Martin Luther King Jr.

Michael Honey: Eig's MLK Bio Needed to Engage King's Belief in Labor Solidarity

A historian and editor of MLK's speeches praises Jonathan Eig's new biography, but says that the importance King placed on labor solidarity as a foundation of social justice is a part of the story that needs to be understood today. 

Could Alex Haley's False Quotation of MLK Have Changed History?

by Peniel E. Joseph

By exaggerating the conflict between Martin and Malcolm, Haley helped feed a narrative of the two men's approaches to politics as irreconcilable instead of as facets of a more complex struggle for freedom. It has probably helped to push radical demands for justice to the margins. 

Faith Leaders and Scholars on "Letter from Birmingham Jail" 60 Years Later

A recent conference of faith leaders emphasized that King's demand to pursue positive justice applies to many situations today, including the necessity of teaching about the nation's history of racial oppression and struggles for equality. 

LBJ was Hoover's Co-Conspirator in the FBI's War on King and Civil Rights

by Jonathan Eig and Jeanne Theoharis

Americans have been taught to think of J. Edgar Hoover's efforts to discredit and destroy Dr. King as the work of a singular, personal animus. Recently declassified documents show that President Lyndon Johnson was well aware and supportive of Hoover's efforts, demonstrating the wide resistance of the establishment to challenge. 

Dr. Bernice King's Statement on Florida's Rejection of AP African American Studies

"The children are waiting for you to step up, stop the propaganda and disinformation and show them how you will stand for justice and truth. The King Center stands ready to help facilitate a win-win outcome to the conflict around the AP African American Studies Curriculum."

The Audacious Co-Optation of Dr. King

"No serious person thinks Dr. King would not want us to interrogate how and why inequity became baked into our systems and how to fix those systems so they don’t keep replicating themselves."

Looking for King's Legacy? Try Guaranteed Income Programs

Thanks in part to a push from Johnnie Tillmon of the National Welfare Rights Association, MLK championed abolishing poverty by guaranteeing a basic income. 

Two Deep South States Still Insist on Honoring MLK Jointly with Robert E. Lee

Historians weigh in on the politics of tying the MLK holiday to the ongoing veneration of the Lost Cause mythology. 

Three Historians on the Legacy of the 1963 March on Washington

William Jones, Adrian Lentz-Smith and Laurie Green discuss the largely-forgotten demands of the marchers for economic redistribution, full employment and labor rights, as well as the impact the march's organizers had on the culture of protest in the United States. 

Is King's Dream Still Alive?

by Peniel E. Joseph

Although things appear grim on many fronts, the recent success of the Biden administration in passing significant reforms through a divided Senate reflects the broader context of King's 1963 address: progress toward supporting human dignity on many fronts. 

MLK and Today's Global Struggle for Democracy

by Randal Maurice Jelks

"Thinking about King’s Holt Street speech brings me full circle to contemporary times as I try to understand this most anti-democratic era, one not seen since the 1930s as the clouds of World War II loomed on the horizon."

Why Do We Neglect MLK's Dream of a World Freed from Poverty?

by Jeffrey Nall

The modern veneration of Martin Luther King ignores the last incomplete mission of his life – the demand for economic justice and an end to poverty. 

Traveling Smithsonian Exhibition to Highlight 1968 Poor People's Campaign

Reflecting Dr. King's increased attention to matters of inequality and economic justice, the Poor People's Campaign was launched in his honor a month after his assassination. The exhibition will begin at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. 

Now is the Time to Heed MLK's Warning about the Giant Triplets of Injustice

by Andrew Bacevich

It would be a grave mistake to allow Putin's invasion of Russia to stop our consideration of the role of militarism, along with racism and materialistic greed, in thwarting justice. 

What Makes Laws Unjust?

by Randall L. Kennedy

In Dr. King's time, appraisals of his civil disobedience tactics hinged on how one defined an unjust law, an obstacle that inevitably confronts protest movements in polarized societies.

KBJ Confirmation Shows Misremembrance of MLK as Advocate of "Colorblindness"

by Bev-Freda Jackson

"Jackson’s appointment holds a significant symbolic value and adds an important message about the legacy of King’s sermons, speeches and writings."

Americans Misunderstand the Radical Vision of even the Young MLK

by Victoria W. Wolcott

Long before the escalation of the war in Vietnam, urban unrest and national battles for fair housing that animated King's late work, he expressed a vision of justice that demanded systemic transformation of American society. His wife Coretta was a profound influence. 

MLK was CRT Before there was a Name For It (Ask One of the Scholars Who Founded the Field)

by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw

A founder of the Critical Race Theory movement argues the movement, like Dr. King, insists that "the promise of liberation extends beyond the elimination of formal segregation and individual-level prejudice."

Annette Gordon-Reed: Don't Accept "Cuddly" King Image

The late leader's opposition to militarism, economic injustice, and white supremacy, which sustained a broad critique of capitalist society, have been sanitized and reduced to platitudes by people who would prefer not to recognize the equality of all people, the historian told the annual MLK Memorial Breakfast. 

The White Moderates King Warned About

by Victor Ray

"By blocking voting reform today, Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are the White moderates Dr. King warned us about."