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TIMES PAST 1968 THEN Martin Luther King Jr. (center) leads the March on Washington in 1963. MLK the true meaning of its creed: We hold...

TIMES PAST 1968 THEN Martin Luther King Jr. (center) leads the March on Washington in 1963. MLK the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” His words were an impassioned call for racial equality for African-Americans. At the time, life was hard for them 50 YEARS LATER in parts of the country. Things were especially difficult in the South. Blacks couldn’t eat at certain restaurants. They still had to attend segregated schools (though the practice had been outlawed years earlier). And they were The 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. unemployed at a rate nearly twice that stunned the nation, but his work continues to of whites. inspire the pursuit of racial equality in America ROBERT W. KELLEY/THE LIFE PICTURE COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES The march was a prime example of the nonviolent protest King advocated. It BY BROOKE ROSS helped secure passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. O The landmark legislation banned n Aug. 28, 1963, more than A young Baptist minister named discrimination in the workplace and in 250,000 people gathered Martin Luther King Jr. addressed the all places of public accommodation. This on the National Mall in crowd. They’d assembled for the March included parks, restaurants, and hotels. Washington, D.C., to hear on Washington, a protest rally he had The act was one of many civil rights what is now considered helped organize. milestones in which King played a key one of the most powerful speeches “I have a dream,” King said, “that one role (see Timeline, p. 18). in history. day this nation will rise up [and] live out But just a few years later, as King was Download a speech about King’s assassination at UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM 16 UPFRONT  NOW Black Lives Matter activists protest in Charleston, West Virginia, in 2017. shifting his attention toward poverty “The very same issues that people are community leaders recruited him to be issues and housing rights for African- wrestling with now—police violence and the spokesperson for the Montgomery Americans, his life was tragically unarmed African-Americans being killed, bus boycott. The boycott was sparked cut short. On April 4, 1968, he was people taking to the streets for affordable by Rosa Parks’s refusal to give up her assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, at housing—are the same issues King was seat to a white passenger. It became the age of 39. wrestling with then,” Jeffries says. one of the first major protests of the Millions around the nation mourned civil rights era. The boycott lasted King. “The heart of America grieves Before the Dream for more than a year. It ended only today,” said President Lyndon B. A native of Atlanta, King never after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Johnson. “A leader of his people—a intended to be the face of the civil declared racial segregation on public teacher of all people—has fallen.” rights movement. He had a Ph.D. in buses unconstitutional. This year, the U.S. prepares to mark theology from Boston University. He King’s role in that boycott transformed the 50th anniversary of got his start as a minister him into a national figure. In 1957, King’s death. Since then, Even in in Montgomery, Alabama, he co-founded the Southern Christian important strides have been the face of in 1954. That was nearly Leadership Conference to encourage made toward achieving civil violence and a century after the Civil other communities to take up the rights for all Americans. But War (1861-65) and the end crusade for civil rights. many people believe the death threats, of slavery. Yet throughout In addition to helping achieve passage nation continues to struggle King was the South, segregation of the Civil Rights Act, King played a with racial discrimination. ‘incapable prevailed. Jim Crow laws pivotal role in securing voting rights for MARCUS CONSTANTINO/REUTERS Even as King’s legacy has systematically discriminated African-Americans. In 1965, he helped influenced a new generation of hating.’ against black people organize high-profile marches from of activists, his long-ago dream of equality politically, economically, and socially. Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of has yet to be fully realized, says Hasan Though he had little experience Montgomery. This protest and others led Jeffries, a professor of African-American in activism, King was known as a to President Johnson signing the Voting history at Ohio State University. brilliant public speaker. In 1955, Rights Act of 1965. That law made Watch a video about King at UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM J A N U A R Y 2 9, 2 0 1 8 17 Timeline THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA The Tuskegee Airmen, Rosa Parks in December 1956, a black Army Air Corps after helping end segregation on unit during World War II Montgomery buses 1948 1954 1955 1957 The Military Brown v. Board of Ed Bus Boycott Little Rock Nine President Harry S. Truman issues The U.S. Supreme Court Rosa Parks is arrested in Nine black students attempt to an executive order to desegregate rules that segregated public Montgomery, Alabama, for desegregate Central High School the U.S. armed forces. After schools are unconstitutional, refusing to give up her seat to a in Little Rock, Arkansas. They’re widespread resistance in the overturning the “separate white passenger on a bus. This turned away by an angry mob. military, the last all-black unit but equal” standard sparks a boycott of city buses, Federal troops eventually escort is dissolved in 1954. established in 1896. led by Martin Luther King Jr. the students inside. literacy tests and other obstacles to black other hand, believed King was too criminal named James Earl Ray voter registration illegal. radical. In a 1967 poll, only 32 percent confessed to the killing. His motives As one of the most recognizable faces of Americans said they approved were never clear. (Ray died in prison of the civil rights era, King was a target of him. in 1998.) of those who opposed the movement. Still, King continued to speak out, Within days of King’s death, Congress He was beaten and jailed, and his home even taking a stand in 1967 against U.S. passed the Fair Housing Act. The new was bombed. He received frequent death involvement in the Vietnam War (1965- law banned discrimination in housing. It threats. Yet even in the 75). His position drew was seen as a tribute to King’s efforts in face of such violence, America is widespread condemnation. his final years. A724/GAMMA-RAPHO VIA GETTY IMAGES (TUSKEGEE AIRMEN); BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES (ROSA PARKS) King remained peaceful, still wrestling “King was willing to says biographer David say things that he knew. More Work to Do Garrow. with many.. would make him less King’s work helped pave the way for “King was first and of the issues popular,” Garrow says. many important African-American foremost a preacher,” King tried By the spring of firsts. That includes the appointment Garrow says. “He would to address. 1968, King had begun in 1967 of Thurgood Marshall, the first always insist upon campaigning for housing black justice to serve on the Supreme distinguishing between the evil deed rights for people of color. He was Court, and the election of the first and the evildoer. He was incapable also preparing to stage a massive black U.S. president, Barack Obama, of hating.” rally in Washington to raise awareness in 2008. about poverty. Still, America continues to struggle Struggles and Setbacks “What good is having the right to sit with some of the same problems Though King is revered today, that at a lunch counter,” he asked, “if you that King faced. Statistics show, for wasn’t always the case when he was can’t afford to buy a hamburger?” example, that many blacks lack the same alive. Many young people thought King, however, didn’t get far with economic or educational opportunities his methods were too passive. these efforts. On April 4, while in as whites. Many blacks also live in less- They pushed for a more aggressive Memphis, he was shot dead on the wealthy neighborhoods. approach. Many older people, on the balcony of his motel. A small-time Also in recent years, police killings of 18 UPFRONT UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM  1960 1963 1964 August 1965 Greensboro ‘I Have a Dream’ Civil Rights Act Voting Rights Act Four black college students Martin Luther King Jr. President Lyndon B. Congress outlaws literacy tests, in North Carolina (above) stage delivers his famous “I Have Johnson signs the Civil poll taxes, and other obstacles a sit-in at an all-white lunch a Dream” speech to more Rights Act of 1964, to black voter registration (above, counter. The protest helps than 250,000 people at the outlawing segregation President Johnson with Martin galvanize young blacks across March on Washington in public places and Luther King Jr. after signing the the U.S. in Washington, D.C. employment. bill at the U.S. Capitol). unarmed African-Americans have made headlines. Their killings have ignited massive protests. According to a 2016 Her Father’s Legacy analysis by The Washington Post, MLK’s daughter Bernice King speaks to Upfront blacks are 2.5 times as likely as Do you have I ended up in tears. whites to be shot and killed by law memories I understand it enforcement officers. of your father? better as an adult, Many people believe that if King were They’re very faint. that they were I had just turned 5 fulfilling their alive today, he would support the groups prior to his purpose, although protesting for change in 2018. These JACK MOEBES/GREENSBORO NEWS & RECORD STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER (SIT-IN); CORBIS HISTORICAL/ assassination. I still really wish I groups include NFL players who kneel He was traveling a had my father. during the national anthem to draw whole lot. [But] he attention to police brutality; fast-food loved playing with What would GETTY IMAGES (VOTING RIGHTS ACT); MELISSA GOLDEN/REDUX (BERNICE KING) workers demanding a wage increase; us. We were like his your father be and the Black Lives Matter movement, refuge from all the doing if he were seriousness of the alive today? which seeks to end discrimination in the work he was doing He was in the criminal justice system. to bring about middle of trying Also, experts say, King would be change in the world. to address poverty reminding us that many of the positive Bernice King was 5 years old when in America. We changes that have happened in this How old were you the civil rights icon was assassinated. [still] have serious country came about because people were when you realized racism, but poverty willing to fight for them. how important your father was? is a monster. I think that would be “You don’t need a lot of people to About 16. I went on a retreat with my a heavy focus for him and had church... and I suggested that we he lived, we would see a drastic make an impact,” Jeffries says. “[When] watch [a documentary about him]. difference today. a small fraction of people organize and come together and speak with one voice, This interview was conducted by Joe Bubar and has been edited for length and clarity. they can make a big difference.” J A N U A R Y 2 9, 2 0 1 8 19