December 5 1955 Letter from Birmingham Jail 1963

December 5, 1955

Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963): King’s gamble [Children]

FBI Memo, August 30 th: "Negro Question” "He stands head and shoulders above all other Negro leaders put together when it comes to influencing great masses of Negroes. We must mark him now, if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation. "

Cointelpro • that every single conference call we had, every single telephone conversation related to the march and other matters, was wiretapped and the contents transcribed by the FBI.

• King, look into your heart. You know you are a complete fraud and a great liability to all of us Negroes. …I repeat you are a colossal fraud an evil, vicious one at that. You could not believe in God and act as you do. Clearly you don't believe in any personal moral principles. 

King, like all frauds your end is approaching. King, I repeat you are done. King, there is only one thing left for you to do. You know what it is. You have just 34 days in which to do it …. You are done. There is but one way out for you. You better take it before your filthy, abnormal fraudulent self is bared to the nation.

16 th street Baptist Church terrorist attacks September 15, 1963 • Addie Mae Collins (14), Carole Robertson (14), Cynthia Wesley (14) and Denise Mc. Nair (11) • 8000 mourners, no city officials.

Brother Martin’s eulogy: “The Love That Forgives” • They say to us that we must be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers. Their death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for the realization of the American dream.

New York Times, FBI, NAACP, Jackie Robinson, Washington Post…

NAACP • It is time to make a declaration, to make our position clear…Civil rights battles will have to be fought and won on their own merits, irrespective of the state of war or peace in the world. We are not a peace organization nor a foreign policy association. We are a civil rights organization. The N. A. A. C. P. remains committed to its primary goal of eliminating all forms of racial discrimination and achieving equal rights and equal opportunities for all Americans. We are, of course, for a just peace. But there already exist dedicated organizations whose No. 1 task is to work for peace just as our No. 1 job is to work for civil rights. • - from New York Times, April 11, 1967, p. 1, 17. •

LB JOHNSON • "What is that goddamn nigger preacher trying to do to me? ”

Ebenezer Church (April 30, 1967)

King & The Poor People Campaign • Martin: “We are here; we are poor; we don't have any money; you have made us this way. . . and we've come to stay until you do something about it. ”