, Native Americans."
1043
01:20:16,641 --> 01:20:21,813
So, by this time he turned around
and looked up at me
1044
01:20:21,855 --> 01:20:24,941
'cause he'd anticipated
the next question.
1045
01:20:25,775 --> 01:20:30,196
I said, "Well, Dr. King,
what about the poor whites?"
1046
01:20:31,072 --> 01:20:34,284
And he said to me,
a little disgusted, he said,
1047
01:20:34,326 --> 01:20:39,372
"Are they poor?" I said, "Well, yes."
"Well we want them involved!"
1048
01:20:40,457 --> 01:20:42,554
We assemble here together today
1049
01:20:42,584 --> 01:20:47,672
with common problems
bringing together ethnic groups
1050
01:20:47,922 --> 01:20:52,969
that maybe have not been together
in this type of meeting in the past.
1051
01:20:53,053 --> 01:20:57,068
I know I haven't been
in a meeting like this
1052
01:20:57,098 --> 01:21:00,310
and it's been one of my dreams
that we would come together
1053
01:21:01,227 --> 01:21:04,439
and realize our common problems.
1054
01:21:04,522 --> 01:21:10,653
Black people, Mexican Americans,
American Indians, Puerto Ricans,
1055
01:21:10,695 --> 01:21:17,077
Appalachian Whites, all working together
to solve the problem of poverty.
1056
01:21:18,787 --> 01:21:21,831
That was a very big thing
that happened.
1057
01:21:21,915 --> 01:21:27,087
Of getting... finding common
ground among the poor.
1058
01:21:28,213 --> 01:21:30,298
That didn't make things easy,
1059
01:21:31,257 --> 01:21:35,482
but it was a big benchmark into the
next stage of the civil rights movement,
1060
01:21:35,512 --> 01:21:37,692
which had to do with economic rights.
1061
01:21:37,722 --> 01:21:41,893
Ultimately, we are concerned about
a guaranteed annual income,
1062
01:21:42,769 --> 01:21:45,855
and the other thing I think is very
necessary to say
1063
01:21:45,897 --> 01:21:48,066
is that everybody's
on welfare in this country.
1064
01:21:48,108 --> 01:21:51,236
When it's for white people and rich,
we call it subsidies.
1065
01:21:51,277 --> 01:21:56,282
Suburbia was built by federally
subsidized credits,
1066
01:21:56,366 --> 01:22:00,453
and the highways and expressways
that take people out there.
1067
01:22:00,495 --> 01:22:03,623
So, I think we've gotta see that
is when it comes to poor people,
1068
01:22:03,665 --> 01:22:05,720
we call it welfare,
handouts dolled,
1069
01:22:05,750 --> 01:22:08,807
but when it comes to rich people,
we call it subsidies.
1070
01:22:08,837 --> 01:22:11,005
And it's the same thing
it's all welfare.
1071
01:22:19,180 --> 01:22:23,434
We were in a staff meeting, and Martin
Luther King got this call from Memphis.
1072
01:22:23,643 --> 01:22:27,856
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
1073
01:22:27,897 --> 01:22:28,910
On February 12th,
1074
01:22:28,940 --> 01:22:33,027
1300 workers in the city's sanitation
department went on strike
1075
01:22:34,153 --> 01:22:38,199
and what began as a union matter
soon became a civil rights cause.
1076
01:22:38,283 --> 01:22:43,580
The sanitation workers were strikin'
because the wage was so low,
1077
01:22:45,540 --> 01:22:47,834
and they were concerned about safety,
1078
01:22:49,836 --> 01:22:53,840
so they were trying to get
some support and protection.
1079
01:22:56,050 --> 01:22:59,065
One of the most powerful things
that you see during that time
1080
01:22:59,095 --> 01:23:02,307
is all of the garbage workers had
these sandwich board signs
1081
01:23:02,348 --> 01:23:04,392
that said "I AM A MAN."
1082
01:23:05,435 --> 01:23:09,647
That was saying,
we want to be treated with dignity.
1083
01:23:10,607 --> 01:23:13,860
With the strike deadlocked, behind
the leadership of negro ministers,
1084
01:23:13,901 --> 01:23:17,947
the marches grew larger and
the ministers reveled in the new unity.
1085
01:23:17,989 --> 01:23:21,159
When Martin Luther King got the call,
he said he had to go.
1086
01:23:22,118 --> 01:23:27,206
He said, you guys stay and continue
working on the poor people's campaign.
1087
01:23:27,415 --> 01:23:30,418
We did not want him
to go to Memphis at all.
1088
01:23:30,543 --> 01:23:33,630
But he got up at six o'clock
in the morning,
1089
01:23:33,671 --> 01:23:36,686
and he said, "Imma catch the flight
to Memphis."
1090
01:23:36,716 --> 01:23:38,926
MARCH 28, 1968
1091
01:23:40,845 --> 01:23:45,016
Martin went to a march that we had
nothing to do with, no pre-planning,
1092
01:23:45,183 --> 01:23:49,187
and it got disrupted.
1093
01:23:58,738 --> 01:24:02,754
There were some young men outside
of the garbage workers
1094
01:24:02,784 --> 01:24:07,038
who took the wooden sticks that held
some of the I AM A MAN signs together
1095
01:24:07,955 --> 01:24:10,083
and used them to smash windows.
1096
01:24:11,084 --> 01:24:15,380
When the march degenerated into a riot,
abandoned by its leaders,
1097
01:24:16,297 --> 01:24:20,480
the police, with my full sanction,
took the necessary action
1098
01:24:20,510 --> 01:24:24,639
to protect the lives and property
of the citizens of Memphis.
1099
01:24:24,764 --> 01:24:31,896
We urge you to return to your homes
immediately for your own safety.
1100
01:24:33,147 --> 01:24:36,287
Why didn't you check out the situation
in Memphis with your staff
1101
01:24:36,317 --> 01:24:37,401
before you came here,
1102
01:24:37,443 --> 01:24:41,405
especially since it's in the midst
of a very touchy sanitation strike.
1103
01:24:41,447 --> 01:24:44,534
I would be honest enough to say
1104
01:24:44,617 --> 01:24:49,747
that I was completely caught
with a miscalculation.
1105
01:24:51,958 --> 01:24:56,087
What steps have you taken
to avert new violence in Memphis?
1106
01:24:57,004 --> 01:24:59,340
We're gonna take those steps,
and we're not gonna stop here.
1107
01:25:00,133 --> 01:25:06,389
We are gonna have in Memphis
a massive nonviolent demonstration,
1108
01:25:06,430 --> 01:25:08,569
and we're gonna do it
in the next few days.
1109
01:25:08,599 --> 01:25:12,812
And we are gonna take the steps that
we've taken in every other situation.
1110
01:25:12,895 --> 01:25:17,859
We are gonna take the steps
of uniting this community.
1111
01:25:18,067 --> 01:25:22,071
Nonviolence can be
as contagious as violence.
1112
01:25:26,242 --> 01:25:29,412
In between the first march
and our going back to Memphis,
1113
01:25:29,537 --> 01:25:34,667
Martin gave us a good cussin' out
about not being supportive of him.
1114
01:25:35,293 --> 01:25:41,299
And, it was the only time I saw him
angry at the whole staff.
1115
01:25:45,511 --> 01:25:47,805
He cussed us out, got up,
and walked out.
1116
01:25:48,639 --> 01:25:54,020
And we went behind him, trying to
reassure him, but he just went on off.
1117
01:25:57,064 --> 01:26:03,195
Dr. King said, "I feel so alone."
He was frustrated, he was full of pain.
1118
01:26:03,362 --> 01:26:07,575
And, I understand that pain now.
1119
01:26:09,619 --> 01:26:13,664
He said, "I've pondered...
maybe I should quit now.
1120
01:26:13,748 --> 01:26:15,916
Maybe I've done as much as I can do."
1121
01:26:17,877 --> 01:26:22,048
I thought it was wrong
to take on another movement
1122
01:26:22,089 --> 01:26:24,175
in the state we were in.
1123
01:26:27,219 --> 01:26:30,431
We were tired,
and we knew he was tired.
1124
01:26:35,645 --> 01:26:38,814
The thing I think he had dreamed
about from childhood
1125
01:26:39,440 --> 01:26:42,652
was to be able to pastor a church
like Riverside Church.
1126
01:26:45,738 --> 01:26:49,784
And, they actually offered him the job
as interim pastor.
1127
01:26:50,951 --> 01:26:55,039
All of us said,
"Look. You're entitled to a sabbatical.
1128
01:26:55,122 --> 01:26:58,125
You've been at this
for twelve years nonstop."
1129
01:27:00,211 --> 01:27:03,297
He wouldn't even consider it.
1130
01:27:04,382 --> 01:27:07,593
He used to say, "some of us
are not gonna live to be fifty,
1131
01:27:08,552 --> 01:27:10,638
so you better live good right now.
1132
01:27:11,722 --> 01:27:14,809
It was almost as though
he saw death as an escape,
1133
01:27:16,977 --> 01:27:21,273
and that he could not escape
the way we wanted him to escape.
1134
01:27:34,662 --> 01:27:37,706
Before Dr. King left to go to Memphis,
1135
01:27:37,915 --> 01:27:41,001
we all had dinner together
at their home.
1136
01:27:48,342 --> 01:27:54,515
His mother was there and we all had
a wonderful, wonderful afternoon.
1137
01:27:55,474 --> 01:28:00,771
Playin' the piano,
singin' church songs, tellin' jokes.
1138
01:28:01,856 --> 01:28:05,985
He said to me, "You know what, I bet
you don't really know that I can...
1139
01:28:06,026 --> 01:28:09,196
I'm a good singer. Did you know that?"
1140
01:28:09,238 --> 01:28:13,242
He said, "I'ma prove it to you.
So, give me a B flat."
1141
01:28:14,326 --> 01:28:16,465
I gave him a B flat
and he starts singin',
1142
01:28:16,495 --> 01:28:21,542
and, man, we got the rhythm
of a gospel song.
1143
01:28:22,626 --> 01:28:24,753
And, we just had such fun.
1144
01:28:25,838 --> 01:28:31,093
Now, I was to drive him the next morning
to the airport to go to Memphis.
1145
01:28:33,053 --> 01:28:35,139
His mother called me and said,
1146
01:28:35,181 --> 01:28:41,562
"I know you're takin' ML to the airport
tomorrow. While you have his ear,
1147
01:28:43,564 --> 01:28:47,735
will you tell him I wish we could have
more family moments like that.
1148
01:28:50,279 --> 01:28:55,534
Can you tell him to plan it in his
schedule sometime after he comes back.
1149
01:28:57,661 --> 01:29:02,791
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
APRIL 3, 1968
1150
01:29:02,833 --> 01:29:10,060
After the march broke out in violence,
we all went to Memphis, for two reasons:
1151
01:29:10,090 --> 01:29:14,428
to support the Sanitation Workers'
march, so it would be nonviolent,
1152
01:29:15,346 --> 01:29:19,475
but also to continue our discussion
of the Poor People's Campaign.
1153
01:29:21,560 --> 01:29:25,814
That night, there was a mass meeting
at Mason Temple Church,
1154
01:29:26,774 --> 01:29:31,028
and Martin Luther King was scheduled
to go and speak,
1155
01:29:31,111 --> 01:29:34,073
but it was pouring down raining.
1156
01:29:35,282 --> 01:29:38,339
Dr. King had sat in the room
most of the day.
1157
01:29:38,369 --> 01:29:41,372
He said, "I have a headache,
I don't feel like going,
1158
01:29:41,413 --> 01:29:43,457
but Jesse, will you go?"
1159
01:29:45,626 --> 01:29:48,671
So, we went over there
and we walked in the door,
1160
01:29:48,712 --> 01:29:51,924
church was about three-quarters full
and people cheering.
1161
01:29:52,549 --> 01:29:55,636
You could sense
they were expecting him.
1162
01:29:57,680 --> 01:30:00,891
Martin Luther King
is already in his pajamas in bed
1163
01:30:02,017 --> 01:30:06,230
and we were working on a
press statement for Washington D.C.
1164
01:30:10,234 --> 01:30:14,405
We went out the side of the church
and called him on the pay telephone
1165
01:30:14,446 --> 01:30:17,586
and said, "Martin, come just for a few
minutes. You don't have to stay long.
1166
01:30:17,616 --> 01:30:19,660
They're so ready for you."
1167
01:30:21,662 --> 01:30:25,844
I could only hear one side of the call,
but Martin Luther King said,
1168
01:30:25,874 --> 01:30:30,170
"Now, are you telling me that
you want me to get up out of my bed
1169
01:30:31,130 --> 01:30:34,174
and take off my pajamas
and get dressed
1170
01:30:35,175 --> 01:30:40,431
and come out
in the pouring down rain," okay,
1171
01:30:40,514 --> 01:30:42,599
"to speak at this meeting?"
1172
01:30:42,683 --> 01:30:45,781
So, obviously,
the answer on the other side said yes.
1173
01:30:45,811 --> 01:30:51,066
The Moses of 1968,
Martin Luther King.
1174
01:31:01,410 --> 01:31:06,582
Martin came to that church thinking
that he was just gonna make remarks
1175
01:31:07,541 --> 01:31:09,751
and not to give the major speech,
1176
01:31:10,669 --> 01:31:12,880
but he got up and he gave that speech
1177
01:31:12,921 --> 01:31:16,895
as though he knew
that the end was near.
1178
01:31:16,925 --> 01:31:20,190
And so, I'm happy tonight.
I'm not worried about anything!
1179
01:31:20,220 --> 01:31:22,347
I'm not fearing any man!
1180
01:31:23,140 --> 01:31:27,311
Mine eyes have seen the glory
of the coming of the Lord!
1181
01:31:29,646 --> 01:31:34,651
APRIL 4, 1968
1182
01:31:35,736 --> 01:31:36,790
The next morning,
1183
01:31:36,820 --> 01:31:40,949
we were workin' on the press statement
for the Poor People's Campaign.
1184
01:31:40,991 --> 01:31:42,963
Martin Luther King said to me,
1185
01:31:42,993 --> 01:31:46,121
"Now, Bernard, the next project
we're gonna work on
1186
01:31:46,163 --> 01:31:50,459
is to institutionalize
and internationalize nonviolence."
1187
01:31:53,420 --> 01:31:55,672
I was on the witness stand
most of that day.
1188
01:31:55,714 --> 01:32:02,763
We got permission to march and
I came back to the Lorraine Motel.
1189
01:32:02,846 --> 01:32:06,987
He was childish and giddy
and cussed me out,
1190
01:32:07,017 --> 01:32:10,270
you know, "Where you been?"
He threw a pillow at me.
1191
01:32:10,312 --> 01:32:15,329
I threw it back. But, everybody else
picked up pillows and they were...
1192
01:32:15,359 --> 01:32:17,569
It was like a bunch of ten-year olds.
1193
01:32:19,529 --> 01:32:22,658
And just about that time,
Billy Kyles knocked on the door
1194
01:32:22,699 --> 01:32:26,870
and said, "you all are my house by 6
o'clock. My wife's got dinner waitin'."
1195
01:32:26,995 --> 01:32:32,167
And so, he jumped up and went
upstairs to put on a shirt and tie.
1196
01:32:36,171 --> 01:32:39,436
I was coming across the courtyard,
and from the balcony, Dr. King said,
1197
01:32:39,466 --> 01:32:42,439
"Jesse, you don't even have on a tie!"
1198
01:32:42,469 --> 01:32:44,721
So, I said, "Dr. King, a prerequisite
for eating is an appetite."
1199
01:32:45,514 --> 01:32:47,641
He said, "You crazy."
We laughed.
1200
01:32:48,850 --> 01:32:52,938
He was just extremely relaxed
and comfortable and playful.
1201
01:32:53,939 --> 01:32:57,067
It was the happiest I had seen him
in a long time.
1202
01:32:59,152 --> 01:33:02,406
We'd been laughing and playing,
and POW.
1203
01:33:03,240 --> 01:33:05,534
And he raised up,
bullet hit him right here.
1204
01:33:06,326 --> 01:33:08,412
It severed his tie.
1205
01:33:11,498 --> 01:33:16,586
I got up and went running toward him,
but he was nonresponsive.
1206
01:33:16,753 --> 01:33:19,756
So, I got up
and went and called Mrs. King.
1207
01:33:20,966 --> 01:33:27,055
It was a long ten steps to take
from where he was to that phone.
1208
01:33:28,098 --> 01:33:29,152
I said, "Mrs. King,"
1209
01:33:29,182 --> 01:33:32,227
I said, "Dr. King been shot,
I think he's been shot in the shoulder,
1210
01:33:32,269 --> 01:33:33,437
but I think you should come."
1211
01:33:33,478 --> 01:33:37,482
I really couldn't say what I saw.
It was like too much to say.
1212
01:33:38,525 --> 01:33:42,654
Like I just couldn't say that.
I couldn't say that.
1213
01:33:59,504 --> 01:34:02,519
What Dr. Martin Luther King called
his beautiful dream,
1214
01:34:02,549 --> 01:34:05,802
expressed so dramatically during
the 1963 March on Washington,
1215
01:34:06,636 --> 01:34:09,931
was shattered tonight in Memphis
Tennessee by an assassin's bullet.
1216
01:34:10,557 --> 01:34:13,780
In Memphis and in New York,
in Boston, Raleigh, North Carolina,
1217
01:34:13,810 --> 01:34:15,949
there are reports of looting
and other angry reactions
1218
01:34:15,979 --> 01:34:17,981
to the killing of Dr. King.
1219
01:34:23,278 --> 01:34:25,238
It was awful.
1220
01:34:26,239 --> 01:34:28,295
My first thought was to go out
1221
01:34:28,325 --> 01:34:33,538
and tell children not to loot
and not to riot and ruin their lives.
1222
01:34:35,582 --> 01:34:39,920
And this little boy about 12,
looked me straight in the eye and said,
1223
01:34:39,961 --> 01:34:44,049
"Lady what future, I ain't got no
future, I ain't got nothing to lose."
1224
01:34:47,010 --> 01:34:49,262
I was in Sarasota, Florida,
with my parents,
1225
01:34:50,138 --> 01:34:52,349
and we see this happening
on the television,
1226
01:34:52,432 --> 01:34:55,488
and the first thing
out of my mother's mouth was,
1227
01:34:55,518 --> 01:34:58,521
"He deserved it.
He was a rabble-rouser."
1228
01:34:58,688 --> 01:35:01,661
When white America
killed Dr. King last night,
1229
01:35:01,691 --> 01:35:04,819
she opened the eyes for every black man
in this country.
1230
01:35:04,861 --> 01:35:07,030
He was the one man in our race
1231
01:35:07,948 --> 01:35:11,171
who was trying to teach our people
to have love, compassion,
1232
01:35:11,201 --> 01:35:14,204
and mercy for what
white people had done.
1233
01:35:14,579 --> 01:35:19,793
When white America killed Dr. King
last night, she declared war on us.
1234
01:35:23,004 --> 01:35:26,019
A day after the death
of Dr. Martin Luther King,
1235
01:35:26,049 --> 01:35:27,258
there is a countrywide reaction.
1236
01:35:28,051 --> 01:35:30,303
Turmoil in at least a dozen
more cities today:
1237
01:35:31,179 --> 01:35:34,307
Washington, Chicago,
Detroit, Boston, New York.
1238
01:35:34,349 --> 01:35:35,600
These are just a few of the cities
1239
01:35:36,393 --> 01:35:38,645
in which the negro
anguish over Dr. King's murder,
1240
01:35:38,687 --> 01:35:42,816
presumably by a white man,
expressed itself in violent destruction.
1241
01:35:44,776 --> 01:35:46,831
The assassination and its aftermath
1242
01:35:46,861 --> 01:35:48,959
temporarily pushed aside
the President's plans
1243
01:35:48,989 --> 01:35:51,116
to pursue his new Vietnam peace effort,
1244
01:35:51,157 --> 01:35:54,160
as he put in a busy day
at the White House.
1245
01:35:55,328 --> 01:36:00,458
I think of all the ups and downs,
and all the turmoil,
1246
01:36:00,500 --> 01:36:03,545
and the tragedies that occurred
in those years,
1247
01:36:03,712 --> 01:36:07,757
I never saw Johnson sadder,
1248
01:36:07,841 --> 01:36:13,930
about an event than he was
at the assassination of King.
1249
01:36:15,181 --> 01:36:19,269
And he said to me, "Give me a draft
letter to the Speaker.
1250
01:36:19,853 --> 01:36:23,064
You know, we're gonna get one thing out
of this awful event.
1251
01:36:24,065 --> 01:36:27,068
We're gonna get our Fair Housing bill."
1252
01:36:30,405 --> 01:36:33,294
As part of the national day of mourning
tomorrow,
1253
01:36:33,324 --> 01:36:35,410
hundreds of communities
across the nation
1254
01:36:35,452 --> 01:36:39,592
have planned memorial services and
peaceful marches in tribute to Dr. King.
1255
01:36:39,622 --> 01:36:43,752
It is, in this way, despite the ugly
rioting and looting in many cities,
1256
01:36:43,793 --> 01:36:46,963
that thousands of Americans have
planned to express their grief
1257
01:36:47,005 --> 01:36:49,060
quietly, and with dignity.
1258
01:36:49,090 --> 01:36:52,302
Nowhere was this more evident
than in Atlanta, Georgia.
1259
01:36:56,264 --> 01:37:02,520
Before the funeral, Dr. King's body
was to lie in state at Spelman College.
1260
01:37:03,730 --> 01:37:07,871
A security officer at Spelman
called Mrs. King and said,
1261
01:37:07,901 --> 01:37:12,113
"There must be thousands here.
What must we do?"
1262
01:37:13,114 --> 01:37:18,328
Then I said, "Mrs. King, the public
will wait, you need to see him first."
1263
01:37:21,247 --> 01:37:24,417
So, we dashed over to the campus.
1264
01:37:25,710 --> 01:37:32,800
I didn't see the body 'til
I got up close. I nearly died.
1265
01:37:35,053 --> 01:37:37,222
He looked awful.
1266
01:37:38,181 --> 01:37:43,353
He had a big blob of clay on his face.
1267
01:37:44,437 --> 01:37:47,607
Mrs. King was standing
there in such pain.
1268
01:37:49,567 --> 01:37:52,654
The embalmer loudly said,
1269
01:37:52,695 --> 01:37:57,825
"His jaw was blown off!
This is the best I can do."
1270
01:37:58,952 --> 01:38:01,120
And, oh, she nearly fainted.
1271
01:38:03,206 --> 01:38:05,291
So I took out some loose powder,
1272
01:38:06,209 --> 01:38:10,421
and I dabbed a little on his face,
toning it down,
1273
01:38:11,464 --> 01:38:14,634
and Coretta smiled.
It was working.
1274
01:38:15,718 --> 01:38:18,805
And, she said,
"open the door and let 'em in."
1275
01:38:24,060 --> 01:38:30,149
Martin Luther King chose the best person
possible as a wife,
1276
01:38:30,400 --> 01:38:35,488
and her stamina gave the country
and the world relief,
1277
01:38:36,489 --> 01:38:42,954
because everybody were just crashing
over this man's untimely death.
1278
01:38:43,913 --> 01:38:50,211
A man who lived for and died for
goodness now ends up like this.
1279
01:38:51,212 --> 01:38:56,342
I would have preferred to be alone
at this time with my children.
1280
01:38:56,509 --> 01:39:02,557
We were always willing to share
Martin Luther King with the world
1281
01:39:03,725 --> 01:39:09,022
because he was a symbol
of the finest man is capable of being.
1282
01:39:10,023 --> 01:39:14,110
Yet to us he was a father
and a husband.
1283
01:39:15,069 --> 01:39:18,448
I am surprised and pleased
at the success of his teaching,
1284
01:39:19,323 --> 01:39:23,536
for our children say calmly,
"Daddy is not dead.
1285
01:39:24,704 --> 01:39:29,792
He may be physically dead,
but his spirit will never die."
1286
01:40:07,330 --> 01:40:11,459
Through their tears,
Mama King said to me,
1287
01:40:11,626 --> 01:40:13,503
"I want you to know
1288
01:40:13,544 --> 01:40:18,716
that when the tension of the moment
tapers a little bit,
1289
01:40:18,883 --> 01:40:24,138
I can tell you fully
how much I appreciate what you did."
1290
01:40:25,097 --> 01:40:26,182
And I said, "What did I do?"
1291
01:40:26,224 --> 01:40:30,156
She said, "Well, you told Martin
what I said,
1292
01:40:30,186 --> 01:40:35,608
that I wanted him to spend more time
with me." She said, "He called me."
1293
01:40:36,567 --> 01:40:41,697
And she thinks that she was
one of the last persons he talked to,
1294
01:40:42,698 --> 01:40:46,953
and she said, "I know I'm gonna feel
good about that one of these days."
1295
01:40:48,955 --> 01:40:53,167
I got a call that Mrs. Kennedy
would like very much
1296
01:40:53,209 --> 01:40:56,295
to pay her respects to Mrs. King.
1297
01:40:59,298 --> 01:41:01,384
It was the date of the funeral,
1298
01:41:01,467 --> 01:41:06,681
and Mrs. Kennedy walks over
to Mrs. King.
1299
01:41:07,848 --> 01:41:11,978
The now two widows embrace
1300
01:41:14,021 --> 01:41:16,148
and they hold one another.
1301
01:41:41,132 --> 01:41:47,346
I was on my way to the funeral,
and I had to pass the office,
1302
01:41:48,306 --> 01:41:51,600
and the office door was open,
our SCLC office,
1303
01:41:52,601 --> 01:41:55,604
and people were
bringing things outta there.
1304
01:41:55,646 --> 01:41:56,814
We gather here this morning
1305
01:41:56,856 --> 01:42:01,861
in one of the darkest hours
for Martin Luther King,
1306
01:42:02,028 --> 01:42:09,243
sent forth as a Moses in the wilderness
of this sick nation of ours.
1307
01:42:09,368 --> 01:42:13,289
I went across the street over there,
and sure enough,
1308
01:42:13,414 --> 01:42:15,541
it was a test of our nonviolence.
1309
01:42:15,583 --> 01:42:18,586
These people were
taking things off the wall,
1310
01:42:18,627 --> 01:42:22,852
and off the desk, and everything else.
And I had to calm them down,
1311
01:42:22,882 --> 01:42:25,801
'cause they were frantic,
and they were wailing,
1312
01:42:25,843 --> 01:42:27,023
and moanin' and groanin'.
1313
01:42:27,053 --> 01:42:28,983
So, they were not like thieves,
1314
01:42:29,013 --> 01:42:32,183
they were people who had felt they
had lost Martin Luther King,
1315
01:42:32,224 --> 01:42:35,352
and they were just trying to find
something they could hold on to
1316
01:42:35,394 --> 01:42:38,439
that Martin Luther King,
perhaps, had touched.
1317
01:42:39,565 --> 01:42:45,654
But I missed the funeral. I got there
in time to see Robert Kennedy
1318
01:42:45,821 --> 01:42:49,045
and some others come out of the church,
1319
01:42:49,075 --> 01:42:54,121
but the wagon had, okay, gone off.
1320
01:43:14,099 --> 01:43:17,061
There has been
a lot of historical tragedies
1321
01:43:17,102 --> 01:43:23,526
that give us time to reflect
on much that has been lost to us
1322
01:43:24,527 --> 01:43:28,781
and the cruelty of the issues of race.
1323
01:43:30,699 --> 01:43:33,923
None more profoundly robbed me
1324
01:43:33,953 --> 01:43:37,915
of an important part
of what I thought my life would be
1325
01:43:38,123 --> 01:43:41,043
than when Martin was murdered.
1326
01:43:44,255 --> 01:43:49,385
His death was not just
a great loss historically,
1327
01:43:49,468 --> 01:43:52,638
but in a deep personal sense,
I lost a friend.
1328
01:43:54,682 --> 01:43:58,852
The cemetery is too small
for his spirit.
1329
01:43:59,895 --> 01:44:03,023
The grave is too narrow for his soul.
1330
01:44:04,066 --> 01:44:09,321
We commend his legacy
of courage and love to ourselves,
1331
01:44:10,406 --> 01:44:13,576
our children,
and our children's children.
1332
01:44:15,494 --> 01:44:18,664
We commend his life to the universe.
1333
01:44:24,837 --> 01:44:28,060
My first reaction
was to be mad with him.
1334
01:44:28,090 --> 01:44:32,261
You got us in all this hell, now you're
going to heaven and leaving us in hell.
1335
01:44:32,303 --> 01:44:34,388
Why don't you take us with you?
1336
01:44:37,349 --> 01:44:43,689
But I was panicked to know
how we followed.
1337
01:44:46,900 --> 01:44:52,990
We were not able
to stay together without him,
1338
01:44:54,033 --> 01:44:56,201
and the movement began to fragment.
1339
01:45:15,929 --> 01:45:19,141
What has happened in the past
has been our lives.
1340
01:45:20,184 --> 01:45:26,357
As older people, we've gone through
those different periods,
1341
01:45:26,523 --> 01:45:30,736
and we have suffered, and we have also
made some progress.
1342
01:45:31,737 --> 01:45:34,823
But this is what our lives were about.
1343
01:45:35,908 --> 01:45:38,911
The question is the next generation,
1344
01:45:38,994 --> 01:45:42,247
cause it's not what you've gained,
it's what you can maintain.
1345
01:45:44,249 --> 01:45:48,420
Martin Luther King went to the
blackboard and taught us nonviolence,
1346
01:45:49,338 --> 01:45:53,675
but nonviolence is not confined
to any historical period.
1347
01:45:57,805 --> 01:46:03,936
He speaks to this generation clearly, as
if he's in yesterday's morning paper.
1348
01:46:05,020 --> 01:46:09,316
His strategies, his philosophy,
his worldview remain real today.
1349
01:46:12,444 --> 01:46:16,418
He wanted a future world
that was changed
1350
01:46:16,448 --> 01:46:18,742
because of our nonviolent struggles.
1351
01:46:21,620 --> 01:46:27,000
He wanted his life to be remembered
by making the nation realize
1352
01:46:27,042 --> 01:46:31,213
that nonviolence is what
we must in the end have.
1353
01:46:34,132 --> 01:46:36,385
I think people discovered only
after his death
1354
01:46:36,426 --> 01:46:39,555
that he was more radical
than they actually knew.
1355
01:46:40,556 --> 01:46:46,645
I don't think he wanted us to take
anything other than all that we deserve,
1356
01:46:46,854 --> 01:46:50,858
and that's what radicalism
in the best sense is about.
1357
01:46:50,899 --> 01:46:56,029
Using the power that you have to help
transform the society for the better.
1358
01:46:57,322 --> 01:47:00,325
With Martin Luther King,
we have the holiday,
1359
01:47:00,742 --> 01:47:06,164
and we talk about how wonderful he was,
but we really should develop his work.
1360
01:47:08,041 --> 01:47:12,212
It's our responsibility,
everybody's responsibility.
1361
01:47:12,337 --> 01:47:19,636
There are 300 million of us and social
change is the jab of each of us.
1362
01:47:21,680 --> 01:47:24,933
When you see something
that is not right, not fair,
1363
01:47:25,809 --> 01:47:30,063
not just, you have a moral obligation
and a mandate to do something,
1364
01:47:30,105 --> 01:47:33,233
to say something,
to speak up, to speak out.
1365
01:47:35,193 --> 01:47:40,490
He is issuing as much of a call to us
today as he was calling to us in 1968,
1366
01:47:41,408 --> 01:47:45,746
and I hope we will hear that call and
finish the next face of his movement.
1367
01:47:47,623 --> 01:47:50,792
He talked about the importance
of keep going forward.
1368
01:47:50,834 --> 01:47:54,087
He said, "If you can't fly, you drive.
If you can't drive, you run.
1369
01:47:54,129 --> 01:47:56,101
If you can't run, you walk.
1370
01:47:56,131 --> 01:48:00,218
If you can't walk, you crawl
but keep moving forward."
1371
01:48:02,387 --> 01:48:06,600
From 1956 until April 4th, 1968
1372
01:48:07,309 --> 01:48:12,481
Martin Luther King Jr.
may have done more
1373
01:48:12,564 --> 01:48:16,860
to achieve political,
social, economic justice
1374
01:48:17,694 --> 01:48:21,823
than any other person
in the journey of American history.
1375
01:48:23,075 --> 01:48:28,330
The problems we have that Martin
lived for are still with us,
1376
01:48:29,331 --> 01:48:33,335
and the complexity
of good and evil in this world
1377
01:48:33,377 --> 01:48:35,504
is gonna always be with us.
1378
01:48:35,545 --> 01:48:39,591
I don't know that anybody struggled
with it any more or did any better
1379
01:48:39,633 --> 01:48:41,760
that Martin King in my lifetime.
1380
01:48:42,844 --> 01:48:45,972
He always said,
we've come a long, long way,
1381
01:48:46,014 --> 01:48:48,141
but we still got a long way to go.
1382
01:48:49,184 --> 01:48:52,187
And somewhere,
wherever Martin is,
1383
01:48:52,312 --> 01:48:56,399
he's struggling beyond this place
in time and space.
1384
01:48:57,484 --> 01:49:02,614
Well, I never like to discuss
Martin Luther King's influence.
1385
01:49:02,697 --> 01:49:06,743
I'm just trying to do a job and I think
it's a job that has to be done,
1386
01:49:06,785 --> 01:49:10,872
and I'm not trying to do it merely
for myself, or merely for my children,
1387
01:49:10,956 --> 01:49:13,095
or merely for the negro,
but for America,
1388
01:49:13,125 --> 01:49:16,336
because I think it's true
that if this problem isn't solved,
1389
01:49:17,212 --> 01:49:20,298
the soul of our nation will be lost.
1390
01:49:20,340 --> 01:49:22,521
And the only way to redeem
the soul of America
1391
01:49:22,551 --> 01:49:27,681
is to remove or to eradicate
racism in all of its dimensions.
1392
01:50:18,857 --> 01:50:21,943
The End
126578
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