Tag: Martin Luther King Jr.

Over four consecutive days in February 1961, roughly 80 activists—including nine at a coffee shop on Forsyth Street—were arrested and refused bail, testing the limits of the county jail.

Civil Bikes owner Nedra Deadwyler, who leads tours on local history and preservation, highlights some unsung places in Atlanta’s civil rights past.

Atlanta would be a lesser town without Busy Bee, which provided sustenance to Civil Rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr.

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park—which includes the visitor center, King's birth home, Ebenezer Baptist Church, and the historic Fire Station No. 6—has been closed since the government shutdown began on December 22, but thanks to a grant from the Delta Air Lines Foundation and money from NPS recreation fees, the park will reopen for the King holiday on and stay open through Super Bowl LIII.

Fahamu Pecou has come back from tragedy to host a solo show at Emory’s Michael C. Carlos Museum, Justin Timberlake is coming to State Farm Arena, and Atlanta is celebrating what would have been Martin Luther King Jr.'s 90th birthday.

Winifred Watts Hemphill's great-grandfather cofounded South-View Cemetery in 1886 to give black Atlantans a dignified final resting place. Today, her mission is to help ensure those buried there, including civil rights leaders, athletes, and artists, are not forgotten.

Hosea Williams was standing below the Memphis motel balcony when he saw his friend and mentor, Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated. Williams, a pugnacious lieutenant in the civil rights movement, the bad cop to Andrew Young’s good cop, wondered “whether America lost its last chance.”

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in this 1895 Queen Anne house on Auburn Avenue, and a visit to the restored two-story home offers a glimpse into the early years of the future legend.

“During the civil rights movement, we’d start our day at Busy Bee or Paschal’s,” says Andrew Young, referencing his days at the SCLC with Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s. “But you didn’t go to those places so much to eat as you did to meet. That’s where you found out what was going on.”

"This day was no accident," said Bernice King. "[The dedication] had to happen at this day, at this time, with everything that's happening in this nation because once again Martin Luther King Jr. is providing a sense of direction as we deal with the current controversial climate."