The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project

9 May From Ernest C. Dillard ‘956 9 May ‘956 Detroit, Mich.

Dillard, head of the Detroit-based Committee to Aid the Montgomery, Alabama, Bus Protest, noti$es King of the committee’s contribution to the MIA.‘ He urges that the boycott continue until democrag “exists in livingfact and not only in the dustyfiles of

unimplemented and forgotten laws and court decisions, ” a phrase that King may have adapted for use in his address to the NAACP convention on 27 June.

REV M L KING, PRESIDENT MONTGOMERY IMPROVEMENT ASSN 530-c SOUTH UNION ST MONTGOMERY ALA

I TRUST YOU HAVE RECEIVED BY NOW THE COMMITTEES CONTRIBUTION OF $200.00 WIRED ON MAY ~TH1956 OUR COMMITTEE FURTHER CONGRATULATES YOU AND THE COLORED PEOPLE OF MONTGOMERY FOR YOUR GREAT AND HEARTWARMING DECISION TO CONTINLTE YOUR PROTEST UNTIL DEMOCRACY ON MONTGOMERYS BUS LINES EXISTS IN LIVING FACT AND NOT ONLY IN THE DUSTY FILES OF UNIMPLEMENTED AND FORGOTTEN LAWS AND COURT DECISIONS. THE NATION AND THE WORLD CANNOT BUT HAIL YOUR DECISION TO CONTINUE THIS VALIENT FIGHT. OUR COMMITTEE BELIEVES WITH YOU THAT CONTINUED PROTESTS WILL CAUSE THE SAGGING WALLS OF BUS SEGREGATION LIKE THOSE OF ‘‘JERICHO” TO SURELY COME TUMBLING DOWN THAT IS WHY OUR COMMITTEE IS MORE THAN HAPPY TO BE ABLE TO MAKE ITS MODEST CONTRIBUTION TO THIS HISTORIC AND JUST CAUSE OF MAKING DEMOCRACY WORK. IN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF ABOVE CONTRIBUTION PLEASE INCLOSE REMARKS ON THE GENERAL SITUATION ON THE MONTGOMERY BUS PROTEST FIGHT SUCH INFORMATION WILL AID OUR COMMITTEE IN THE FORMULATION OF FURTHER PLANS AND PROGRAMS TO AID THE PROTEST

ERNEST C DILLARD CHAIRMAN THE COMMITTEE TO AID THE MONTGOMERY ALABAMA BUS PROTEST 3830 MCCLELLAN DETROIT 14 MICHIGAN TELEPHONE WALNUT55269.

PWSr. MLKP-MBU: Box 89.

I. Ernest C. Dillard (1915-) graduated from Wayne State University and the University ofMichigan Labor School. He became active in the United Auto Workers (Fleetwood Local #15) in the late 1930s and eventuallyjoined the UAW staff in 1964as assistant director of educational activities.

To A. Philip Randolph

IO May 1956 [Montgomery, Ala. ]

Replying to Randolph’s 7 May letter about the Madison Square Garden rally scheduled for 24 May, King apologizes for the “mixup. ”He agrees to do his “very best to be 252 The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project

present for this momentous 0ccasion”and to send a representative if he is unable to IO May attend. King was in Montgomery on the day of the rally, presiding at an MIA ‘956 executive board meeting. The crowd of sixteen to twenty thousand at the New York ralb gave a standing ovation to Rosa Parks and E. D. Nixon and heard speechesfrom Randolph, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Eleanor Roosmelt, Autherine Lucy, Roy Wilkins, and Rabbi Israel Goldstein, president of the American Jewish Congress.

Mr. A. Philip Randolph City-Wide Chairman Committee Madison Square Garden Civil Rights Rally 217 West 125th Street New York 27, New York Dear Mr. Randolph: This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter of May 7. Absence from the city has delayed my reply, I am very sorry that the mixup in my coming to New York has arisen. As I said to Bayard Rustin a few days ago and later said to Mr. McLaurin through a letter, the pressure of the situation here plus an extremely busy schedule made it im- possible for me to accept the invitation. However, I can understand the difficul- ties which you are confronting. I know it will be almost impossible and certainly confusing to attempt to recall the promotional literature at this point. Since this is the case I would suggest that you continue with your publicity, and I will do my very best to be present for this momentous occasion. If at the last minute, I find that I cannot come I am sure that I can send a representative in my place. This is about the best I can say at this point. I hope it meets your approval. Please know that I am deeply in accord with what you and the very fine citizens of New York are doing in our behalf. I have always felt that the problems of the South are bigger than the South and that we need the concerted efforts of the whole nation to revolt against the evils of injustice which are so rampant in our society. It is such persons as you that give us grim and bold determination to keep going in our struggle for first class citizenship. We will long remember your com- ing to our aid in this great struggle for justice. With every good wish, I am Sincerely yours, M. L. King, Jr., President MLEb

TLc. MLKP-MBU: Box 62.

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