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April 3, 1968
IT WAS A BEFORE DAWN WHEN THE REVEREND RALPH ABERNATHY BROUGHT HIS OLD FORD TO A STOP IN FRONT OF THE MODEST, PLEASAND HOME OF CORETTA AND MARTIN LUTHER KING,JR., IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA. ABERNATHY HALF EXPECTED TO SEE KING WAITING PATIENTLY ON THE STOOP, A BLACK VALISE AT HIS SIDE. BUT THIS MORNING KING WAS RUNNING LATE. WHEN CORETTA ANSWERED THE DOOR, HER HUSBAND WAS JUST GETTING UP. KING MUMBLED AN APOLOGY FOR OVERSLEEPING AND HURRIED INTO THE BATHROOM TO SHAVE. ABERNATHY, AFTER DECLINING CORETTA'S OFFER OF BREAKFAST, KEPT A CLOSE WATCH ON THE TIME. HE AND KING HAD TO CATCH AN EARLY FLIGHT FOR MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE. KING WAS READY IN NOTHING FLAT. AS ALWAYS, HE WORE A SOMBER BUSINESS SUIT, ITS WELL-TAILORED LINES FLATTERING HIS BROAD SHOULDERS AND SUBTLY CONCEALING HIS EXPANDING WAISTLINE. HE GAVE CORETTA A QUICK GOOD-BYE- KISS AND SAID HE WOULD CALL HER FROM MEMPHIS. ONCE IN THE CAR, HE REMINDED ABERNATHY THAT HE WANTED TO STOP BY HIS OFFICE ON THE WAY TO THE AIRPORT. WHEN THEY REACHED THE OFFICE ON AUBURN AVENUE, KING LET HIMSELF IN WITH HIS LATCHKEY ANS SWIFTLY GATHERED UP SOME PAPERS HE WOULD NEED IN MEMPHIS. IN THE EARLY MORNING SHADOWS, AN OUTSIDER MIGHT HAVE TAKEN THE PLACE FOR THE OFFICE OF A LAW FIRM OR REAL ESTATE BUSINESS AND KING FOR A YOUNG ATTORNEY OR SALESMAN. NOTHING COULD HAVE BEEN FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH.
THE OFFICE ON AUBURN AVENUE WAS HOME TO ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ORGANIZATIONS IN AMERICAN HISTORY--THE SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP COUNCIL (SCLC)--AND MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., THE MAN IN THE DARK SUIT, WHITE SHIRT, AND CAREFULLY KNOTTED TIE, WAS ITS FOUNDER AND LEADER. AND HE HAD LED A REVOLUTION. THE REVOLUTION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING WAS THE STRUGGLE OF BLACK AMERICANS FOR EWUALITY AND CIVIL RIGHTS. FOR A DOZEN YEARS, THIS CHARISMATIC BAPTIST MINISTER AND HIS LEGION OF FOLLOWERS HAD CONFRONTED THE HUMILIATING SYSTEM OF SEGREGATION THAT HAD KEPT BLACK AMERICANS SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS. IN DOING THIS,HE AND HIS DISCIPLES HAD FACED A RAGING STORM OF WHITE ABUSE. THEY HAD BEEN BEATEN, ARRESTED, JAILED, AND SPAT UPON. THEY HAD HAD THEIR HOMES AND CHURCHES BURNED, THEIR FAMILIES THREATENED, THEIR FRIENDS AND ALLIES MURDERED. THEY HAD FELTH THE PAIN OF POLICE BILLY CLUBS,HIGH-PRESSURE WATER HOSE, AND SNARLING ATTACKDOGS. YET THEY KEPT ON. THEY MARCH; THEY STAGED BOYCOUTS AND SIT-INS; THEY BROKE UNJUST LAWS; AND, IN THE END, THEY AWAKENED THE NATION AND THE WORLD TO THE SHAME OF AMERICAN RACIAL PERSECUTION. THROUGH IT ALL, NO MATTER HOW BADLY PROVOKED, NO MATTER HOW BRUTAL THEIR FOES, THEY HAD NEVER TURNED TO VIOLENCE, BECAUSE WITH EVERY OUNCE BEING MARTIN LUTHER KING BELIEVED IN NONVIOLENCE. IN ACCEPTING ONE OF THE WORLD'S HIGHEST HONORS,THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE, HE SAID, "NONVIOLENCE IS THE ANSWER TO THE CRCIAL POLITICAL AND MORAL QUESTIONS OF OUR TIME--THE NEED FOR MAN OVER COME OPPRESSION AND VIOLENCE WITHOUT RESORTING TO VIOLENCE AND OPPRESSION. ETC... |
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This intel was contributed by bjk48
bjk48
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