BooksbyMichaelK.Honey

SouthernLaborandBlackCivilRights:OrganizingMemphisWorkers

BlackWorkersRemember:AnOralHistoryofSegregation,Unionism,andtheFreedomStruggle

GoingDownJerichoRoad:TheMemphisStrike,MartinLutherKing’sLastCampaign

AfricanAmericanwomenholdingsignsandwearinghatsthatshowUnitedAutomobileWorkersunionsupportforcivilrightsstandinfrontoftheWhiteHouseduringtheMarchonWashingtonforJobsandFreedom,August28,1963.©WalterP.ReutherLibrary,WayneStateUniversity

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

EDITOR’SNOTE

PARTI:ForgingaCivilRights–LaborAllianceintheShadowof

theColdWar

CHAPTERI

“Alooktothefuture”—Twenty-fifthAnniversaryoftheHighlanderFolkSchool,Monteagle,Tennessee,September2,1957

CHAPTERII

“Itisadarkdayindeedwhenmencannotworktoimplementtheidealofbrotherhoodwithoutbeinglabeledcommunist.”—StatementofMartinLutherKingandtheSouthernChristianLeadershipConferenceindefenseoftheUnitedPackinghouseWorkersUnionofAmerica,Atlanta,Georgia,June11,1959

CHAPTERIII

“We,theNegropeopleandlabor…inevitablywillsowtheseedsofliberalism.”—Twenty-fifthAnniversaryDinner,UnitedAutomobileWorkersUnion,CoboHall,Detroit,Michigan,April27,1961

CHAPTERIV

IftheNegroWins,LaborWins—AFL-CIOFourthConstitutionalConvention,AmericanaHotel,MiamiBeach,Florida,December11,1961

CHAPTERV

“IaminoneofthosehousesoflabortowhichIcomenottocriticize,buttopraise.”

—ThirteenthConvention,UnitedPackinghouseWorkersUnionofAmerica,Minneapolis,Minnesota,May21,1962

CHAPTERVI

“Therearethreemajorsocialevils…theevilofwar,theevilofeconomicinjustice,andtheevilofracialinjustice.”—District65Convention,Retail,WholesaleandDepartmentStoreUnion(RWDSU),LaurelsCountryClub,Monticello,NewYork,September8,1962

CHAPTERVII

“Industryknowsonlytwotypesofworkerswho,inyearspast,werebroughtfrequentlytotheirjobsinchains.”—Twenty-fifthAnniversaryDinner,NationalMaritimeUnion,AmericanaHotel,NewYorkCity,October23,1962

CHAPTERVIII

“Nowisthetimetomakerealthepromisesofdemocracy.”—DetroitMarchforCivilRights,CoboHall,Detroit,Michigan,June23,1963

CHAPTERIX

“Theunresolvedracequestion”—ThirtiethAnniversaryofDistrict65,RWDSU,MadisonSquareGarden,NewYorkCity,October23,1963

PARTII:StandingattheCrossroads:Race,Labor,War,and

Poverty

CHAPTERX

“TheexplosioninWattsremindedusallthatthenorthernghettosaretheprisonsofforgottenmen.”—District65,RWDSU,NewYorkCity,September18,1965

CHAPTERXI

“Laborcannotstandstilllongoritwillslipbackward.”—IllinoisStateConventionAFL-CIO,Springfield,Illinois,October7,1965

CHAPTERXII

CivilRightsattheCrossroads—ShopStewardsofLocal815,Teamsters,andtheAlliedTradesCouncil,AmericanaHotel,NewYorkCity,May2,1967

CHAPTERXIII

DomesticImpactoftheWarinVietnam—NationalLaborLeadershipAssemblyforPeace,Chicago,Illinois,November11,1967

PARTIII:DownJerichoRoad:ThePoorPeople’sCampaignand

MemphisStrike

CHAPTERXIV

“TheotherAmerica”—Local1199SalutetoFreedom,HunterCollege,NewYorkCity,March10,1968

CHAPTERXV

“Alllaborhasdignity.”—AmericanFederationofState,CountyandMunicipalEmployees(AFSCME)massmeeting,MemphisSanitationStrike,BishopCharlesMasonTemple,ChurchofGodinChrist,Memphis,Tennessee,March18,1968

CHAPTERXVI

TotheMountaintop:“Letusdevelopakindofdangerousunselfishness.”—AFSCMEmassmeeting,MemphisSanitationStrike,BishopCharlesMasonTemple,ChurchofGodinChrist,Memphis,Tennessee,April3,1968

Epilogue:KingandLabor

Appendix:ANoteontheSpeeches

Acknowledgments

INTRODUCTION

ThetwomostdynamicandcohesiveliberalforcesinthecountryarethelabormovementandtheNegrofreedommovement.Togetherwecanbearchitectsofdemocracy.—MartinLutherKing,Jr.,attheAFL-CIONationalConvention,MiamiBeach,Florida,December11,1961

During the lastyearofhis life,MartinLutherKing,Jr.,put justice forpoorandworking-classpeopleat thecenterofhisagenda.He launchedhisPoorPeople’s Campaign, demanding that Congress shift the country’s spendingfromwartohousing,healthcare,education,andjobs.Hetraveledthecountryinawhirlwind, scarcelysleeping,preaching thegospelofeconomic justice.Harkingbacktothenation’shistoryofslaveryandsegregation,hedemandedaffirmative programs to overcome generations of denial and neglect forpeopleonceenslaved.Buthedidn’tstopthere.HesoughtanEconomicBillof Rights for Native Americans, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, andpoorerwhites,aswellasforblacks.Hesoughttocreateanonviolentarmyofpoor people in jobless inner cities andbarrios and in reservations and ruralareas.Hechallengedthecountrytocreateaneconomyoffullemployment,orlacking that, a tax system that ensured a decent level of income for everyAmerican.

King’sexhaustingschedulebroughthimtothebrinkofcollapse.Andyetwhen his colleague and friend James Lawson asked him to Memphis tosupportblacksanitationworkersonstrikeforunionrecognition,Kingwent.In Memphis, he renewed his faith in people’s movements and found apowerfulconstituencyoftheworkingpoororganizedintoaunion-communityalliance.IngoingtoMemphis,Kingreturnedtoanissuehehadfoughtforallof his life: the right of working people to organize unions of their ownchoosing, free of employer harassment and police intimidation. Unions, heunderscored, were the “first anti-poverty program” and they should beaccessible toallwhoworkforwages.Dignityfor theworkingpoorbecameanotherplankinhisPoorPeople’sCampaign.

KingultimatelylosthislifewhenanassassincuthimdowninMemphisonApril4,1968.Today,thatawfulmurderoftenblotsoutthehistoryoftheMemphis movement, as well as King’s struggle for the poor and workingpoor.ToomanypeoplestillthinkofKinginanarrowsenseasa“civilrights”rather than as a human rights leader, losing sight of the breadth of the

alliances and social movements he promoted. In contrast, union advocatesrememberKingasachampionoflaborrights,aworking-classhero.Perhapsourown timeofeconomic turmoilprovidesamoment inwhichweneed toseeKinganew.

When most people imagine King, he’s in a suit and tie at the LincolnMemorial on August 28, 1963. King’s glorious “Dream” speech plays ontelevisionandradioonKing’sbirthday,oftentotheexclusionofsomeofhisotherimportantmessages.Lookingatthetelevisionimagesmoreclosely,wemight ask,Who are themenwith the littlewhite paper hats standingwithsuchevidentsatisfactionbehindKing?OnthepodiumandthroughoutKing’svastaudienceonecanseetheseunionmembers,womenandmenwithpicketsigns, buttons, and hats demanding “Fair Employment, Full Employment”and“JobsandFreedom.”Thesemessagesofsolidaritywereproducedinthethousands by unions that also subsidized the public address system andcharteredbusesandplanesthatbroughttensofthousandsoftradeunioniststotheMarchonWashington.

UnitedAutomobileWorkers(UAW)presidentWalterReutherspokefromthe podium calling for a “great moral crusade to arouse Americans to theunfinished work of democracy.” John Lewis of the Student NonviolentCoordinating Committee (SNCC) called for a revolution in southern racerelations;DorothyHeightoftheNationalCouncilofNegroWomenandRosaParks stood with King on the podium; the elderly president of theBrotherhoodofSleepingCarPorters union,A.PhilipRandolph, introducedKingas“themoralleaderofournation.”

Bothcivilrightsandlaborissueshadbeenkeytothemobilization.Blacklabor leader Cleveland Robinson, secretary-treasurer of District 65 of theRetail,WholesaleandDepartmentStoreUnion(RWDSU)andvicepresidentof theNegroAmerican Labor Council (NALC), alongwith Randolph, hadfirst proposed themarch topressure theAmericanFederationofLabor andCongress of IndustrialOrganizations (AFL-CIO), a federation that includedmost laborunions, forstrongercivil rightspolicies.WorkingwithKingandother civil rights leaders, theybroadened their initial proposal into aMarchfor Jobs and Freedom in order to focus the power of the mass movementrolling across the South on the federal government. Robinson served astreasurer while his union donated office space and salary for long-timeactivistBayardRustintoorganizetheMarchonWashington.

The AFL-CIO didn’t endorse the march, but the federation’s industrialunion department and the UAW, both headed by Reuther, did. King’s

cultivation of an alliance between unions and the civil rights movementhelped to spur the mass participation of unionists in the March onWashington. King spoke regularly to unions that had strong civil rightsprograms and large proportions ofminorityworkers. FromMontgomery toMemphis, King had consistently aligned himself with ordinary workingpeople,supportingtheirdemandsforworkplacerightsandeconomicjustice.His life did not so much illustrate the “great man” theory that heroicindividualsaretheprimemoversofthehistoricalprocess,butrathershowedthepowerofpeopleworkinginalliancesandbuildingsocialmovementsfromthebottomup.

ThroughoutKing’stimeofleadership,working-classandpoorpeopleandespecially women played a major, if underestimated, role in the blackfreedommovement.BeforetheMarchonWashingtoncamethespring1963massmovementinBirmingham,Alabama,inwhichoverninehundredyoungpeople went to jail and faced police dogs and fire hoses in an effort todesegregatethatviolentcity.Thesesonsanddaughtersofblacksteelworkers,serviceworkers,femaledomesticworkers,andthecity’ssmallblackmiddleclassofpreachers, teachers,andbusinesspeoplefoughttocompetefairlyforjobs,betreatedasequals,andhavetheinfamous“white”and“colored”signstakendown.

Similarly inMontgomery in 1956, for 381 days black female domesticworkers, janitors, and others had refused to ride the buses. Theseworking-classfootsoldiers,especiallywomen,walkedorhitchedridestotheirjobsinorder to bring segregation on the buses to an end.King iswell known forhelpingtobuildcampaignsforcivilandvotingrightspopulatedbystudents,preachers, and the middle class, but in these key struggles he alsodemonstratedthepowerfulaffinityhefeltwithpoorandworkingpeoplewhopropelledthesemovements.

As this book documents, northern-based unions provided significantpoliticalandfinancialsupporttothecivilrightsmovementintheSouth.Kingturned tounions repeatedly forhelp,and in turnalsohelped theunions.Asearlyas1958,hespokeoutagainstdeceptivelyworded“righttowork”laws,and in 1964, he helped to defeat such a proposal inOklahoma that he said“provides no ‘rights’ and no ‘work.’” InDecember 1963, he returned fromaccepting theNobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, to stand on picket lineswith striking black women at the Scripto pen factory in Atlanta and thenhelpedthemtogetastrikesettlementin1964.In1965,KingandtheSouthernChristian Leadership Conference (SCLC) considered training civil rightsactiviststobeunionorganizers.King’sproddingonissuesofracism,poverty,

andwaralsopushedmanyunionists tofusetheirsupportforcivilandlaborrights intoanevenbroader social justice agenda. In1967,KingkeynotedaconferenceofunionistsopposingtheVietnamWar,openingalaborfrontforthepeacemovement.

Finally, in 1968,King fought to build the Poor People’s Campaign andmade explicit his commitment towork on behalf of unions to improve theconditions of the blackworking poor by going toMemphis.Declaring that“all laborhasdignity,”Kingstatedthatsanitationworkersdeserveda livingwage and union rights, forwhatmade labormenialwas not hard and dirtywork,butlackofunionrightsandpoorconditions.AshetoldtheLocal1199hospitalworkersunionashortwhilebeforehecametoMemphis,“Yousee,nolaborisreallymenialunlessyou’renotgettingadequatewages.”

The civil rights and labor movements truly joined forces in Memphis.King perished in the struggle for union rights, but in large part due to hissacrifice, Local 1733 of the American Federation of State, County andMunicipal Employees (AFSCME) won its strike. The victory inMemphis,thoughwonatagreatcost,gaveaddedimpetustoanorganizingsurgeamongpublic employees thatmadeAFSCME into one of the largest unions in thecountry.

If in thepastwehave seenKingprimarilyasamiddle-classcivil rightsleader,itisnowtimetoseehimthroughtheprismofhiskinshiptothepoor,toworking people, and to unions. From that perspective,we havemuch tolearnaboutKingandthemovementsofthe1960s.

Whileresearchinglaborandcivilrightshistoryin1992,IdiscoveredacacheofKing’s speeches tounions in thearchivesat theMartinLutherKing, Jr.,CenterforNonviolentSocialChangeinAtlanta.Sincethen,IhavechronicledthestrugglesofblackandwhiteworkerstoorganizeunionsintheSouthandalso trackedKing’s support forcivil rightsunionism in thesearingbattle inMemphis.But I continued to lookback to these largelyunknownspeeches,tryingtounderstandtheircontextandsignificance.Inthesedocuments,Kingcontinually tried to connect the labor movement with the civil rightsmovementandtoconnectthembothtobroadeffortsforsocialreform.

As part of Beacon Press’s King Legacy series, this collection brings tolight fifteen ofKing’s speeches (and one non-speech document) relating tounionrightsandeconomicjustice,twelveofthemneverbeforepublishedinbook form. Introductions provide details and context for the reader. Thesedocuments help us connect King’s movement activity in Montgomery,Albany,Birmingham,Selma,Detroit,Chicago,NewYork, andMemphis to

his evolving agenda for what he called “economic equality”—a belief thateveryone be assured of a decent life in one of the richest countries in theworld.Kinghopedfora future inwhichracism,poverty,andwarwouldberelicsofthepast.

Otherpeoplehadsimilarhopesandhadstruggled foryears to transformthem into reality. In thisbook,Kingconstantly refersback to theAmericanlabor movement of the 1930s and links its sit-ins, sit-downs, picket lines,strikes,andboycottstothecivilrightsbattlesofthe1960s.Kingsawthetwomovements as twin pillars of social progress in twentieth centuryAmerica.Buthewantedtogofurther,tocreateanevermorearticulated,powerfullaborandcivilrightsalliance.

King’s kinship with the poor and his support for unions and economicfairnessgoesbacktohisyouthandtohisfamily’sownstruggleforanequalplace at theAmerican table. Born at the onset of theGreat Depression, in1929,KinggrewupinthestrivingblackbusinessdistrictonAtlanta’sAuburnAvenue. His father, “Daddy” King, protected Martin and his siblings andpresented themodel of a respectable,middle-class patriarch.Yet, in reality,the King family’s experience was not far removed from poverty and laborexploitation. At least three ofMartin’s great-grandparents were slaves, andone of his grandfathers celebrated his birthday as January 2, 1863, the dayafterPresidentAbrahamLincoln’sEmancipationProclamationtookeffect.

Afteremancipation,theWilliams(onhismother’sside)andKingfamiliesworkedonlandownedbywhitesandspentmostoftheirlivesindebt.Theyliveddifficultlivesthatofferedneitherthecertaintyofbeingfedandclothed,nor the true freedom to engage in economic, social, and political pursuits.Both men and women did hard labor. Delia Linsey,Martin’s grandmother,worked for white folks, washing and ironing, trying to supplement thefamily’smeager incomeas she and JamesKingmoved fromplace toplacesharecropping andworking for wages. King’s grandfather, A. D.Williams,lostathumbinasawmillaccidentandmovedtoAtlanta,doinghardlaborinorder to escape lynching and labor exploitation in the countryside. King’sfatheralsoescapedtheplantationdistrictsofGeorgia,arrivingin thecity in1913withlittlebuttheclothesonhisback.

King’sfamilyturnedtotheblackchurchandthesocialgospelofJesustoclimboutof thepovertyanddemoralizationof theJimCrowsystem.“Iamfundamentally a clergyman, a Baptist preacher,”Martin explained in 1965.“ThisismybeingandmyheritageforIamalsothesonofaBaptistpreacher,the grandson of a Baptist preacher, and the great-grandson of a Baptist

preacher.” In that same lineage, he was the descendant of slaves,sharecroppers,urbanworkers,andreligiousentrepreneurs.Boththemenandthewomeninthislineagefacedpolitical,economic,andracialdiscriminationthatkeptthemoutofskilledjobsandblockedtheireducationalopportunities.

AshistorianClayborneCarsonemphasizes,and theMartinLutherKing,Jr., Research andEducation Institute at StanfordUniversity documents, theblackChristiansocialgospeldemandedthatallofGod’schildrenshouldhaveequal rights. King’s grandfather, A.D.Williams, and hiswife, Jennie, andKing’s father, Michael King, and his wife, Alberta, built Ebenezer BaptistChurch in Atlanta. From a tiny congregation, it became a powerhouse forcivilrightsandvotingrightsagitationthatalsotookcareofthesocialwelfareofitscongregants.

Comingfromsuchafamily,theyoungMartinLutherKing,Jr.,naturallyempathized with the plight of poor and working-class people in theneighborhoodsurroundinghisfamilyhome.Inthe1930s,hisfathertookhimtosee theunemployment lines,andalthoughMartin laterbecamecriticalofhisfather’smaterialism,heneverforgotDaddyKing’srespectforthepoor,arespectthatKing,Jr.,alsoexhibitedthroughouthislife.

TheGreatDepression further sensitizedMartin to the gap between richandpoorandanimatedwhathelatercalledhis“anti-capitalisticfeelings.”Hewitnessedpeoplestandinginbreadlinesandtheeffectsofpovertywithinhisfather’s congregation. As a teenager, he worked for a summer on aConnecticuttobaccofarmandsawthedamagethatpovertyandracialhatreddidtopoorwhitesaswellastoblacks.InboththeSouthaswellastheNorth,what King later called the “malignant kinship” between race and classremainedreadilyapparent.

Inshort,althoughKingwasindeed“middleclass”indemeanor,hisfamilyheritage, his own experiences, and the black Christian social gospel alsoprovidedKingwithalife-longframeworkwithinwhichtodemandjusticeforworkers and the poor. King’s college education also created an intellectualfoundationforunderstandingtheseinequalities.Atagefifteen,MartinenteredMorehouseCollege in an accelerated programduringWorldWar II.As theU.S.pledged to fight fascism, racism, anti-Semitism, andcolonialism,Kingwasprofoundlyinfluencedthroughcoursesinsociology,history,philosophy,literature,andreligion.MorehousepresidentDr.BenjaminMays(andothersKinglaterencountered)popularizedMahatmaGandhi’srespectforthepoor,highlighting his success in nonviolent organizing against colonialism, castesystems,andlaborexploitation.Evenasayoungstudent,Kingbegantofuse

religion, academic knowledge, and his family’s long-standing activism onbehalfofequalrightsandsocialjustice.

King went on to graduate school at Crozer Theological Seminary andBostonUniversity,buthehadalready joineda specialgenerationofhumanrightsactivists.Blackstudentsandwarveteransofthe1940smainstreamedamoremilitantcivilrightsconsciousnessatatimewhentheU.S.governmentpromisedtooverturn theoldwaysof imperialismandinequality throughouttheworld.Itwasapowerfultime,whatonehistoriancalledthe“seedtime”oftheblackrevolution.Organizedlaborplayedanessentialpartinundergirdingthatrevolution.The1935WagnerActhadestablishedtherighttofreedomofspeechandtherighttoorganizeonthejobforthefirst timeinU.S.history.Millionsofworkers insteel,auto,meatpacking,electrical, rubber,andotherbasicindustriesjoinedunionsunderthebanneroftheCongressofIndustrialOrganizations(CIO).W.E.B.DuBois, in1944,sawthisasagreat turnofeventsandwrotethattheCIOprovidedthebesthopeforequalrightsinthepostwarera.

Unfortunately, the vision of anti-colonial, liberationist struggles abroadandexpandedunionandcivil rightsathomegot fracturedby thegreatRedScareofthepost–WorldWarIIera.TheRedScareunderminedboththecivilrights movement and the American labor movement and constricted thebroader vision for change wrought by the war. Some argue the U.S.government’s anti-communist crusades of the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960sprovided additional leverage to demand full civil rights. King and othersrightlysaidthatiftheU.S.wantedtobeaglobalmodeloffreedom,itwouldhavetoeliminatesegregationathome.ThestrengthofthisargumentandtheneedtogetblackvotesintheurbanNorthcausedPresidentHarryS.TrumantodesegregatetheU.S.armedforcesandcallforcivilandpoliticalrightsforAfricanAmericans.TheU.S.SupremeCourtalsomade thisargument in itshistoricBrownv.BoardofEducationdecisiontooverthrowsegregationasthelawoftheland.

From the perspective of labor history, however, scholars increasinglyrecognize the damage done by the postwarRedScare.At the height of thelabor movement’s power, when approximately a third of workers (and 50percent of industrial workers) belonged to unions, the Red Scare’s bigsqueezeagainst labor radicalismeliminatedsomeof themostpersistentandmilitant voices for interracial working-class mobilization. It also helped toblock unions from expanding into difficult-to-organize areas of low-wageemployment, where workers of color and women predominated. OperationDixie,aneffortbegunbytheCIOin1946tofullyorganizetheworkersofthe

South, might have created powerful union allies for civil rights reform.Instead, red-baiting, race-baiting, violence, and laws restricting the right toorganizelefttheSouthabastionofanti-unionism.

Without unions, African American, Mexican American, and Euro-AmericanworkersintheSouthlackedameanstoimprovetheirconditionsatwork or to build independent political power. As is apparent from hisspeeches in part I of this book,King clearly understood the importance ofunionizing the South. He saw it as a way to elevate wages, enfranchiseAfrican Americans and workers, and to vote more labor-friendly and lessracist people into power. He particularly wanted to remove the“Neanderthals” in the U.S. Senate who used the filibuster to block allsignificant change. He believed the unions and civil rights forces togethercouldpushhistoryinabetterdirection.TheKnightsofLabor,theIndustrialWorkersoftheWorld,theUnitedMineWorkers,andmanyindustrialunionshad at times followed a path of interracial labor solidarity, and left apromisinghistoryoflabor-basedsocialchange.

But King also knew that the American union movement had acontradictory, dual character regarding racial minorities and women. If theCIOofferedhope to blackworkers andwomen, building trades unions andbrotherhoodsofrailroadworkers in theolderAmericanFederationofLabor(AFL)stilllargelyexcludedorsegregatedminorityandwomenworkers.TheNational Labor Relations Board (NLRB) did not require unions using itsservicestobanuniondiscrimination.Evenblacksinunionizedindustriesstillexperienced exclusionary union and apprenticeship programs, segregatedlocalsandworkplaces,andoutrightviolenceandbigotryatthehandsofwhiteworkers. And supposedly progressive CIO unions often codifieddiscriminatory jobassignmentsandseniority lines in theircontracts,despiteequalrightsprovisionsintheirownconstitutions.

From the 1930s onward, Communists and assorted non-aligned laborradicalshadfoughtsegregationistpracticesatworkandinsociety,andledtheway in organizing women and men into unions across color and genderbarriers.Butespeciallyafterthewar,laborradicalsfoughttheirwayupstreamagainst a torrent of institutionalized racismandColdWar anti-communism.The Republican-dominated Congress elected in 1946 imposed the Taft-HartleyActof1947,whichamendedtheWagnerActtoforceunionleaderstoswear they were not Communists or lose federal election supervisionprotections through the NLRB. Taft-Hartley tied up unions in legalbureaucracyand fatallyweakened thembyallowing states toban theunionshop,thusallowingworkerstobenefitfromaunioncontractwithoutjoining

theunion.Taft-Hartleyalsorestrictedunionpoliticalactionandunderminedorganizinginvariousotherways.

CIO unions initially resisted Taft-Hartley and disliked Democraticpresident Harry S. Truman, whose loyalty-security and anti-communistforeignpolicieshelpedstarttheColdWarandtheRedScare.Butduringthepresidentialelectionof1948,theCIOgrewdesperateforunityandrequiredall of its member unions to support Truman. After union votes sealedTruman’s victory, the CIO expelled its eleven supposedly Communist-ledunionswithnearlyonemillionmembersthathadsupportedProgressivePartypresidentialcandidateHenryWallace,whoadvocateddétentewiththeSovietUnion. Disagreements over U.S. foreign policy thus polarized the CIO.Although unions went on to reach their high point of institutional power,hard-lineanti-communismwoulddividemanyof theunions fromKingandtheburgeoningmovementsofthe1960s.

Organizedlaborfrom1949onpresentedaconfusingpicturetocivilrightsadvocatessuchasKing.Ononehand,unionsmadesubstantialcontractgainsand became key political players that helped to establish the basis for theGreat Society and civil rights victories of the 1960s. Conversely, the CIOexpelled someof its strongest civil rights unionists in theSouth and raidedmajor unions such as the United Electrical, Radio and Machine WorkersUnion(UE)forfollowingthe“CommunistPartyline.”

These matters might seem somewhat removed from the civil rightsstruggle,buttheywouldhavemomentousconsequencesforKing’sattempttobuilda labor–civil rightsalliance. In1955,CIOandAFLunionsmerged tocreate a larger, stronger federation, but because the CIO had five millionmembersandtheAFLhadtwicethatmany(andbecausetheCIOwasonthevergeofdisintegration),themoreraciallyconservativeAFLtookthegreatershare of leadership. Many unions became more bureaucratic, top-downinstitutions.TheRedScare also tied theAFL-CIO to aU.S. foreign policyestablishmentthatKingcametooppose.

Tragically, led by President George Meany and International AffairsDirector JayLovestone, theAFL-CIOaggressively supported theU.S. as itabrogatedelectionsscheduledfor1956inVietnamandsupportedastringofcorruptgovernmentshatedby theirownpeople.Lovestoneworkedwith theCIAinunderminingleftistunionsinEuropeandinoverthrowingnationalistgovernments in poor countries such as Guatemala (the CIA also helped tooverthrowanelectedgovernmentinIran,leadingtogenerationsofconflict).The AFL-CIO became the government’s strongest foreign policy supporter

andcondemnedthosewhoopposedmilitary interventionasunwittingdupesofsupposedCommunists.

AstheRedScareunderminedinternationalandinterraciallaborsolidarity,theMontgomeryBusBoycott introducedtheworldtoKingandKingto theworldofcivilrightsunionism.Therehefoundhisstrongestalliesinblackandleft-ledunionsinandoutsideoftheAFL-CIO.

King’s relationship with unions began in Montgomery in December 1955,when King unleashed his extraordinary power to use the spoken word toevoke feelings of unity and determination to overcome frightful barriers tochange.PresidentA.PhilipRandolphandlocalpresidentE.D.NixonoftheBrotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters union approached other unions forfinancial support. Soon King began speaking, raising funds, and garneringpoliticalsupportfromunionsforthefreedommovementintheSouth.Unionsupport for the bus boycott cemented King’s belief in their importance inbuildingacohesivenationalforceforsocialchange.

One of the CIO’s left-led unions, the United PackinghouseWorkers ofAmerica (UPWA) in the 1950s had the strongest union program for civilrightsinthecountry.Evenbeforethebusboycott,twenty-sixmembersofanAtlantalocaloftheUPWAwenttojailforprotestingbussegregation.UPWAmembers had already faced down racists who tried to prevent housingintegration in theChicagoarea,and raised fundsandprotestedonbehalfofMamie Bradley, the mother of Emmett Till, a black teenager murdered byracists in Mississippi on August 28, 1955. The UPWA refused to signcontracts unless they had an anti-discrimination clause and insisted thatemployerspromoteAfricanAmericans,MexicanAmericans, andwomen toalllevelsofworkandmanagementinthepackinghouses.

Three months into the Montgomery boycott, King met with UPWAactivists inChicago toplot strategy.Theunion threatened thecompany thatownedtheMontgomerybussystemwithanationalboycottandraisedaFundfor Democracy, not by fiat by the union’s officers, but by a fund-raisingcampaignamong itsmembers.Blackwomen,suchasAddieWyatt,becameespecially active in civil rights, and workers at the Chicago Armourmeatpacking plant held a prayer vigil in support of the Montgomerycampaign.Afteritstriumph,blackUPWAleadersRussellLasley,JohnHenryHall,andCharlesHayesattended thefoundingconferenceofKing’sSCLC.Lasley and Hayes served on its board along with District 65 black leaderClevelandRobinson.

Allof thisdemonstrated toKing thepowerofanationalunionnetwork.

Soon,hebeganworkingwiththeUnitedAutomobileWorkersunionandotherunions that had significant black membership and supported civil rights.These includedDistrict65andLocal1199,both associatedwith theRetail,WholesaleandDepartmentStoreEmployeesUnion(RWDSU).Theseunionstenaciously organized African American, Puerto Rican, and other Hispanicworkersintheexpandingserviceandhealth-careindustriesinNewYorkCity.Jewishlaborradicalswithrootsinthe1930sthushelpedtocreatetwounionsthat, in the 1960s, became important supporters of King’s civil rightsmovement in the South. District 65 and Local 1199 also became powerfulsourcesofcivilrightsunionisminNewYorkCityitself.

Unions turned to building allianceswithA. PhilipRandolph,King, andtheNationalAssociationfortheAdvancementofColoredPeople(NAACP).District65—withstrongleadershipfromJamaican-bornClevelandRobinson,itssecretary-treasurerandleaderofitsNegroAffairsCommittee—organizedNew York City minority workers in department stores and various serviceindustries. It set up picket lines and rallies supporting the civil rightsmovement, and, in 1959, Robinson and Randolph organized the NALC topressure theAFL-CIO to attack racismwithin its ranks. In associationwithRWDSUandDistrict65,Local1199alsoattackedsub-minimumwages,highrents,andrestrictiveracialhiring.BlackandPuertoRicanwomeninhospitalemploymentbecameespeciallyactiveinLocal1199.AsLocal1199presidentLeonDavisput it, “This ismore than just anotherunion; this ispartof thefreedomstruggle.”

ThiswasthekindoflabormovementKingsodesperatelyneededtobuildthe labor–civil rights coalition in northern cities. King spoke repeatedly atDistrict65andLocal1199meetings,andKingalsofoundahomewithintheWest Coast’s International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). In1963,ILWUpresidentHarryBridgesthreatenedtorefusetoloadshipswithgoods made in Alabama in support of King’s battles there. Bridges, anAustralian seaman and longshoreman, fought and defeated federalgovernmentattemptstodeporthimasan“alien”Marxistfortwentyyears.Hebecame a naturalized citizen, a fierce equal rights supporter (he broke theWest’s anti-miscegenation laws by marrying Japanese American Noriko“Nikki”Sawada), anda leadingopponentof theAmericanwar inVietnam.BlacklongshoreworkersinSanFrancisco’sLocal10welcomedhimtospeaktherein1967aspartoftheILWUfamily.

At the Labor Leaders Assembly for Peace in November 1967, King’salliesinDistrict65,Local1199,theUE,theUPWA,andtheILWUprovidedstrongcivilrightsandpeaceadvocates.Kingsaidhefelthimselfanhonorary

memberofmanyunions, and, indeed,manyof themhadgivenhimawardsforhiscivilrightsleadership.King’sleftistunionassociationshadhelpedhimtodevelopanexperiment in labor–civil rights solidarity that lasteduntilhisdeath.

In part I of this collection, the difficulties and contradictions of buildinglabor–civil rightsalliances in the shadowofColdWaranti-communismcanbe seen in King’s speeches. King’s Christian social gospel vision provedpopularwithunionmembers,yethealsofollowedapragmaticagenda.Manyofhisearly labor speechesare straight-outappeals for fundsandsupport inwhichheoutlinesthetriumphsandtragediesofthefreedommovement.HisearlyspeechestotheHighlanderFolkSchool(previouslyameetingplaceforCIO organizers) and the UAW suggest a perhaps unfounded optimism andhope for an easy alliance of progressive forces to change the politics andpriorities of the country. Yet his Highlander speech also set off asegregationist campaign that depicted the Highlander meeting as a“Communist training school.” From that time forward the FBI and theAmerican right wing perpetually portrayed King as a Marxist-Leninistdeceiver.

King’s speeches in part I cover the highlights of the movement he isassociated with: the Montgomery Bus Boycott; the student sit-ins andfreedomrides;theAlbanyandBirminghammovementsfordesegregationandthehiringofblackworkers;themassmarchinDetroit leadingtotheMarchonWashington in1963;civil rightsand labor lobbying that led to the1964CivilRightsAct;and theSelma toMontgomerymarch that led to the1965VotingRightsAct.

King’s main goal was to garner financial and political support for thesouthern movement, but he also developed a second objective: supportingeffortsbyhislaboralliestofullydesegregateunionsandbringpeopleofcolorintounionleadership.KingwasadvisedbyRandolph,Robinson,Rustin,andotherswhoknewthelabormovementbetter thanhedid,andtheyhelpedtoshape his speeches and approach to unions. (Among these advisors, formerCommunistswithstronglaborperspectivesStanleyLevisonandHunterPitts(Jack)O’DellbecamespecialtargetsoftheFBIandtheWhiteHouse.)

OtherswhocouldhavebeenhelpfultoKingindevelopinghisperspectivein his labor speeches might also have included Ralph Helstein, UPWApresident, and black leaders of theUPWA inChicago, aswell as PresidentReuther and others in theUAW inDetroit. Levison counseledKing on his1961AFL-CIOspeechandKingincorporatedsomeofthetextfromhislast

book,1967’sWhereDoWeGoFromHere:ChaosorCommunity?,inhislastspeechestoLocal1199andtheTeamstersinNewYorkCityin1968.

In his speeches, King did not shrink from criticizing unions when theyfailedtoeliminateracismanddiscriminationwithintheirownranks.EvenasKing repeatedly declared that a history of struggle had created a specialrelationshipofsolidaritybetweenblacksandunions,healsoinsistedthatthisspecial relationship required a frank discussion of weaknesses as well asstrengths.

King’s address to theAFL-CIO in1961proved especially prescient.Hearguedthatthe“dualityofinterestsoflaborandNegroes”madethemnaturalallies.Buthealsosharplycriticizedthefederationfornotgoingfarenoughtoeliminate union racism and discrimination and for its efforts to silence thecriticalvoiceofA.PhilipRandolph,whoaskedwhyunionscouldpurgeredsbutnotracists.“Negroesarealmostentirelyaworkingpeople.Ourneedsareidenticalwithlabor’sneeds,”Kingdeclared.Yethealsowarnedofimpendingdisasteriforganizedlabordidnotdiscarditsracialandpoliticalconservatismtocreateacenter-leftpoliticalmovement.

Prophetically,hewarnedthatan“ultra-rightwing”alliance,including“bigmilitaryandbigindustry,”andareactionarygroupingofsouthernDemocratsandnorthernRepublicans inCongress “now threaten everythingdecent andfairinAmericanlife.”Withautomationgrindingfactoryjobsintodust,Kingwarned,“Thisperiodismadetoorderforthosewhowouldseektodrivelaborintoimpotency.”Heurgedunionstostopworryingabout“scatteredreds”andpayattentiontothegatheringstormofthecenter-rightalliancetryingtowipethemout.

Amongthemoreleftist-ledunions,Kingalsomovedbeyondcivilrightstothe deeper and thornier problems of racial-economic inequality and war,telling a District 65 meeting in 1962 that “the evil of war, the evil ofeconomicinjustice,andtheevilofracialinjustice”wereallintertwined.Suchconcernsare readilyapparent inhis speeches inpart II,whichencompassaperiodwhenKing’s agenda shifted from attaining civil rights to creating abasisfor“economicequality.”Fortunately,organizedlaborprovidedacriticalforce to push the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts of 1964 and 1965throughCongress.Federal lawsnowmadeemployerandunion-employmentdiscrimination on the basis of race and sex illegal, andmade it possible toregisterblackvoterstobuildthekindoflabor–civilrightsallianceKinghadlong sought. But as soon as these victories sealed “phase one” of the civilrights movement, a new challenge arose. After the violent 1965 inner-city

upheaval in Los Angeles called theWatts Riot, a sense of dire emergencyincreasingly animated King, who felt he had failed to fully address theproblemsofthepoorandurbanworkersbeyondtheSouth.“TheexplosioninWatts reminded us all that the northern ghettos are the prisons of forgottenmen,” King wrote in a speech prepared for a District 65 convention inSeptember1965.

From thispointon,Kingcalled for a “phase two”of theblack freedommovement that would move beyond civil rights and voting rights to“economic equality.” He asked unions to step to the forefront in thereorderingofthenation’sprioritiestobenefitordinarypeople.In1966,KingwenttoChicago(withhelpfromtheUAWandtheUPWA)toorganizeamassmovement against institutionalized racism and poverty, and he marchedagainst fear in Mississippi with Stokely Carmichael. But in both of thesestruggles King came away with very little to claim as victories. As theVietnam War escalated and unemployed inner-city youth revolted, “blackpower” became the dominant rhetoric of black liberation portrayed in themassmedia.Kingembracedthecallforblackpoweraslegitimate,buthealsofeltincreasingdespairovertheviolentdirectioninwhichthecountryseemedtobeheadingandsearchedforaframeworktocreateanewkindofcoalitionforchange.

In1967and1968,itseemedthecountrywasatacrossroadsandwouldeithermove forward toward more fundamental transformation or becomeincreasinglyembroiledinconflictoverunresolvedproblems.InpartIII,Kingspeaksinapropheticvoiceof“twoAmericas,”onecomposedoftherichandwell-off,theotherofpoorpeoplewithlittlehopelivingon“alonelyislandofpoverty”inthemidstofaseeminglyaffluentsociety.Inabiting,critical,andprophetic commentary about the failureofAmerican-style racial capitalism,heremindedhislaboraudiencesthatAfricanAmericansbeganinthechainsof slavery and through their unpaid labor made cotton the king of theeconomy. But capital subsequently mechanized agricultural and industrialproduction and discarded their labor while increasingly moving unskilledfactoryemploymenttocheaperfacilitiesabroad.

Kinghadalwayscalledonhiscountrytoliveuptothecreedthat“allmenarecreatedequal,”withinalienablerightsto“life, liberty,andthepursuitofhappiness.”ButhenowaskedAmericatogobeyondformalrightsinthelawto substantive forms of economic justice: jobs, health care, education,housing, and a handup for those on the bottomof society.Althoughmanywhites had supported a “phase one” for civil and voting rights, Kingcomplainedthattheyrejecteda“phasetwo”demandfor“economicequality.”

Kingwarnedthatinordertoremainrelevant,thelabormovementneededtobecome more radical and build alliances with poor and working-classcommunitiesbeyondtheworkplace.

By1967,Kingfoundhimselfatpolaroppositesfrommanynationalunionleaders.AttheNationalLaborLeadershipAssemblyforPeaceinNovember,heexpressedthehopethatunionswouldrejectmilitarismandbecomeapartof thepeacemovement andwhat he called “forward-looking”America.HedescribedCongress as “single-mindedly devoted to the pursuit ofwar” but“emotionallyhostile to theneedsof thepoor.”KingnowopenlyopposedawarinVietnamthatmanyunionleaderssupported.TheUAW’sinternationalaffairsdirector,VictorReuther,WalterReuther’sbrother,hadalreadyexposedthe AFL-CIO’s ties with the CIA. The West Coast ILWU leader HarryBridges called U.S. policies, supported by most unions, “Americanimperialismwithaunionlabel.”AlthoughthepeaceassemblyspurredKing’scall forabroaderallianceofpeace, labor,andcivil rightsorganizations, theAFL-CIO seventh annual convention that followed it inMiamiBeach fullyembracedthewar.King’shopesseemedtobe“blowinginthewind.”

Not only did King’s anti-war position alienate him from many unionleaders,buthiseconomicanalysisexceededwheremostofthemwerewillingtogo.AshehadsaidinhisfamousspeechatRiversideChurchinNewYorkonApril4,1967,againsttheVietnamWar,“Whenmachinesandcomputersand profit motives and property rights are consideredmore important thanpeople,thegianttripletsofracism,materialism,andmilitarismareincapableofbeingconquered.”Unfortunately,Kingimplied,that’sthenationAmericamayhavebecome.Henowplacedhis demands for economic justice in thecontext of a plea for a “moral revolution” to “shift from a ‘thing-oriented’societytoa‘person-oriented’society.”

In1968,Kingtriedtomovehiseconomicagendaforward.InaspeechtoNewYork City’s Local 1199 onMarch 10, King explained the need for amore transformativemovement.Hedemandedasharp reversal inAmericanpriorities by shifting money from bombs and war to health care, jobs,housing,andeducation.HesaidtheU.S.hadthewealthtoeliminatepovertyintheworldbutlackedthewilltodoit.Heproposedtogeneratethatwillinamovementofthepoor.Kinginpreviousstatementshadalreadytoldreportershewas“goingforbroke,”inwhathecalledthePoorPeople’sCampaign.

InthemiddleofhismobilizationtotakepoorpeopletoWashington,Kingwent to Memphis and reemphasized his belief that organized labor couldmove mountains when joined to a community-based movement. AFSCME

nationalpresidentJerryWurfandorganizersWilliamLucy, JesseEpps,andJoePaisleyworkedinthetrenchesthroughoutthestrike.Aswomenmounteda boycott of downtown businesses, and raised funds and collected food tokeep the strike alive, black ministers led by James Lawson mobilized thecommunity through the black church. Theworkers’movement inMemphisescalated stunningly, but so did blunt resistance from a paternalistic,condescending, and ferociously anti-union mayor, Henry Loeb. The city’sintransigenceandviolentpoliceattacksonmarcherschangedastrike intoaracialissue.

IntheheartoftheMississippicottoneconomy,Memphisexemplifiedthehistoricracial-economicsystemthatKingsaidmustbechanged.InMemphis,80percentofAfricanAmericans,womenaswellasmen,remainedstuckinunskilledjobsatthebottomoftheeconomy.Thesanitationworkers’strikeforunionrightsthreatenedtheracialpatternofwhitesupremacyaswellasalow-wagesystembasedoncheapblack labor. Itwasaclassiccivil rightsstrike,bringing together many of the issues King sought to address in the PoorPeople’s Campaign. King told AFSCME workers and their supporters inMemphisonMarch18thatthelowlysanitationworkerisasimportanttothecommunity’shealthas thedoctor—literally true ina townnearlywipedoutby yellow fever plagues after the CivilWar for lack of an efficient publicsanitation system. King’s ability to merge moral and religious philosophywith labor and human rights issues illustrated once again why peopleconstantlycalledonhimtojointheirstruggles.

“Alllaborhasdignity,”Kingremindedtheworkersandtheirsupporters.

King’s speeches to unions might help us to more fully appreciate thesignificanceofKing’sconnectiontolaborissuesandtoworking-classpeopleaspartofhisbroadandunfinishedagendaforhumanrights.Ifhewerealivetoday, perhaps King would again be called a Communist for pursuing hisChristian social gospel campaign for “economic justice.” These previouslyunavailable speeches may help people in the current explosion ofunemployment,homelessness,hunger,poverty,andwartothinkanewaboutissuesthatbedevilustoday:continuingracialdivisionandthepoliticsofhate;machinesandcorporationstakingpeople’sjobsaway;senatorswhofilibusterto stop social progress; thewaste of economic resources on failedmilitarysolutions to human problems; a widespread business-promoted culture ofoppositiontounions;andamassmediathatfailstoexaminetheintertwineddestructiveeffectsofracism,poverty,andwar.

Thedestructiveeffectsofdeindustrializationanduniondeclineonworkers

in places such as Detroit andMemphis cause King’s speeches to resonatepowerfullyinourowntimes.OurpurposeinpublishingthemistofullybringbackthelegacyofKingandtheallianceforlaborrightsandeconomicjusticethathetriedtocreate.King’slaborspeecheswillthushelpustodeepenourunderstandingof theKingeraasonepartof the longestofmovements, thestruggleforworkingpeopletoliveadecentlife.

King’s last twounscripted andpoetic speeches inMemphis suggest thatKing’slinkstoworkerstrugglesforlaborrightslaydeepwithinhisChristianphilosophy and stretched back over a lifetime. King said the Constitutionprovided no guarantees but that theDeclaration of Independence implied apromiseofeconomicjustice.“Ifamandoesnothaveajoboranincome,atthatmoment you deprive him of life.You deprive him of liberty.And youdeprivehimofthepursuitofhappiness,”hedeclaredonMarch18.

Kingalsopreached thepowerof“dangerousunselfishness”on thenightbeforehisdeath,onApril3,askingustoriskourselvesforthegoodofothersaswe travel down life’s perilous JerichoRoad.He asked everyone to be aGoodSamaritan.

King preached inMemphis, “Eitherwe go up together, orwe go downtogether.”Perhapsitisnotyettoolatetolookoverthemountaintopandseethepromisedland.

EDITOR’SNOTE

Two types of documents were used in this collection. One consists ofspeeches transcribed from tape recordings by people associated with Kingduringhis lifetimeorshortlyafterhisdeath,particularlybyhisbookagent,JoanDaves.Often, sucha transcript fromaKingaudio, suchasKing’s lasttwospeechesinMemphis,providestheonlyversionwehave.

Theotherkindofdocument is a typedorpartiallyhandwritten (often inKing’s hand) text of a speech as King planned to deliver it. Sometimesscholarscanverifyhowthatspeechwasgiventhroughanaudiorecordingandmakecorrectionstothetranscript.

Insomecases,however,itisimpossibletoknowwhetherKingdeliveredalloronlypartofaspeech,or inwhatorder thewordsweredelivered.Forexample, District 65, at that time affiliated to the Retail, Wholesale andDepartmentStoreUnion(RWDSU),reproducedtwoofKing’sspeechesonaheavilyeditedrecordthatdidnotmatchthetypedspeechIfoundintheKingarchiveinAtlanta.Ireliedupontheprintedtextandusedtheaudiotoverifyoraddtopartsofit,sinceKingclearlydeliveredmoreofthespeechthanisintheaudioversion.Insuchcases,IpresentthespeechthewayitappearsKinggaveit.

In all cases, I verified speeches through recordingswhenwe could findthem,andresearchersatBeacontookgreatcaretocorrectthetypedversionsthat we have been able to locate. In some cases, original transcripts notedcrowdresponse,andwehavealsoincludedcrowdresponsewhenreviewingaudiotapesandaddingourownrevisionstospeeches.Inothercaseswehadonlyatextandnotarecordingandsonocrowdresponseisnoted.

Through careful listening to the audio versions we could find andcomparing them to written texts, we have producedwhat we think are themost accurate and complete versions of these speeches. I verified bothtranscribed audio and typed texts through union newspapers and secondarysources and draw my sometimes lengthy introductions from that samematerial.(Seedetailsintheappendix.)

I found two King labor speeches that others delivered on his behalf,including one given at the United Electrical, Radio and Machine WorkersUnion(UE)conventionin1962,whichIdidnot thinkespeciallysignificantand thereforeexcludedfromthecollection. In thecaseof theconventionof

District 65, on September 18, 1965, King’s representative, AndrewYoung,gaveacompletelydifferentspeechfromtheoneKinghadwritten,butKing’swrittentextwasverysignificantandsoisincludedinthiscollection.

Asarule,Iintervenedaslittleaspossibleinthesespeeches.Transcribersof King’s recordings or typists of his original speech texts sometimesintroduced minor typing errors, and I silently omitted these and removedotherminorerrorsofspelling,syntax,orgrammar,orillegiblesections.Inafewcases, I also removed text that repeatsmaterial froman earlier speech.Kinggavespeechesconstantly,sohefrequentlyrepeatedcertainphrasesandthemes,butrepeatingtheminawrittencollectiondoesnotseemnecessaryorhelpfultothereader.Ihavetried,however,nottoremovematerialthatwouldundermine therhythmorcontentof thespeech.Alldeletions in the textaremarkedwithellipses(…).Inafewcases,Ihaveinsertedthefullnamesoridentification of peoplementioned inKing’s speeches or added aword forclarification.Allsucheditorialinsertionsareshowninbrackets([]).Anytextshown in parentheses, except for audience response, existed in the originaldocument.

Reading and hearingKing’s speeches are two different experiences. Forthat reason,we includewith this book audio from two ofKing’s speeches.Please note that the two audios accompanying this volume are incomplete.Forthatreason,theywillnotbeidenticaltothetext,particularlyinthecaseof“The Unresolved Race Question.” Please refer to the appendix for moreinformation.ThelistenerwillimmediatelynoticehowKing’sinflectionsandthecrowds’ responsesmakehis speechescomealive.His speech toDistrict65in1962andhisMarch18,1968,speechinMemphisdemonstrateKing’sabilitytocaptureimportantideasthatmoveanaudiencetoaction.

Kingspeakingduring“phaseone”ofthecivilrightsmovementatthe16thStreetBaptistChurchinBirmingham,Alabama,sometimebeforeKuKluxKlanmembersbombeditonSeptember15,1963.©JosephChapman

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“AllLaborHasDignity”Copyright©1963byMartinLutherKing,Jr.

Copyright©renewed1986byCorettaScottKing,DexterKing,MartinLutherKingIII,YolandaKing,BerniceKing.Allrightsreserved.

Introductionscopyright©2011MichaelK.Honey

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BeaconPressgratefullyacknowledgestheUnitarianUniversalistVeatchProgramatShelterRockforitsgeneroussupportoftheKingLegacyseries.Somespellingandpunctuationhavebeenadjusted,and

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