The scene was extraordinary. A crush of people, as far as the eye could see, gathered along the streets between Ebenezer Baptist Church and Morehouse College. Most were dressed in their Sunday best. The crowd was quiet, respectful and solemn. Some had climbed trees or street poles for a better view.
Along the street progressed a mule-drawn wagon, transporting a man who had fought for the dignity and fair treatment of his followers and others in the crowd and around the world. His closest allies surrounded the wagon, some dressed in denim to represent his latest cause, an attack on poverty in America. His two sons walked the route alongside their father.
The scene, of course, was the funeral procession of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
I didn’t grow up in Atlanta, and was a child at the time of King’s death. So I was mostly unaware of the way my adopted hometown responded 50 years ago when King was killed .
I learned about the huge turnout for the funeral procession and so much more in the past weeks from the extraordinary coverage of our newspaper, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and our news partners Channel 2 Action News and WSB Radio.
I hope you have had the chance to spend time with some of our multi-faceted, multi-platform reporting, which included a documentary by Channel 2 with rare video footage, a re-release of 13 exclusive audio interviews of King colleagues compiled a decade ago, radio conversations with listeners and a printed special section that wrapped the paper on April 4. Since 70 percent of current metro Atlantans weren't even born with King died, we wanted to offer education, depth and context about this important man.
Senior Managing Editor Monica Richardson, Enterprise Editor Richard Halicks and a team of others began devising our plans months ago. Editor Kevin Riley and WSB-TV News Director Misti Turnbull led a group collaborating with our radio and TV brethren. For everyone involved, I believe the coverage was a labor of pride and honor.
Deputy Managing Editor Leroy Chapman wrote a column two weeks ago about an event that anchored our coverage, a fascinating panel discussion at the Atlanta History Center about King's life and legacy. The panel included close friends and family and Chapman described what you will see if you tune in to a recording of the subscriber event: "King confidant and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young choking back emotion recounting the day King was killed in Memphis 50 years ago. Young talked about King accepting death. He said it was a peace he witnessed in King that wasn't fatalistic but rather a determined destiny that he understood to be part of his calling."
King’s youngest daughter, Bernice King, was 5 years old when her father was killed. She told the crowd at the history center it was difficult to grow up without a father, but she was at peace with her family’s sacrifice because she is a daily witness to how her parents’ lives changed the world.
Chapman compiled another important part of our coverage, a panel Q&A on the status of African Americans and solutions to race, class and economic issues today. The story isn't all good news, unfortunately. We thought it was an important coverage element, amid all the history, to look at what concerns King might have about our society if he were alive today
Much of our coverage was history, although history that is extremely relevant today. Halicks said one of his goals for the coverage was to introduce readers to the man who would become such an extraordinary leader.
“Most of us know King as an international icon, as an orator without equal,” Halicks said. “But we don’t know M.L. King the man. We don’t know that he loved to shoot pool, that he was a heavy smoker who hid his cigarettes from Coretta, that as a child he did comical impressions of a particularly devout reverend in town.
“Our reporting pulled those details from obscurity and, I hope, helped to restore a human dimension to Dr. King.”
A story by Nedra Rhone and Helena Oliviero introduced readers to the young King who grew up in Atlanta, worried that he would never measure up to his father's expectations.
Another extraordinary piece that got us much closer to King as human – as opposed to King as hero – appeared on the front page of our April 4 editions. Staff writer Ernie Suggs focused on King’s last year, the change in mission he embraced, and how he and the movement he led struggled with that direction. The story begins at Riverside Church in New York City, at a speech King gave a year before his death.
Here’s part of what Suggs wrote:
“‘I come to this magnificent house of worship tonight because my conscience leaves me no other choice,’ he (King) told the 3,000 gathered.
For 22 minutes King talked about his ministerial obligations to expand his narrow American perspective into a global one and the three evils of racism, poverty and war.
He challenged President Lyndon B. Johnson — an ally who had pushed through the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act — to get out of a war that was “rooted in capitalism” and devote more resources and attention to the homefront. He even called for men to declare themselves conscientious objectors.”
Suggs revealed that the turn to a wider mission came in what would be the most trying year of King’s life.
“The path from Selma to Montgomery had been clear and unambiguous,” Suggs wrote. “But the road ahead was fraught and painful. His movement was splintering. New voices mocked his creed of nonviolence. He couldn’t sleep and was suffering from depression and exhaustion.”
Suggs and reporter Rosalind Bentley , who so eloquently introduced me to the King funeral procession in a story about some newfound, exclusive photos of the event, are among the most respected newspaper writers in America on race issues. The expertise and passion they brought to the King project was a gift for readers and an advantage for our newsroom and media partners.
You can find a full menu of the coverage at this link: https://www.myajc.com/news/martin-luther-king-years-later/ABUSRKgbIKS61mlxGaHhTJ/. I hope you will spend some time learning about this important chapter in Atlanta's history. It's worth knowing what really went on with King and how it shapes us today.
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