Memphis Zoo, desegregation of, 25–26
Meredith, James, 78
metaphors in speeches, 111
Miami, police security in, 77
migraine headaches, 82
minimum income, guaranteed, 86, 165–66
mission creep, 34
Mississippi, Poor People’s Campaign in, 12–13
Montgomery, Alabama, bombing of MLK house in, 112–13, 126, bus boycott of, 1, 103, 108, 120, 163
Montgomery, Ben, 119
Montgomery, Frances, 119
Morehouse College, 161–62
Mountaintop Speech, see Mason Temple, speech by MLK at
My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr. (Coretta King), 126
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 5, 15–16, 27, 32, 39–40
National Guard, 24
nationalization of industry, 162
National Urban League, 34
Nation of Islam, 146
natural law defense, 63
Newark, rioting in, 9
New Rebel Motor Hotel (Memphis), 89–90, 97
Nineteenth Century Club (Memphis), 24
Nobel Peace Prize, 5, 83, 104, 129, 165
nonviolence: Black Power militants and, 5, 9, 137–39; and the Invaders, 70–71, 133, 134, 136–37; in Mason Temple speech, 109; police security and, 75; and Poor People’s Campaign, 10, 143; reputation for, 4, 12; and street gangs of Chicago, 66; training in, 134
Oates, Stephen, 51, 66, 77
Operation Breadbasket, 50, 55–56, 146, 156, 171
Orange, James: at Centenary Church meeting, 56; at death of MLK, 155–56; and injunction, 60; and the Invaders, 50, 67, 135; at Lorraine motel, 49; return to Memphis of, 13
Paisley, Joseph, 20
parables, 110–11, 112–14
Paul VI (Pope), 165
Payne, Larry, 102
Petroleum Club, 24
police brutality, 78
police security: absence after first day of, 73–79; at airport, 25, 26, 28; at Centenary Church, 54; death threats in Memphis and, 74; declined offers of, 74–75; and fatalism, 74–75; during MLK’s 1966 visit to Memphis, 78–79; and MLK’s fear for safety, 73–75; and nonviolence, 75; in other cities, 77
Polk, James K., 61
Poor People’s Campaign: Black Power and, 10, 66, 70, 165; end of, 171; ethnic diversity in, 11; fundraising for, 143–45; Marian Logan on, 83–88; Memphis strike as detour from, 2, 7–14, 27, 34–35; Memphis strike as intended to advance, 10–11; national steering committee of, 13; nonviolence and, 143; opposition to, 3, 5, 145–46; plans for, 7–8, 11; recruiting volunteers for, 11–13, 143–45; and revolutionary ideology, 165–66; and rioting, 165; and scope of purpose of MLK, 165–66; in sermon at Washington National Cathedral, 7; and socialism, 165–66; support for, 144
Posner, Gerald, 91
poverty: shift from racial segregation to, 10, 11; war on, 86
Powell, Adam Clayton, 4
Powers, James, 170
“Precious Lord, Take My Hand” (song), 156
Presley, Elvis, 24
Pritchett, Laurie, 77
public speaking by MLK, 108, 109, 111
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, 95
Quitman County, Mississippi, 12–13
racial discrimination in Memphis, 15–16, 19–20
racial segregation: in Memphis, 16, 41–42; shift to poverty from, 10, 11
Rainbow/PUSH, 171
Ray, Earl, 92
Ray, George “Speedy,” 90–92
Ray, James Earl, 89–97, 149–54; aliases of, 90, 94, 96, 97, 151; appearance of, 90; arrest and imprisonment of, 169; arrival in Memphis of, 89–90, 97; binoculars purchase by, 151–52; childhood of, 90–92; criminal life of, 92–95; death of, 169; escape from prison by, 94; hatred of blacks by, 95; jobs held by, 92, 93; in Los Angeles, 95; in Mexico, 95; military service of, 92; rifle purchase by, 96–97; schooling of, 91, 93; siblings of, 91–92; stalking of MLK by, 96–97; surveillance of Lorraine Motel by, 149–54
Ray, Lucille (Ceal), 90–92
Redditt, Edward: at airport arrival, 25, 26, 28; arrival at Lorraine Motel of, 47; continued surveillance on second day by, 76; during second afternoon, 141; on security detail during 1966 MLK visit to Memphis, 79; surveillance post of, 54–55
redemption, 164–67
religious motifs, 110–11, 112–14
Reuther, Walter, 101
revolutionary ideology, 165–66
rhetorical devices, 108–9, 111
Richmond, Willie: at airport arrival, 25, 26, 28; alerting police to shooting by, 158; arrival at Lorraine Motel of, 47; continued surveillance on second day by, 76; during second afternoon, 141; subsequent life of, 170; surveillance post of, 54–55
rioting: conference in Miami on prevention of, 31; during first march in support of strike, 2, 4; and the Invaders, 66–67, 122, 136, 138; police response to, 26; Poor People’s Campaign and, 165; response of mayor to, 24; in Watts, Newark, and Detroit, 9, 10, 86
Riverside Church (New York), 10, 158, 162
Robinson, Jackie, 120
Rogers, Taylor, 15, 18, 20, 100
Rotary Club, 43
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 111
Rustin, Bayard, 32
Rutherford, William, 144, 145
sacrifice, 164
sanitation workers. See garbage workers
Schultz, William, 28
SCLC. See Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Seabrook Wallpaper (Memphis), 152
Selma, Alabama, 45, 96, 136
sexism in civil rights movement, 128
sharecroppers, 16–17
slave trade in Memphis, 41
sleep deficit, 82
smear campaign by FBI, 145–46
Smith, Coby, 68–69
Smith, Donald, 25, 28, 47, 54, 75
Smith, John Burl, 49, 68, 69, 70
Smith, Maxine, 40, 78, 162
SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), 68–69, 70, 128, 137
social gospel, 163
socialism, 86–88, 162–63, 165–66
soul food, 135–36, 147
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC): argument with Marian Logan over agenda of, 83–88; and economic justice, 11; financing of, 144; labor unions in support of, 101; and NAACP, 40; James Earl Ray and, 96; sexism in, 128; staff of, 50–52
Southern food, 135–36, 147
speechmaking by MLK, 108, 109, 111
Standard Oil Company, 62
Stephens, Charles, 153
Strength to Love (King), 9
Stride Toward Freedom (King), 101, 163
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), 68–69, 70, 128, 137
suffering, 164
Sweat, Joe, 41, 42–43, 44–45
“tactical” violence, 135, 136–37
technology revolution, 10
television coverage at Mason Temple rally, 82–83, 102–3
Thompson, Frances, 152
The Trumpet of Conscience (King), 66
Tucker, Joe, 47
undercover surveillance: at airport, 25, 26, 28; at Centenary Church, 54–55; at Lorraine Motel, 47, 55; vs. police security, 76–77
union(s): racism of, 101; relationship of MLK to, 101–2; support of SCLC by, 101
unionization, 18–19
union recognition, 19, 43, 169
United Automobile Workers, 101
United Packinghouse Workers of America, 101
unity, plea for, 109–10
University of Louisville, racial discrimination at, 119
unjust law defense, 63
Vice Lords (Chicago), 65
Vietnam War: James Bevel on, 50; criticism of MLK’s stance on, 143; Marian Logan on, 85; pivot from racial injustice to, 10; and Poor People’s Campaign, 8; speaking out against, 3, 7, 9, 158; Andrew Young on, 33–34
voting-rights legislation, 5
Wachtel, Harry, 142
Walker, Robert, 19
–20
Walker v. Birmingham (1967), 145
Wallace, George, 95
Ward, Lukey, 117, 118, 122, 142
“war on poverty,” 86
Warren, Estelle, 17
Warren, Joe, 16–18, 19, 100, 170
Warren, McKinley, 17
Washington National Cathedral, 7–8
Watts riots, 9, 10, 86
Waycross, Georgia, 13
Well, Ivan, 97
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (King), 5–6, 9–10, 86, 101, 121
Wilkins, Roy: and garbage workers strike, 31–32; on Poor People’s Campaign, 5, 27, 54, 87; on Vietnam, 143
Willard, John (alias), 151
Williams, Hosea: at death of MLK, 155; and the Invaders, 67, 135, 137, 138; at Lorraine Motel, 49; on Poor People’s Campaign, 143–44, 145; return to Memphis of, 13
Williams, Jerry Dave, 49, 50, 56, 79
Wilson, Jimmy, 127
Withers, Ernest, 29
Wood, Donald, 97
Wulf, Mel, 61
Wyatt, Wilson, 119
yellow fever, 41
York Arms Company (Memphis), 151–52
Young, Andrew: and capitalism, 87; at Centenary Church meeting, 55; at death of MLK, 155–56, 157–58; on exhaustion and illness of MLK, 82; on fatalism of MLK, 74, 75; on flight from Atlanta, 1, 6; on friendship of Ralph Abernathy and MLK, 104; on injunction, 57, 60, 122–23, 135, 141, 146–47; on invitation to speak in Memphis, 32, 34–35; on lack of groundwork in Memphis, 50; at Lorraine Motel, 49; at Mason Temple rally, 83, 102; on massive civil disobedience, 166; on offer to lead first march in Memphis, 36; in Poor People’s Campaign, 13, 145; relationship and role of, 27–28, 32–33; on religious aspirations of MLK, 162; on SCLC view of Memphis, 40; subsequent life of, 170–71; on television coverage, 83
Young, Whitney, 34, 143
– About the Author –
JOSEPH ROSENBLOOM is an award-winning journalist who has been a staff reporter for the Boston Globe, an investigative reporter for Frontline, and a senior editor for Inc. magazine. He has written for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and American Prospect, among other publications, and lives in Newton, Massachusetts.
Under segregation, blacks could attend the Overton Park Zoo on Thursdays. The rest of the week and holidays, the zoo was for whites only.
William Edwin Jones pushes eight-month-old daughter Renee in protest on Main Street in Memphis, August 1961.
A security guard watches garbage workers empty trash into a compressor-equipped truck, as the Memphis strike enters its third day, on February 15, 1968.
The striking garbage workers staged daily marches carrying signs stating their emotional slogan: “I Am a Man.”
MLK arrives at the Memphis airport on the morning of April 3 with aides (l to r) Andrew Young, Ralph Abernathy, and Bernard Lee.
Jubilant strike leaders celebrate at the end of MLK’s speech in Mason Temple on March 18, 1968.
Mason Temple offered a cavernous forum, where MLK delivered two dramatic speeches to pro-strike rallies, including this one on March 18, 1968.
Rev. Jim Lawson leads strike supporters in a boycott against downtown stores. The sign refers to Mayor Henry Loeb.
At six foot five, Mayor Henry Loeb cut a physically imposing figure. He proved to be an implacable foe of the garbage workers’ strike.
MLK is jostled by an unruly crowd as he prepares to lead a march on behalf of the garbage workers, on March 28, 1968.
When he was traveling, King carried a briefcase stuffed with papers that reflected his widely varied interests, ranging from food production in the Mideast to the causes of urban rioting in the United States.
As US marshal Cato Ellis serves an injunction on MLK, King and his aides (l to r), Ralph Abernathy, Andrew Young, James Orange, and Bernard Lee, share a laugh to lighten the mood.
MLK’s aide Jesse Jackson shares a private thought with him on the platform of Mason Temple during the pro-strike rally on April 3 1968.
MLK delivers his “Mountaintop” speech at Mason Temple on the evening of April 3, 1968.
Arriving in the Memphis federal courthouse on April 4, 1968, to contest an injunction against MLK was Lucius Burch, his legal team, and their witnesses. Pictured, from left, Rev. James Lawson, SCLC executive director Andrew Young, and lawyers Burch, Charles Newman, and W. J. Michael Cody.
BEACON PRESS
Boston, Massachusetts
www.beacon.org
Beacon Press books
are published under the auspices of
the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
© 2018 by Joseph Rosenbloom
All rights reserved
Text design and composition by Kim Arney
Cover design: Bob Kosturko
Cover art: © Ernest C. Withers, courtesy of the WITHERS FAMILY TRUST
Insert photo credits: Images 1, 2, 5, 6, and 11 © Ernest C. Withers Trust, courtesy Withers Family Trust. Images 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, and 15 © Preservation and Special Collections Department, University of Memphis Libraries.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Rosenbloom, Joseph, author.
Title: Redemption : Martin Luther King Jr.’s last 31 hours / Joseph Rosenbloom.
Description: Boston : Beacon Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2017024226 (print) | LCCN 2017029763 (ebook) | ISBN 9780807083406 (ebook) | ISBN 9780807083383 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968. | King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929–1968—Assassination. | African Americans—Biography. | Civil rights workers—United States—Biography. | Baptists—United States—Clergy—Biography. | African Americans—Civil rights—History—20th century. | Civil rights movements—United States—History—20th century.
Classification: LCC E185.97.K5 (ebook) | LCC E185.97.K5 R598 2018 (print) | DDC 323.092 [B] —dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017024226
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