February 1968
King protests Vietnam War, plans Poor People’s March
In the Feb. 10, 1968, edition of the AFRO, Dr. Martin Luther King is seen supporting the Black United Front, a leadership group formed by Stokely Carmichael, in Washington, D.C. Rev. King was in the city to protest the Vietnam War and to also confer on the Poor People’s March, which was slated for April 1968. He would be shot and killed on April 4, 1968. Shown here, Carmichael (left), King and civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
September 1960
AFRO correspondent, SCLC fight Jim Crow in court
AFRO reporters and other employees were known for taking an active part in the struggle for change. In the Sept. 24, 1960, edition of the publication, Len Holt, a lawyer and AFRO correspondent, leads the fight to desegregate the taxi services offered in Atlanta. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), led by Dr. Martin Luther King at the time, worked with Holt on the case.
March 1956
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
In the Mar. 31, 1956, edition of the AFRO, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses the pages of the Black Press to reach beyond the Harlem, N.Y., pulpit from which he spoke, inspiring the masses to keep pressing toward a “City of Equality” as they travel along the “Highway to Freedom.” At the time, the Montgomery Bus Boycott had just surpassed 120 days. In the end, the boycott would go on for 381 days.
July 1957
King fights voter suppression and redistricting efforts to push out Black voters
Dr. Rev. M. L. King (left), president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), shakes hands with Dean G. C. Gomillion, of the Tuskegee Institute. Gomillion was president of the Tuskegee Civic Association and fighting against redistricting in his area that would disenfranchise Black voters. King informed Gomillion that 50,000 Montgomerians and MIA had voted to assist and support the Tuskegeans’ fight for the ballot and against disenfranchisement led by Alabama state Sen. Sam Engelhardt. Gomillion and King started a boycott after Tuskegee leaders successfully changed its boundaries from a four-sided square to a 28-sided, seahorse-shaped boundary to cut out a majority of its Black population.
October 1957
Labor unions support the cause
The United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA), a precursor to today’s United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW, was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. The labor union was known for paying fair wages regardless of race, gender or immigration status. Shown here, Russell R. Lasley (left), international vice president for the UPWA, giving Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a check for $11,000 to support his voter rights crusade.
August 1962
Segregation must end
Shown here, an Aug. 4, 1962, photo of members with the Albany Movement, a civil rights campaign out of Georgia. Led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the group was arrested for praying against segregation outside of City Hall. Albany Police Chief Laurie Pritchett (top, left in uniform), stands on the steps above the organizers.
by Megan Sayles AFRO Staff Writer
When examining Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s strongest champions, the Black Press stands out as a loyal messenger on the frontlines of the Civil Rights Movement.
During the 1950s and ‘60s, Black newspapers across the country dedicated their pages to broadcasting the African-American struggle for equality. From documenting racial terror and amplifying boycotts to educating voters and holding institutions accountable, the Black Press was a witness, as well as a weapon.
“The Black Press played a very important, strategic role in the Civil Rights Movement, in particular, getting the messaging out from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference,” said Dr. Benjamin Chavis, president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA). “The Black Press served as a megaphone for their objectives and goals.”
Chavis explained that the Black Press publicized mass meetings tied to the Civil Rights Movement—coverage the mainstream media often avoided. He also noted that the relationship between Dr. King and Black newspapers was a reciprocal one.
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was also a strong supporter of the Black Press,” said Chavis. “He wrote columns for the NNPA during the 1960s.”
Chavis saw this support firsthand. As a young person, he served as a youth coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) during the 1960s, working closely with King.
He said the role the Black Press played was transformational, especially in standing firm in the face of threats.
“During the Civil Rights Movement, a lot of our newspapers were firebombed or dynamited to suppress the Black Press as a means of suppressing the Black freedom movement,” said Chavis. “But, I saw firsthand the courage of African-American publishers, who were vigilant and refused to be intimidated by racist repressive forces.”
In his own words, King described the Black Press as a force that helped to develop the consciousness and dignity of the Black community. During Negro Press Week in 1958, Black radio stations aired a pre-recorded speech by King on the importance of Black news organizations.
“Perhaps, more than any other single force, it has devoted itself to the achievements, ambitions, hopes and even failures of the Negro people. It has interpreted the Negro to the American people and to the world,” said King, of the Black Press, in the speech. “It has brought the American people and the world to Negroes in cities, towns, plantations and cotton fields.”
The AFRO Archives details the Civil Rights Movement on a local, national and international level. Reporting legends, like Moses Newson and William Worthy, risked their lives to keep their communities informed.
“The Black press has always been an integral part of the Black social movements, like the Civil Rights Movement,” said Savannah Wood, executive director of Afro Charities, the sister organization that cares for and curates the archive collection for AFRO News. “In the archives, we see the press used as a tool to inform and organize the public and to document its successes and setbacks from within the movement.”
This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, take a look below at some of the content from the AFRO Archives, where more than three million articles, photos and ephemera prove just how vital Black journalists have been in documenting and advancing human and civil rights.
