The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began writing the “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” in the margins of newspapers, on scraps of paper, paper towels and slips of yellow legal paper smuggled into his cell, where he was kept in solitary confinement after being arrested April 12, 1963, on charges of violating Alabama’s law against mass public demonstrations.
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Bessie Rogers and Taylor Rogers | StoryCorps
Retired Memphis, Tennessee sanitation worker Taylor Rodgers and his wife, Bessie, were at the Mason Temple on April 3, 1968 when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous speech “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”.
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Riding in the plane that brought MLK’s body home forever changed Sun City man’s life | Island Packet
“It helped make me who I am.”
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Capturing the Civil Rights Era Through the Lens of Gordon Parks | Daily Beast
Gordon Parks captured the beauty, horror, and complexities behind the lives of those who lived during the Civil Rights Era.
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From the archives: Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about ‘new age’ of race relations in moving Des Moines speech | Des Moines Register
This story by Register reporter Robert Barewald originally ran on Nov. 13, 1959. April 4, 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of King’s assassination in Memphis, Tennessee.
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Southern states join to promote Civil Rights Trail to tourists | Times-Picayune
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Southern states that once fought to maintain racial segregation are now banding together to promote civil rights tourism at sites including the building where the Confederacy was born and the motel where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. died.
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‘A Taste of Power’: The Woman Who Led the Black Panther Party | Longreads
Elaine Brown was the first and only woman to lead the male-dominated Black Panther Party. She looks back on Jean Seberg, COINTELPRO, and internal divisions within the organization.
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Meet the theologian who helped MLK see the value of nonviolence | The Conversation
On this anniversary of King’s birthday, it’s worth looking at how King learned to integrate spiritual growth and social transformation.
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The Race to Preserve African American Radio | Black Perspectives
Rufus P. Turner a student at the Armstrong Technical High School became the first African American to operate a radio broadcast station when chosen to operate the radio facility at the St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church, January 12, 1926.
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Ex-Black Panther Elaine Brown awarded $4 million in punitive damages | The Philadelphia Tribune
OAKLAND, Calif. — A Northern California jury awarded more than $4 million in punitive damages to a former leader of the Black Panthers who was injured after an Oakland councilwoman punched and pushed her during an argument over housing.
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