Just a couple of notes here to try to convince you that not every Arizonan thinks poorly of Martin Luther King Jr.
Back in the late 1960's I attended a convention in Chicago of the Radio-Television News Directors' Association (as it was known then.)
At one event after a luncheon, the speakers were the former President of the United States, Dwight David Eisenhower, and Reverend King, following each other.
Ike was not very good, as he read from his prepared notes through spectacles, and stumbled frequently.
King was next and he first apologized to the crowd because he "had forgotten his speech in his hotel room".
Like, who believed that, right?
He then spoke extemporaneously for some time, without referring to notes and without any of the "ers" and "uhs" we had heard from the previous speaker.
I know he was a preacher but his "performance" that day stunned me with his eloquence.
My other note concerns a day perhaps 25 years later when I was preparing to move from Mexico to Austin, Texas.
I had friends I had made in Mexico who had preceded me in making that move and when I entered town I called their number for directions in finding them.
Jordy, my friend, told me to "just come up the freeway and get off at the MLK."
"The what?", I asked.
The voice on the other end of the phone chuckled and said "The Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard but everyone up here just calls it the MLK."
So those are my remembrances of Reverend King.
I probably would have heard him speak again in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention in 1968, which I attended as a young-ish newsman.
But he was assassinated about 4 months before.
He was thar rare combination: a good and great man.
ReplyDeleteNot perfect but not bad.
DeleteGreat reflection Bruce. I never saw King. The closest to that powerful "preaching" style was Jesse Jackson. I was reporting and he was a young preacher working with Operation Breadbasket and had an affiliate in Indianapolis. He came frequently as he was a friend of Reverend Andrew Brown, a King mannered preacher, at the historic St John's Missionary Baptist. Jesse preached there a couple of times. I interviewed him for my documentary KLAN, and saw him on the campaign trail. I can't decide if his 1984 speech in San Francisco at the Democratic National Convention was best or if it was his 1988 Speech in Atlanta at the Convention. Both were extraordinary, in my opinion. I think perhaps it was 84. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteSorry, Tom, I can't remember either. But I have never had a very high opinion of Jesse though he does have a way with words. As did Martin.
DeleteI remember his death, coming after the murder of RFK. My wife had written me a tear stained letter about the tanks on the streets of Washington DC. A bad time, but we were sure then things were turning around, the end of all that was at hand. And then here we are now.
ReplyDeleteYes, and here we are.
DeleteI agree with you Bruce on Jesse. Growing up in Chicago, we were exposed to him quite a bit. Later, when Gannett bought Combined Communications, I was involved in putting together a film on who/what Gannett was all about. I traveled around the country shooting many of the properties under the Gannett umbrella. Among them, they owned WVON radio (targeting the Black community in and around Chicagoland). As part of shooting that segment I spend a couple of days with the Rev. Jackson and his entourage. He was all glitter and spice when the cameras were on and when people were around....and when they weren't....well you got to see a completely different side of him. One I don't for a second miss seeing.
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DeleteWhen I was young and newly employed, I worked with a young man — a very liberal and enthusiastic advocate for the things MLK stood for. He participated in the Selma to Montgomery march and became so disillusioned he bailed halfway through. Much like Anonymous, above, indicated he saw the other side of the coin and lost that admiration for the man. He had stories that didn’t fit the public image.
DeleteThat is incredible that you heard him speak. Even listening to his taped speeches gives me chills.
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about MLK, didn't he fight against racism and segregation? I got the idea he was one of the good guys.
ReplyDeleteYes.
DeleteThe murders of the 1960s leaders were the trajectories to where we are now.
ReplyDeleteI remember the day he was shot. I was just a child, but my dad was so glad that it had happened. It was presented to me as a fearful man, and it came as a great shock to discover later, as an adult, what he really was about. I'm glad that the country takes a moment to think on him and his message.
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