WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking about nonviolence at an outdoor press conference after violence during a night march in Albany, Georgia, 1962 July 25
View
@ Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection
WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)
Description
In this WSB newsfilm clip, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., speaks at an outdoor press conference in Albany, Georgia, on Wednesday, July 25, 1962, addressing the previous night's altercation when angry onlookers began throwing rocks and bottles at the police who were arresting demonstrators. While neither the demonstrators nor the leaders of the Albany Movement were violent during the disturbance, King says that the civil rights movement abhors violence so much that they are compelled to assume some responsibility for any destructive behavior of African Americans who were present. In response to the dispute, civil rights leaders declare a "day of penance" in which there will be no demonstrations and ask that those who adhere to nonviolent principles pray for those who have not yet assimilated them. King regrets that violence plays into the hands of segregationists, and that public officials are exploiting the outbreak "for their own political capital." King also announces afternoon plans to take a team disciplined in nonviolence into businesses, pool halls, and taverns of Albany's Harlem neighborhood to educate residents about appropriate nonviolent tactics and to encourage their practice. As explanations for the crowd's actions, King cites the July 23, 1962 beating of a pregnant Marion King, the wife of Slater King, cousin of Martin Luther King, by guards in Camilla, Georgia; and the April 15, 1962 slaying of Albany African American restaurant owner Walter Harris by local police. He avows, however, that these are not excuses. African Americans may develop a sense of discontent...
Video
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968
Record Contributed By
Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards CollectionRecord Harvested From
Digital Library of GeorgiaKeywords
- African Americans
- Albany
- Albany (Ga.)
- Camilla
- Civil Rights
- Civil Rights Demonstrations
- Civil Rights Movements
- Direct Action
- Georgia
- Mobs
- Neighborhoods
- Nonviolence
- Passive Resistance
- Police
- Police Brutality
- Press Conferences
- Press Coverage
- Race Relations
- Segregation
- Violence
- Violence Against