Martin Luther King Jr. Archives

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Maria Saporta

Atlanta commemorates 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination

April 5, 2018, 1:00 am/0 Comments

It was a day of sad memories as Atlanta marked the 50th anniversary of the assassination of its hometown spiritual leader – Martin Luther King Jr. – on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.

At the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, King’s family gathered at King’s crypt to lay a wreath and to commemorate the actual moment of King’s death 50 years ago.

50th Anniversary of the assassination of MLK (photos by Kelly Jordan)

April 4, 2018, 7:17 pm/0 Comments

Atlanta celebrated the life and memory of Martin Luther King Jr. this past week. These photos were taken by Kelly Jordan at the King house, the King Center and during the April 9 commemorative march. Click to enlarge each photo:

At King Center photo by Kelly Jordan

Mother and daughter came from California, thrilled to sit with Rev. C. T. Vivian

Big crowds move silently through birth home all day (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Porch of birth home, worker duplexes in background (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

On birth home porch (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Unknown visitor interviewed (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

You know who (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Media in Ebenezer balcony (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

King’s fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha takes seats in Ebenezer (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Guns to plow shares with Corrina Sephora, Atlanta blacksmith (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Michael Thurmond, DeKalb CEO, speaks at Stone Mountain. (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity members (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Audience (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Violin for non-violence (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Audience (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Rev. Bernice King rings bell at 7:01pm (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Eternal flame (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Audience (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Solemn moment (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Audience (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Final moment (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Relatives of Rosa Parks at Ga Tech dedication 4/5/18 (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Rosa Parks statue funders Michelle and Rod Adkins (seated), sculptor Martin Dave (r), Tech President “Bud” Peterson (l) Photo by Kelly Jordan

Hank Klibanoff greats Taylor Branch at Cannon Chapel Emory 4/5/18 (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

James Weldon Johnson lecture at Emory 4/5/18. President Claire E. Sterk (c) welcomes author Taylor Branch (l) (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Kids at April 9 commemorative march (photo by Kelly Jordan)

Bernice King at April 9 commemorative march (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

The MLK children, Rev. Al Sharpton, others at April 9 commemorative march (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

The MLK children, Rev. Al Sharpton, others at April 9 march on Auburn Ave (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

April 9 commemorative march passes SCLC (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

April 9 commemorative march reaches Capitol (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Morehouse Choir at April 9 commemorative march (Photo by Kelly Jordan)

Maria's Metro

GSU leading effort to get U.S. Civil Rights sites on the World Heritage list

March 19, 2018, 4:34 pm/3 Comments

An exhaustive effort is underway to catapult the international recognition of the modern Civil Rights movement in the South.

Thanks to a grant from the Alabama Department of Tourism, Georgia State University is shepherding the effort to get about a dozen Civil Rights landmarks to be nominated as World Heritage sites.

Andrea Young (L-R), Bernard Lafayette, Andrew Young, Mary Hooks and Park Cannon at the Measuring the Dream symposium at First Congregational Church of Atlanta on Thursday night. Credit: Kelly Jordan

Decades after the “I have a Dream” speech, Atlanta professors aim to measure the progess

March 16, 2018, 5:35 pm/2 Comments

“Fifty years later we should be at [parity], not because whites in America are doing worse, but because blacks in America are doing better,” said professor Nisha Botchwey, explaining data from the “Measuring the Dream” project.

APS seeks to cut down dozens of healthy trees for Howard middle school project

February 26, 2018, 6:22 pm/21 Comments

The Atlanta Public Schools is seeking to cut down 60 trees on a key piece of property in the center of the city.

The trees have been growing on the land that surrounds the former David T. Howard Elementary School from the days when Martin Luther King Jr. attended the elementary school – only a few blocks away from his birth home.

Sweet Auburn by Kelly Jordan

February 12, 2018, 2:19 pm/0 Comments

Click to enlarge each photo:

At long last – Martin Luther King Jr. statue anchored on Georgia’s capitol grounds

August 28, 2017, 4:43 pm/0 Comments

A statue of Martin Luther King Jr. was unveiled Monday morning on the grounds of the State Capitol – exactly 54 years after the slain Civil Rights leader delivered his “I have a dream” speech during the March on Washington.

For Georgia, it was a moment of celebration.

National Park Service hits home with King-Carter exhibit – possible peek into future

May 2, 2016, 8:51 pm/6 Comments

An axis of peace. That’s probably the best way to define the relationship between two of Atlanta’s greatest leaders and their families – the late Martin Luther King Jr. and former President Jimmy Carter.

It is a special multi-layered relationship that keeps building upon a shared foundation of non-violence, human and civil rights. And both MLK Jr. and Carter were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts.

A Special Month by Kelly Jordan

February 15, 2016, 8:56 am/0 Comments

This week’s theme is “A Special Month”

In the wake of MLK by Kelly Jordan

Seen in Atlanta, Kelly Jordan

A Special Month by Kelly Jordan

February 14, 2016, 9:26 am/0 Comments

This week’s theme is A Special Month

MLK on Point by Kelly Jordan

WABE, Maria Saporta

Commentary: Operation Hope keeps King’s legacy alive

January 20, 2016, 2:48 pm/1 Comment

Martin Luther King Jr. had a three-pronged mission: eliminate racism, violence and poverty. Andrew Young, one of his lieutenants, said King did not live long enough to fully develop his anti-poverty campaign.

But charismatic leader, John Hope Bryant, has taken up that part of King’s mantle.