9 episodes

April 4th, 2018 marks 50 years since Martin Luther King Jr. was shot to death at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. A deep look at the last year of King’s life, reveals the forces working against him, the stresses of leadership, and the work that was left undone. At a time when protests, police response and government accountability have surged back into the news, King’s life and work have never been more relevant.

King's Last March American Public Media

    • Society & Culture

April 4th, 2018 marks 50 years since Martin Luther King Jr. was shot to death at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. A deep look at the last year of King’s life, reveals the forces working against him, the stresses of leadership, and the work that was left undone. At a time when protests, police response and government accountability have surged back into the news, King’s life and work have never been more relevant.

    8. A Movement in the Millions

    8. A Movement in the Millions

    Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter and a community organizer, talks about Martin Luther King's legacy, the fight for racial justice today and why she doesn't look forward to Martin Luther King Day.

    • 33 min
    7. The Inconvenient Hero

    7. The Inconvenient Hero

    Vincent Harding was Martin Luther King's longtime friend and advisor. They first met in 1958 when King was laid up in bed, recovering from an assassination attempt. Harding said King's death made some people in the civil rights movement wonder if the country was worth fighting for.

    • 24 min
    6: The Accidental Leader

    6: The Accidental Leader

    Clayborne Carson, the director of the King Papers Project, says Martin Luther King Jr. was an "accidental" civil rights leader. Carson argues we created another King -- someone he never was -- the moment he died.

    • 28 min
    5: April 4th, 1968

    5: April 4th, 1968

    Fifty years ago, at 6:00 in the evening, Martin Luther King Jr. was standing on the balcony of his hotel room, trying to decide if he needed a coat.

    • 12 min
    4: I Am a Man

    4: I Am a Man

    In the spring of 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. disregarded the advice of his entire staff and traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of striking sanitation workers.

    • 14 min
    3: To 'Prevent the Rise of a Messiah'

    3: To 'Prevent the Rise of a Messiah'

    Under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI conducted a relentless campaign to track, spy on and harass Martin Luther King Jr. All tactics were fair game in their effort to "neutralize" the civil rights leader.

    • 20 min

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