Description

Episode Number: 57Marking the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (April 4, 1968), this program presents a two-part evaluation of the impact of his life and death on the condition of black people. Three leading black journalists recall Dr. King through personal and professional experiences, reflecting on the times from which he and the civil rights movement emerged. They are Gerald Fraser, a New York Times reporter who frequently wrote articles on Dr. King and interviewed him on his last day in New York; Chester Higgins Sr., senior editor of Jet magazine and a former editor of the Detroit Courier; and Peter Bailey, an associate editor of Ebony magazine who has closely followed Dr. Kings career. The discussion raises a number of questions as to black leadership as well as to the leadership of Martin Luther King. Is it charisma or the white press that makes a black leader; should a black leader deal with U.S. foreign policy problems? All three agree that King was a charismatic leader, although the press and television were timely contributors to his emergence as an important figure. Bailey points out that Kings popularity was based on more than press coverage: You have got to have more than the press operating for you to make a mass following. And Fraser offers Bayard Rustin as a counter-example when he says, Theres a guy that The New York Times and other papers would really like to makea great Negro leader. He adds,...

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Thirteen - New York Public Library

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Digital Commonwealth