Death of a King Read online

  “Naturally, we are compelled to ask the question, Who killed James Reeb? The answer is simple and rather limited, when we think of the who. He was murdered by a few, sick, demented, and misguided men who have the strange notion that you express dissent through murder. There is another haunting, poignant, desperate question we are forced to ask this afternoon.… It is the question, What killed James Reeb? When we move from the who to the what, the blame is wide and the responsibility grows.

  “James Reeb was murdered by the indifference of every minister of the gospel who has remained silent behind the safe security of stained glass windows.…

  “He was murdered by the irresponsibility of every politician who has moved down the path of demagoguery, who has fed his constituents the stale bread of hatred and the spoiled meat of racism. He was murdered by the brutality of every sheriff and law enforcement agent who practices lawlessness in the name of law. He was murdered by the timidity of a federal government that can spend millions of dollars… in South Vietnam, yet cannot protect the lives of its own citizens seeking constitutional rights. Yes, he was even murdered by the cowardice of every Negro who tacitly accepts the evil system of segregation, who stands on the sidelines in the midst of a mighty struggle for justice.

  “So in his death, James Reeb says something to each of us, black and white alike—says that we must substitute courage for caution, says to us that we must be concerned not merely about who murdered him, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murder. His death says to us that we must work passionately, unrelentingly, to make the American dream a reality, so he did not die in vain.…

  “So in spite of the darkness of this hour, we must not despair.… We must not become bitter nor must we harbor the desire to retaliate with violence; we must not lose faith in our white brothers who happen to be misguided. Somehow we must still believe that the most misguided among them will learn to respect the dignity and worth of all human personalities.…

  “So we thank God for the life of James Reeb. We thank God for his goodness. We thank God that he was willing to lay down his life in order to redeem the soul of our nation. So I say—so Horatio said as he stood over the dead body of Hamlet—‘Good night sweet prince: may the flight of angels take thee to thy eternal rest.’ ”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  What a blessing to have David Ritz as a collaborator on this particular book project, which has meant more to me than any I have ever done, given my deep and abiding love for Martin Luther King Jr.

  I was also blessed to have a wonderful researcher for this text, Jared Hernandez, who had boundless energy and great ideas. Without David and Jared, this text simply would not exist.

  Thanks to Dr. Cornel West for the countless conversations over many years about how to make to the world safe for the legacy of Dr. King.

  Deep gratitude to our leader, Michael Pietsch; my publisher, Reagan Arthur; my brilliant editor, John Parsley; the delightful Malin von Euler-Hogan; my able executive assistant, Kimberly McFarland; the indefatigable agents David Vigliano and Ken Browning; and all my friends (too numerous to count) who reviewed various parts of this manuscript in process.

  Finally, to the King family I’ve had the pleasure of knowing, loving, and serving: Coretta Scott King, Yolanda Denise King, Martin L. King III, Dexter Scott King, and Bernice A. King. Thank you for sharing; thank you for your sacrifice.

  —Tavis Smiley

  My thanks to Tavis Smiley, whose rich mind, boundless enthusiasm, and loving dedication to this work have inspired and blessed me mightily.

  Jared Hernandez, a fabulous researcher.

  Roberta Ritz, whose editorial acumen is always invaluable.

  David Vigliano, whose creative mind initiated this project.

  John Parsley, for superb editing and total support.

  Kimberly McFarland and Malin von Euler-Hogan, for ongoing encouragement.

  My family: Roberta, Alison, Jessica, Jim, Henry, Charlotte, Nino, James, Isaac, sisters Elizabeth and Esther.

  My friends: Harry Weinger, Alan Eisenstock, Herb Powell, John Tayloe, and all the Tuesday gang of poets and prophets.

  —David Ritz

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  Tavis Smiley is the host and managing editor of Tavis Smiley on PBS and The Tavis Smiley Show from Public Radio International (PRI). He is also the bestselling author of sixteen books. Smiley lives in Los Angeles.

  TavisTalks.com

  facebook.com/TavisTalks

  @TavisSmiley

  David Ritz, who collaborated on Smiley’s What I Know for Sure, has worked with everyone from Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye to Aretha Franklin and B.B. King.

  ritzwrites.com

  ALSO BY TAVIS SMILEY

  Fail Up

  Accountable

  The Covenant with Black America

  The Covenant in Action

  What I Know for Sure

  Keeping the Faith

  Doing What’s Right

  Hard Left

  How to Make Black America Better

  SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES

  Interviews conducted for this book:

  Belafonte, Harry

  Branch, Taylor

  Carson, Clayborne

  Cotton, Dorothy

  Garrow, David

  Ghaemi, Nassir

  Gregory, Dick

  Harding, Vincent

  Jackson, Jesse

  John, Mable

  Jones, Clarence

  King, Coretta Scott

  Kyles, Billy

  Moore, Sam

  Nash, Diane

  Newcombe, Don

  Taylor, Gardner C.

  Walker, Wyatt Tee

  Young, Andrew

  Texts:

  Ali, Muhammad, with Richard Durham. The Greatest: My Own Story. New York: Random House, 1975.

  Baez, Joan. And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987.

  Bagley, Edythe Scott. Desert Rose: The Life and Legacy of Coretta Scott King. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 2012.

  Baldwin, Lewis V. To Make the Wounded Whole: The Cultural Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1992.

  Belafonte, Harry, with Michael Shnayerson. My Song: A Memoir. New York: Knopf, 2011.

  Branch, Taylor. At Canaan’s Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–68. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006.

  ______. Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–63. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988.

  Carson, Clayborne, ed. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Warner Books, 1998.

  Carmichael, Stokely. “Let Another World Be Born: Text of Speech at the Spring Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam Outside the United Nations.” New York City, April 15, 1967.

  Churchill, Ward, and Jim Vander Wall. Agents of Repression: The FBI’s Secret Wars Against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement. Cambridge: South End Press, 2002.

  D’Emilio, John. Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin. New York: Free Press, 2003.

  Dyson, Michael Eric. I May Not Get There with You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.

  Fairclough, Adam. To Redeem the Soul of America: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Martin Luther King, Jr. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2001.

  Frady, Marshall. Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Life. New York: Penguin Group, 2002.

  Garrow, David J. Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. New York: HarperCollins, 1986.

  ______. The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr.: From “Solo” to Memphis. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1981.

  Ghaemi, Nassir. A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness. New York: Penguin Group, 2011.

  Hamilton, Charles V. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: The Political Biography of an American Dilemma. New York: Cooper Square Press, 1991.

  Honey, Mi
chael K. Going Down Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King’s Last Campaign. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2011.

  Johnson, Lyndon B. “Address After Ordering Federal Troops to Detroit, Michigan.” July 24, 1967. MillerCenter.org.

  ______. “Speech to the Nation on Civil Disorders.” July 27, 1967. MillerCenter.org.

  King, Jr., Dr. Martin Luther. “A Proper Sense of Priorities.” Speech to CALCAV’S Final Plenary, New York Avenue Presbyterian, Washington, DC, February 6, 1968.

  ______. “Address at a Mass Meeting.” Maggie Street Baptist Church, Montgomery, AL, February 16, 1968.

  ______. “Address to the National Association of Radio Announcers.” Atlanta, GA, August 11, 1967. Transcribed from YouTube.com.

  ______. “The Drum Major Instinct.” Sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, GA, February 4, 1968.

  ______. “Honoring Dr. Du Bois.” Speech at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY, February 23, 1968.

  ______. “I Have a Dream.” Speech delivered from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, August 28, 1963.

  ______. “The Other America.” Speech at Grosse Pointe High School, Grosse Pointe, MI, March 14, 1968.

  ______. “Pre-Washington Campaign.” Sermon at Tabernacle Baptist Church, Selma, AL, February 16, 1968.

  ______. “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution.” Sermon at National Cathedral, Washington, DC, March 31, 1968.

  ______. “The Role of the Behavioral Scientist in the Civil Rights Movement.” Address to American Psychological Association, Hilton Hotel, Washington, DC, September 1, 1967.

  ______. Speech at Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim, CA, March 16, 1968.

  ______. Speech at Mason Temple, Memphis, TN, March 18, 1968.

  ______. “The State of the Movement,” also referred to as “A New Sense of Direction.” Speech at SCLC Retreat in Frogmore, SC, November 28, 1967.

  ______. “Unfulfilled Dreams.” Sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, GA, March 3, 1968.

  ______. Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

  ______. “Who Is My Neighbor?” Sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, GA, February 18, 1968.

  ______. “Why Jesus Called a Man a Fool.” Sermon at Mount Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church, Chicago, IL, August 27, 1967.

  Kotz, Nick. A Passion for Equality: George A. Wiley and the Movement. New York: W. W. Norton, 1979.

  Lefever, Harry G. Undaunted by the Fight: Spelman College and the Civil Rights Movement, 1957–1967. Macon: Mercer University Press, 2005.

  Lincoln, C. Eric, ed. Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Profile. New York: Macmillan, 1984.

  Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. “Snow-flakes,” in Poems and Other Writings. New York: Library of America, 2000.

  Paris, Peter, et al. The History of the Riverside Church in the City of New York. New York and London: New York University Press, 2004.

  Posner, Gerald. Killing the Dream: James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Mariner Books, 1999.

  Powell, Jr., Adam Clayton. Adam by Adam: The Autobiography of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. New York: Kensington Publishing Group, 1971.

  Powers, Georgia Davis. I Shared the Dream: The Pride, Passion and Politics of the First Black Woman Senator from Kentucky. Far Hills, NJ: New Horizon Press, 1995.

  “Re: Martin Luther King, Jr.” United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit, Michigan, March 15, 1968.

  Rieder, Jonathan. The Word of the Lord Is upon Me: The Righteous Performance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008.

  Savage, Sean J. JFK, LBJ, and the Democratic Party. Albany: SUNY Press, 2012.

  Sides, Hampton. Hellhound on His Trail: The Electrifying Account of the Largest Manhunt in American History. New York: Doubleday, 2010.

  “Summary of March Twenty-Eight Activities: Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, Memphis, April 12, 1968.

  Theoharis, Jeanne. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks. Boston: Beacon Press, 2013.

  Wagner, Heather Lehr. Aretha Franklin: Singer. New York: Chelsea House, 2010.

  Washington, James M., ed. A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Harper One, 1986.

  Williams, Juan. My Soul Looks Back in Wonder: Voices of the Civil Rights Experience. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 2005.

  ______. Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary. New York: Random House: 1998.

  Winkler, Adam. Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2011.

  Woodard, Komozi. A Nation Within a Nation: Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) and Black Power Politics. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999.

  Young, Andrew. An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America. Waco: Baylor University Press: 2008.

  Newspaper & Magazine Articles:

  “A Tragedy.” Washington Post, April 6, 1967: 20.

  Adler, Renata. “Letter from the Palmer House.” The New Yorker, September 23, 1967.

  Anderson, Dave. “Clay Prefers Jail to Army.” New York Times, March 17, 1967.

  Applebome, Peter. “Coretta Scott King, 78, Widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dies.” New York Times, January 31, 2006.

  “Belafonte in Paris Assails Policy of U.S. in Vietnam.” New York Times, March 25, 1966.

  Blake, Joseph P. “King Remembered.” Philadelphia Daily News, January 14, 1983: 46.

  Branch, Taylor. “Dr. King’s Newest Marcher.” New York Times, September 4, 2010.

  Brown, Hubert G. “An Affable but Angry Rights Leader.” New York Times, July 28, 1967.

  “Capacity Audience Hears Dr. Martin Luther King Lecture at High School.” Grosse Pointe News, March 31, 1968.

  “Carmichael Is Quoted as Saying Negroes Form Guerilla Bands.” New York Times, July 26, 1967.

  “Carmichael Urges a ‘Vietnam’ in U.S.” New York Times, July 28, 1967.

  Carson, Clayborne, and Tom Hamburger. “The Cambridge Convergence: How a Night in Maryland 30 Years Ago Changed the Nation’s Course of Racial Politics.” Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 28, 1997.

  Chapman, William. “Rally Against the Vietnam War at the Pentagon.” Washington Post, October 22, 1967.

  Davies, Lawrence E. “Dr. King’s Response.” New York Times, April 13, 1967.

  Dewan, Shaila. “St. Helena Island Journal: Through Trying Times for Blacks, a Place of Peace.” New York Times, April 4, 2008.

  “Dr. King Accuses Johnson on War.” New York Times, May 1, 1967: 1.

  “Dr. King Defends Action.” New York Times, January 20, 1968.

  “Dr. King, In Prison, Has Virus Infection.” New York Times, November 1, 1967.

  “Dr. King in Stockholm.” New York Times, April 1, 1966.

  “Dr. King Is Denied a Rehearing; Faces 5-Day Term for Contempt.” New York Times, October 10, 1967.

  “Dr. King Is Ordered to Jail in Contempt.” New York Times, October 19, 1967.

  “Dr. King Is Shifted to Safer Jail Cell.” New York Times, November 2, 1967.

  “Dr. King Is Speaker Near Rally by Klan.” New York Times, December 11, 1967.

  “Dr. King Plans to Go to Jail ‘Willingly.’ ” New York Times, October 11, 1967.

  “Dr. King, Released from Alabama Jail, Plans Soviet Visit.” New York Times, November 4, 1967.

  “Dr. King Starts Peace Crusade.” New York Times, April 24, 1967.

  “Dr. King Surprised.” New York Times, October 21, 1967.

  “Dr. King Tentatively Sets Oct. 30 to Start Jail Term.” New York Times, October 21, 1967.

  “Dr. King to Train 3,000 as Leaders for Capital March.” New York Times, January 17, 1968.

  “Dr. King Urges U.S. to Admit Vietnam War Is ‘Mistake.’ ” Los Angeles Times, March 18, 1968.

  “Dr. King’s Disservice to His Cause.” Life, April 21, 1967: 4.<
br />
  “Dr. King’s Error.” New York Times, April 7, 1967.

  “Dr. King’s Group Maps Civil Disobedience Strategy.” New York Times, November 27, 1967.

  “Dr. King’s Tragic Doctrine.” Pittsburgh Courier, April 15, 1967: 6.

  “Dr. King’s Wife Says He Is in Good Spirits.” New York Times, November 3, 1967.

  Duberman, Martin. “The Lonesome Road.” Washington Post, July 9, 1967.

  Fiske, Edward B. “Arlington Vigil Held on Vietnam.” New York Times, February 7, 1968.

  Fox, Sylvan. “City’s Jews Speak of Renewed Pride.” New York Times, June 8, 1967.

  Frankel, Max. “President Offers U.S. Aid to Cities in Curbing Riots.” New York Times, March 30, 1968: 1.

  Franklin, Ben A. “Dr. King Hints He’d Cancel March if Aid Is Offered.” New York Times, April 1, 1968.

  ______. “S.N.C.C. Chief Shot in Cambridge, Md.” New York Times, July 25, 1967.

  Fraser, C. Gerald. “Dr. King Takes ‘Poor People’s Campaign’ to Groups in Harlem and Queens.” New York Times, March 27, 1968.

  ______. “Powell Is Heard by 6,000 on Coast.” New York Times, January 13, 1968.

  ______. “Powell Says ‘2d Civil War’ Began in Los Angeles.” New York Times, January 10, 1968.

  ______. “Powell Won’t Run if He Loses Case.” New York Times, January 15, 1968.

  Fremont-Smith, Eliot. “Storm Warnings.” New York Times, July 12, 1967.

  Fripp, William. “King Attacks Vietnam War Cost at Hub Concert to Aid ‘Exodus.’ ” Boston Globe, October 28, 1967: 1.

  Garrow, David J. “The FBI and Martin Luther King.” The Atlantic, July 1, 2002.

  Gazzar, Brenda. “Civil Rights Activists Recall the Legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.” Los Angeles Daily News via SGVTribune.com, January 19, 2014.

  Ghaemi, M.D., Nassir. “The Driving Furies of Martin Luther King, Jr.” Psychology Today, January/February 2014: 26–27.

  Goodman, Walter. “Yessir, Boss, Said the White Radicals: When Black Power Runs the New Left.” New York Times, September 24, 1967.

  Greensberg, Carl. “Dr. King Asks Johnson Defeat, May Back Another Democrat.” Los Angeles Times, March 17, 1968.