DOCSLIB.ORG

Martin Luther King Day for All Employees

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Martin Luther King Day for All Employees MEETING IN A BOX Martin Luther King Day For All Employees National Records and Archives Administration artin Luther King Day is a federal holiday celebrated the third Monday in January each year, around the time of Dr. King’s birthday, Jan. 15. On MLK Day, we honor Dr. King’s civil rights leadership and legacy, celebrate our country’s civil rights achievements, Mand acknowledge how much work we need to do to make sure we continue fighting for Dr. King’s dream. Dr. King stood as a beacon of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, where segregation was commonplace in the South. Dr. King’s resistance, which relied most commonly on civil disobedience and strong oratory skills fueled much of the Civil Rights movement and inspired other waves of resistance throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. This Meeting in a Box is a valuable tool to share with your staff to honor Dr. King’s legacy and talk about how to fight for civil rights moving forward. We include a timeline of Dr. King’s activism, the process of making MLK Day a national holiday, data on how various companies acknowledge the holiday and a fact sheet about Dr. King and the struggle for civil rights in the U.S. © 2020 DiversityInc PAGE 1 Martin Luther King Day For All Employees MEETING IN A BOX 1 DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.: TIMELINE Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born Michael King, Jr. on Jan. 15, Discussion Questions for Employees 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. King was raised in a middle class fam- ily steeped in the Baptist tradition. Both his father and maternal ? What do you already know about Dr. King’s life and activism? grandfather were preachers, and he would grow up to follow in How can expanding your knowledge of the civil rights their footsteps. When King was about six years old, he experienced movement benefit you and your community? prejudice in a moment he would grow to never forget: One of his white friends informed him that his parents would no longer allow ? How are the problems Dr. King and the Black community them to play together. When he was 15, he entered Morehouse faced in this country in the 20th century similar to what we are College under a wartime initiative aimed at boosting enrollment dealing with today? In what ways have we made progress, and by admitting promising high schoolers. By his senior year, Dr. King in what ways have we not? decided to enter the ministry. After his graduation from More- house, Dr. King went on to attend the Crozer Theological Seminary ? Why is it important to discuss Dr. King’s work and legacy in the workplace? in Chester, Pennsylvania, where he became familiar with Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of resistance through nonviolence. Dr. King became known for his strong oratory skills, and was elected as the president of Crozer’s student body, which was overwhelmingly white. From Crozer, Dr. King attended Boston University where he studied people’s relationship with God and received a doctorate in 1955. In Boston, Dr. King met Coretta Scott, who was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music. They married in 1953 and had four children. Dr. King served as the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Following Rosa Parks’ arrest, civil rights advocates in the city created the Montgomery Improvement 1964 Association. The group planned a protest against segregation law Herman Hiller/Library of Congress and appointed Dr. King as their leader. Because of Dr. King’s activ- ism, his family’s home was dynamited and his family’s safety was threatened, but he continued the boycott. Dr. King organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), under which he visited places thoughout the country and abroad and discussed race-related issues with religious and civil rights leaders. Dr. King’s organization of the lunch counter sit-in at an Atlanta de- partment store landed him in jail, but he was eventually released because of the intercession of then-presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. Dr. King’s eloquence and poise earned him publicity via the relatively new medium of television, and his forms of civil dis- obedience made him popular with Blacks and liberal whites across the country. Dr. King’s 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama also landed him in jail. From his cell he wrote the now famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, which outlined his philosophy of nonvio- lence. Later that year, he went on to lead the March on Washington, where he delivered his famous, “I Have A Dream,” speech. Share this timeline with your employees to spark discussions about 1958 Dr. King, his life and his legacy. Pre-1978 public domain image: Associated Press © 2020 DiversityInc Source: Britannica.com PAGE 2 Martin Luther King Day For All Employees MEETING IN A BOX 2 HOW COMPANIES RECOGNIZE MLK DAY MLK Day has been observed as a federal holiday since 1986, but celebrated in different capacities and ways at com- panies, schools and other organizations. These facts and figures indicate how DiversityInc’s 2019 survey respondents described how they observe the holiday, and how they continue to champion civil rights and fight for Dr. King’s vision today. Use this data to discuss where your company fits in observance of this holiday. Discussion Questions for Employees ? In what ways does our company recognize MLK Day, both publicly and internally? What is some employee feedback about these observances? Are they effective in sharing knowledge and encouraging cultural celebration? ? What other ways can we observe and honor MLK Day? How can we continue this historical knowledge-sharing throughout the year and not just on the third Monday in January each year? fizkes/Shutterstock.com Terrance HT Ip/Shutterstock.com “MLK Statue,” John Brathwaite, CC BY-SA 4.0 Rowr/Shutterstock.com © 2019 DiversityInc PAGE 3 Martin Luther King Day For All Employees MEETING IN A BOX 3 FACT CHECK: MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. Dr. King is a figure we learn about from our earliest years in school, but oftentimes his image is mystified and simplified. In order to understand Dr. King’s true legacy and the movements that have come since his activism, we must understand historical facts about Dr. King’s ideologies in context. Discussion Questions for Employees ? What are some of the earliest and simplest things you’ve learned about Dr. King? How might these only be partial truths? ? How can remembering Dr. King as a race-blind, slow-to-anger martyr erase the reality of his movement and discredit the tactics and anger of activists today? ? Why might a simpler, more pacifistic version of Dr. King be easier for us to memorialize? How can anger and grief be justified catalysts for meaningful change? Library of Congress © 2019 DiversityInc PAGE 4 Martin Luther King Day For All Employees MEETING IN A BOX Timeline 1929 1959 Martin Luther King Jr. is born in Atlanta, Georgia to teacher Alberta Dr. King visits India to study nonviolence and civil disobedience. He King and Baptist minister Michael Luther King. had learned about Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy on nonviolence in seminary. 1944 Dr. King graduates high school at age 15, moves on to attend 1960 Morehouse College as part of a wartime initiative to increase Dr. King becomes the co-pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in enrollment by admitting promising high school students. Atlanta, along with his father. Dr. King takes part in a sit-in at a lunch counter in an Atlanta 1948 department store. He and almost three dozen others are arrested. Dr. King receives a B.A. in sociology from Morehouse College at 19. Dr. King’s charges are dropped, but he ends up being sentenced to serve time in Reidsville State Prison Farm because he allegedly 1951 violated his probation on a minor traffic offense. The case gains Dr. King receives a degree from Crozer Theological seminary in national spotlight as President Dwight D. Eisenhower fails to Pennsylvania, where he serves as student body president to a intervene. Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy school of almost entirely white students. He moves on to attend intercedes, an action that gains attention and that may have led to Boston University to study theology. his narrow victory. 1953 1963 Dr. King marries New England Conservatory music student Coretta Dr. King takes part in anti-segregation protests in Birmingham. Scott. They eventually have four children. These protests also take place on the streets, where protesters are attacked with fire hoses and police dogs. Dr. King is arrested and 1954 held in Birmingam City Jail, where he writes his famous “Letter Dr. King becomes the minister of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, From Birmingham City Jail,” in which he argues people have a moral Montgomery, Alabama duty to disobey unjust laws. Hundreds of protesters are also jailed with Dr. King, including schoolchildren. 1955 Dr. King leads 200,000 protesters on the March on Washington Dr. King receives a Ph.D in systematic theology from Boston where he delivers his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. University. Rosa Parks makes headlines when she refuses to give up her seat 1964 on a Montgomery bus to a white man. Her resistance is illegal Dr. King publishes his book “Why We Can’t Wait” about his fight under Alabama segregation law and she is arrested. against racial injustice, specifically the Birmingham campaign. It At 26, Dr. King is chosen to lead the new Montgomery points out 1963 as a landmark year in the civil rights movement Improvement Association, aimed at ending segregation in the city.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • HSCA Final Report: II. Findings
    A. JAMES EARL RAY FIRED ONE SHOT AT DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., THE SHOT KILLED DR. KING Shortly after 6 p.m. on April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was shot and mortally wounded as he stood on the second-floor balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. He was pronounced dead at 7 :05 p.m. at St. Joseph Hospital. James Earl Ray, a 40-year-old convicted armed robber who had escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Mo., on April 23, 1967, pleaded guilty on March 10, 1969, in Shelby County (Tenn.) Criminal Court to the first degree murder of Dr. King. He was sentenced to 99 years at the State penitentiary. (a) Biography of James Earl Ray James Earl Ray was born on March 10, 1928, in Alton, Ill. The Ray family moved a few miles from Alton to Bowling Green, Mo., in 1930, and 5 years later they moved to near Ewing, Mo., where Ray received his elementary school education. At age 16, Ray moved back to Alton, where he lived with his grand- mother. He worked in the dye room of the International Shoe Tannery in nearby East Hartford, 111. He was laid off in December 1945 and, 6 weeks later, enlisted in the Army. He was stationed in West Ger- many where he was charged with drunkenness and breaking arrest. Ray was discharged for ineptness and lack of adaptability for service in December 1948. After his discharge, Ray returned to stay with his grandmother in Alton, Ill., and embarked on a life of odd jobs and jail sentences.
    [Show full text]
  • What Made Nonviolent Protest Effective During the Civil Rights Movement?
    NEW YORK STATE SOCIAL STUDIES RESOURCE TOOLKIT 5011th Grade Civil Rights Inquiry What Made Nonviolent Protest Effective during the Civil Rights Movement? © Bettmann / © Corbis/AP Images. Supporting Questions 1. What was tHe impact of the Greensboro sit-in protest? 2. What made tHe Montgomery Bus Boycott, BirmingHam campaign, and Selma to Montgomery marcHes effective? 3. How did others use nonviolence effectively during the civil rights movement? THIS WORK IS LICENSED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION- NONCOMMERCIAL- SHAREALIKE 4.0 INTERNATIONAL LICENSE. 1 NEW YORK STATE SOCIAL STUDIES RESOURCE TOOLKIT 11th Grade Civil Rights Inquiry What Made Nonviolent Protest Effective during the Civil Rights Movement? 11.10 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGE/DOMESTIC ISSUES (1945 – PRESENT): Racial, gender, and New York State socioeconomic inequalities were addressed By individuals, groups, and organizations. Varying political Social Studies philosophies prompted debates over the role of federal government in regulating the economy and providing Framework Key a social safety net. Idea & Practices Gathering, Using, and Interpreting Evidence Chronological Reasoning and Causation Staging the Discuss tHe recent die-in protests and tHe extent to wHicH tHey are an effective form of nonviolent direct- Question action protest. Supporting Question 1 Supporting Question 2 Supporting Question 3 Guided Student Research Independent Student Research What was tHe impact of tHe What made tHe Montgomery Bus How did otHers use nonviolence GreensBoro sit-in protest? boycott, the Birmingham campaign, effectively during tHe civil rights and tHe Selma to Montgomery movement? marcHes effective? Formative Formative Formative Performance Task Performance Task Performance Task Create a cause-and-effect diagram tHat Detail tHe impacts of a range of actors Research the impact of a range of demonstrates the impact of the sit-in and tHe actions tHey took to make tHe actors and tHe effective nonviolent protest by the Greensboro Four.
    [Show full text]
  • Viewer's Guide
    SELMA T H E BRIDGE T O T H E BALLOT TEACHING TOLERANCE A PROJECT OF THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER VIEWER’S GUIDE GRADES 6-12 Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot is the story of a courageous group of Alabama students and teachers who, along with other activists, fought a nonviolent battle to win voting rights for African Americans in the South. Standing in their way: a century of Jim Crow, a resistant and segregationist state, and a federal govern- ment slow to fully embrace equality. By organizing and marching bravely in the face of intimidation, violence, arrest and even murder, these change-makers achieved one of the most significant victories of the civil rights era. The 40-minute film is recommended for students in grades 6 to 12. The Viewer’s Guide supports classroom viewing of Selma with background information, discussion questions and lessons. In Do Something!, a culminating activity, students are encouraged to get involved locally to promote voting and voter registration. For more information and updates, visit tolerance.org/selma-bridge-to-ballot. Send feedback and ideas to [email protected]. Contents How to Use This Guide 4 Part One About the Film and the Selma-to-Montgomery March 6 Part Two Preparing to Teach with Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot 16 Part Three Before Viewing 18 Part Four During Viewing 22 Part Five After Viewing 32 Part Six Do Something! 37 Part Seven Additional Resources 41 Part Eight Answer Keys 45 Acknowledgements 57 teaching tolerance tolerance.org How to Use This Guide Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot is a versatile film that can be used in a variety of courses to spark conversations about civil rights, activism, the proper use of government power and the role of the citizen.
    [Show full text]
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights Movement
    Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights Movement By Lebron Chapter 1: Introduction to the Civil Rights Movement The Civil Rights Movement was from 1954 - 1968. Back then, whites and blacks didn't get along because they weren't treated the same. The African Americans couldn't eat with the whites. African Americans couldn't use the same restaurants and eat with whites. Black people couldn't sit anywhere they wanted on the bus, but white people could. White kids were separated from African American kids for school. During the Civil Rights Movement, people were trying to change that African Americans would be treated equal like white people. After King changed the world he got assassinated by a white man. Chapter 1: Introduction to the Civil Rights Movement The Civil Rights Movement was from 1954 - 1968. Back then, whites and blacks didn't get along because they weren't treated the same. The African Americans couldn't eat with the whites. African Americans couldn't use the same restaurants and eat with whites. Black people couldn't sit anywhere they wanted on the bus, but white people could. White kids were separated from African American kids for school. During the Civil Rights Movement, people were trying to change that African Americans would be treated equal like white people. After King changed the world he got assassinated by a white man. Quotes from Martin Luther King Chapter 2 : Martin Luther King, Jr " Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend." Martin Luther King's Accomplishments This means that the only at to get people to be nice is to say nice words.
    [Show full text]
  • The Atlanta Journal and Constitution March 29, 1998, Sunday, ALL EDITIONS
    The Atlanta Journal and Constitution March 29, 1998, Sunday, ALL EDITIONS New 'leads' in King case invariably go nowhere David J. Garrow PERSPECTIVE; Pgs. C1, C2. LENGTH: 1775 words Do the never-ending claims of revelations concerning the April 4, 1968, assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. leave you a bit confused? What should we make of the assertion that U.S. Army military intelligence --- and President Lyndon B. Johnson --- were somehow involved? Why is Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald two days after Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy in 1963, now turning up in the King assassination story? And what about former FBI agent Donald Wilson's claim that notes he pilfered from James Earl Ray's automobile and then concealed for 30 years contain a significant telephone number. Maybe you saw the ABC "Turning Point" documentary with Forrest Sawyer that demolished the Army intelligence allegations. Or perhaps you watched CBS' "48 Hours" broadcast with Dan Rather last week, which refuted the claims that some fictional character named "Raoul," acting in cahoots with Ruby, was responsible for both the Kennedy and the King assassinations. Don't worry. All of this actually is easier to follow than you may think, so long as you keep a relatively simply score card. All you need to do is remember the "three R's" --- Ray, "Raoul" and Ruby --- and also distinguish the "three P's" --- William F. Pepper, Gerald Posner and Marc Perrusquia. Ray you know. Now 70 years old and seriously ill, Ray pleaded guilty to King's slaying in 1969 but has spent the past 29 years trying to withdraw his plea.
    [Show full text]
  • MARTIN LUTHER KING and the PHILOSOPHY of NONVIOLENCE Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia
    Bill of Rights Constitutional Rights in Action Foundation SUMMER 2017 Volume 32 No4 MARTIN LUTHER KING AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF NONVIOLENCE Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Martin Luther King, Jr. addressing the crowd of about 250,000 people at the March on Washington in August 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr. is remembered for his achievements The man, who turned out to be an American Nazi Party in civil rights and for the methods he used to get there — member, continued to flail. namely, nonviolence. More than just a catchphrase, more than just the “absence of violence,” and more than just a tactic, The integrated audience at first thought the whole nonviolence was a philosophy that King honed over the thing was staged, a mock demonstration of King’s non- course of his adult life. It has had a profound, lasting influ- violent philosophy in action. But as King reeled, and real ence on social justice movements at home and abroad. blood spurted from his face, they began to realize it was In September 1962, King convened a meeting of the no act. Finally, several SCLC members rushed the stage Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the to stop the attack. main organizational force behind his civil rights activism, But they stopped short when King shouted, “Don’t in Birmingham, Alabama. King was giving a talk on the touch him! Don’t touch him! We have to pray for him.” need for nonviolent action in the face of violent white The SCLC men pulled the Nazi off King, who was beaten racism when a white man jumped on stage and, without so badly he couldn’t continue the speech.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Studies TOPIC U.S
    2018-2019 Reading List Social Studies TOPIC U.S. Civil Rights Movements: Fulfilling a Nation’s Promise PRIMARY READING SELECTION The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation, by Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff Vintage; (2007) ISBN: 978-0679735656! Available from Texas Educational Paperbacks, Inc ! 800-443-2078 www.tepbooks.com List price: $17.00, TEP UIL price: $11.05 plus shipping Also available from most online book sellers SUPPLEMENTAL READING MATERIAL Supreme Court Cases • Dred Scott v. Sanford (1856) • Roe v. Wade (1973) • Civil Rights Cases (1883) • Lau v. Nichols (1974) • Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886) • Plyler v. Doe (1982) • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) • Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986) • Missouri ex el Gaines v. Canada (1938) • Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) • Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) • UAW v. Johnson Controls (1991) • Sweatt v. Painter (1950) • Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools • Briggs v. Elliot (1952) (1992) • Hernandez v. Texas (1954) • US v. Virginia (1996) • Brown v. Board of Education (1954) • Romer v. Evans (1996) • Brown v. Board of Education II (1955) • Faragher v. City of Boca Raton (1998) • Browder v Gayle (1956) • Lawrence v. Texas (2003) • Heart of Atlanta Motel Inc. v. U.S. (1964) • Shelby County v. Holder (2013) • Loving v. Virginia (1967) • United States v. Windsor (2013) • Jones v. Mayer Co. (1968) • Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (2014) • Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971) • Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) Legislation th th th th • Title IX of the Federal Education • 5 , 14 , 15 , 24 Amendments • Civil Rights Act of 1875 Amendments (1972) • Civil Rights Act of 1957 • Equal Rights Amendment (1972) • Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 • Voting Rights Act (1965) • Americans with Disabilities Act of • Fair Housing Act (1968) 1990 Speeches & Movement Documents • The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments • I’ve Been to the Mountaintop, Martin Luther (1848) King, Jr.
    [Show full text]
  • Martin Luther King Jr
    Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who The Reverend became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the American civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. King Martin Luther King Jr. advanced civil rights through nonviolence and civil disobedience, inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi. He was the son of early civil rights activist Martin Luther King Sr. King participated in and led marches for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other basic civil rights.[1] King led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and later became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As president of the SCLC, he led the unsuccessful Albany Movement in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize some of the nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King helped organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The SCLC put into practice the tactics of nonviolent protest with some success by strategically choosing the methods and places in which protests were carried out. There were several dramatic stand-offs with segregationist authorities, who sometimes turned violent.[2] FBI King in 1964 Director J. Edgar Hoover considered King a radical and made him an 1st President of the Southern Christian object of the FBI's COINTELPRO from 1963, forward. FBI agents investigated him for possible communist ties, recorded his extramarital Leadership Conference affairs and reported on them to government officials, and, in 1964, In office mailed King a threatening anonymous letter, which he interpreted as an attempt to make him commit suicide.[3] January 10, 1957 – April 4, 1968 On October 14, 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize for combating Preceded by Position established racial inequality through nonviolent resistance.
    [Show full text]
  • American Resilience
    American Resilience Riley Kovalcheck History Faculty Advisor: Dr. David Welky Editor’s Note: Ms. Kovalchek’s article originally appeared as a series of posts on a multi-media web blog. If you wish to view her complete project, please go to https://rileykovalcheck.wixsite.com/americanresilience To begin, I'll admit this project began as a mandatory assignment for one of my classes, Recent American History. My professor, Dr. Welky, started the semester off by asking each student to identify 1) the most important theme in American history since the 1960s or 2) the three most influential individuals in this period of American history. My initial thought was to focus on three of my biggest inspirations (and three badass men) - Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, and Barack Obama. To me, those three individuals personify unity, perseverance, and resilience. As I started brainstorming, a bigger picture came to mind... This theme of overwhelming resilience in the African- American community across the nation. There is no doubt that as a whole, this demographic has single-handedly been more suppressed than any other throughout the history of the United States, but yet even more resilient in the long run. So, for this project, I decided to focus on this overall theme of resilience CLA Journal 6 (2018) pp. 144-181 145 - solely among African-Americans - and in particular, the role of men in politics, women in their local communities, and the unification and organization in social movements like the Black Panthers and Black Lives Matter. To highlight how revolutionary these accomplishments were, I will also discuss white resistance that was overcome in the process.
    [Show full text]
  • Who Killed Martin Luther King? by Maria Gilardin / April 4Th, 2008
    Skip to content Who Killed Martin Luther King? by Maria Gilardin / April 4th, 2008 This article is based on the work of a remarkable man. Dr. William Pepper is an attorney, author, and friend of Martin Luther King and his family. In February 1967 King had asked to meet a young man whose work as a journalist in Vietnam showed the terrible impact on the civilian population. King wept and never wavered in his opposition to the war. That young man was Bill Pepper. He became James Earl Ray’s lawyer and assembled the evidence that exonerated Ray — some of which is described below. Six-oh-one p.m., April 4th, 1968, Martin Luther King has been felled by a single shot. In 1977 the family of Martin Luther King engaged an attorney and friend, Dr. William Pepper, to investigate a suspicion they had. They no longer believed that James Earl Ray was the killer. For their peace of mind, for an accurate record of history, and out of a sense of justice they conducted a two decade long investigation. The evidence they uncovered was put before a jury in Memphis, TN, in November 1999. 70 witnesses testified under oath, 4,000 pages of transcripts described the evidence, much of it new. It took the jury 59 minutes to come back with their decision that Loyd Jowers, owner of Jim’s Grill, had participated in a conspiracy to kill King, a conspiracy that included J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, Richard Helms and the CIA, the military, the Memphis Police Department (MPD), and organized crime.
    [Show full text]
  • Agent Says Assassinations Inquiry Testimony Supplied :1
    Agent Says Assassinations Ray Plotted New Inquiry Testimony Supplied :1 ilt F _ • ST. LOUIS (UPI) — A man it-mtifv- said at a news conference_ Break, NBC Says ing himself as an undercover acer.: for read the Baetz-su?plied answers WASHINGTON 1:1"1') — la.,es Earl the House Select Committee or Assam 9 into the record and the steriog nations says one of the panel's ravt -apher Ray, serving a 99-year sentence for the —ap- apparently took it down as my own. ; do tors supplied hurt with answers to Live murder of Martin Luther King Jr., plot- not believe that the members of Con- the committee. ted another attempt this spring tc break gress on the committee "thou that their Oliver Patterson said vesterda:. be out of the Brushy Mountain prison in staff is functioning in this fashion-" has worked for the FBI since 197: and Tennessee. NBC News reported today. Patterson. who said he is a salesman Ray was recaptured last year after for the last several months worked for from St. Louis, said he did not remember escaping from the prison for three days. the congressional committee in its hives- ' tigation of the ac,...cination of the Rev_ most of the questions. However. he said Plans for the second escape bid were Baetz told him to "say something nice Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. intercepted by the House Assassinations about .1.9." when the questions concern- Patterson said he met with committee Committee when Oliver Paterson, a ed J.B. Stoner, a white supremacist attorneyF.
    [Show full text]
  • Triumphant in Death James Earl Ray Is Laughing All the Way to Hell, Thanks to the King Family's Preposterous Belief That He Didn't Kill Martin Luther King Jr
    triumphant in death James Earl Ray is laughing all the way to hell, thanks to the King family's preposterous belief that he didn't kill Martin Luther King Jr. http://www.salon.com/news/1998/04/28news.html BY DAVID J. GARROW | ATLANTA -- Very few people mourned the death last Thursday of James Earl Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. Ray's brother Jerry, who for years worked for convicted church-bomber and professional anti-Semite J.B. Stoner, was one of the few. But Jerry had reasons to be thankful, too. His brother had never implicated him -- or their other brother John -- in any discussions or arrangements that preceded King's April 4, 1968, murder. What's more, James Earl's notoriety had allowed Jerry to garner considerable public attention as his imprisoned brother's primary spokesman. Rarely did any of the eager journalists raise the matter of Jerry's long, intimate relationship with the once-infamous Stoner. But those who seemed to mourn Ray's death even more than Jerry were the widow and children of King himself. Coretta Scott King asserted that her family was "deeply saddened" by Ray's death, and proclaimed that it was "a tragedy not only for Mr. Ray and his family, but also for the entire nation." Readers who recalled the awkwardly staged 1997 scene in which Dexter Scott King, King's younger son, shook Ray's very trigger hand and proclaimed the King family's belief in Ray's complete innocence should not have been shocked by Coretta King's peculiar expression of grief.
    [Show full text]