MLK

Using MLK to Quell Outrage Distorts His Legacy

by Jeanne Theoharis

King has much to say about our contemporary moment, about the persistence of police abuse and the power of disruption, which may account, at least partly, for why this aspect of his politics is considerably less recognized.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s name removed from historic street by Kansas City voters

Voters agreed to remove Martin Luther King's name from city street signs.  

The civil rights activist so close to Martin Luther King Jr. she was thought of as his ‘other wife’

by Jason Miller

Find out revealing details from David Garrow's new article on Martin Luther King Jr. 

How Should Historians Respond to David Garrow's Article on Martin Luther King, Jr.?

by Andrea S. Johnson

How can and should historians address the history of gender and sexuality when it intersects with the histories of the civil rights movement, gender, American religion, and the development of the surveillance state?

Biographer Garrow pens explosive report on Martin Luther King Jr.

The FBI allegations chronicled by Garrow could trigger a new examination of the civil rights hero’s personal life.

J. Edgar Hoover’s revenge: Information the FBI once hoped could destroy Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has been declassified

by Trevor Griffey

An article just published by the U.K.-based Standpoint Magazine alleges that civil rights icon Martin Luther King witnessed and even celebrated a woman’s rape.

‘Irresponsible’: Historians attack David Garrow’s MLK allegations

The Pulitzer Prize-winning King biographer says he doesn’t believe his reputation will suffer.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Understood What Donald Trump Does Not

by Robert Cohen

In this moment we need self-examination, not celebration.

What Martin Luther King Overlooked About Gandhi

by Arica L. Coleman

On India’s Independence Day it’s worth examining.

In MLK’s day, conservatives didn’t think he was so “civil”

He also knew calls for “civility” often serve to enforce the status quo.

Steve Bannon: Martin Luther King Would Be Proud of Donald Trump

“If you look at the policies of Donald Trump, OK, anybody—Martin Luther King would be proud of him and what he's done for the black and hispanic community for jobs.”

Whose Neighborhood Should Get a Street Named for Dr. King?

A fight is brewing in Kansas City over whether choosing a boulevard on the mainly black East Side to name for Martin Luther King Jr. would honor his legacy or reinforce the segregation he fought.

“Washington Is Going to Burn, Washington Is Going to Burn” 

by Roger Chapman

How a white eight year old who lived in DC experienced the death of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Version of Martin Luther King the White House Is Peddling Is a Crime Against History

by Charles P. Pierce

Sarah Huckabee Sanders didn't invent White Martin. Perhaps all of us did.

Where does MLK fit in today's #MeToo world?

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Should we judge him by today's standards?

What Was Missing From Memphis on the 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Assassination?

by Simon Balto

Historian Simon Balto says it was references to Black Lives Matter and other successors to the Civil Rights Movement. 

Where Have All the Rioters Gone?

by Matthew Desmond

Good jobs in black communities have disappeared, evictions are the norm, and extreme poverty is rising. Cities should be exploding—but they aren’t.

Why People Rioted After Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Assassination

“People were out of control with anger and sadness and frustration.”

Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., Fifty Years After His Death

by Jelani Cobb

This anniversary of his assassination falls amid the largest anti-gun-violence mobilization that we have seen since he departed.

The Whitewashing — and Resurrection — of Dr. King’s Legacy

by Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.

In so many ways, King’s life has been reduced to the lead character in a fable the nation tells itself about “the movement,” which begins with Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and culminates with the 1963 March on Washington or in Selma in 1965.