Martin L. King

Marching For King

by Kevin Levin on January 21, 2013 · 22 comments · Follow me on

in Civil War Culture, Memory

This photograph was taken in Brooksville, Florida in 1989.  The caption reads: “Their backs turned to the Confederate memorial, more than 500 people rally in Brooksville before stepping off for a parade on Martin Luther King Day.”  The inscription on the back of the monument reads: This monument perpetuates the memory of our fallen heroes–We [...]

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What Would Robert E. Lee Do?

by Kevin Levin on January 16, 2012 · 1 comment · Follow me on

in Civil War Culture, Memory

Whether or not Washington and Lee’s Law School closes in recognition of the national holiday in honor of Martin Luther King’s contributions to the advancement of social, political, and legal justice is entirely in the hands of the school community.  The university already does quite a bit to honor the slain civil rights leader, but [...]

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Remembering King

by Kevin Levin on January 16, 2012 · 0 comments · Follow me on

in Civil War Culture, Memory

In 1956 the state of Georgia adopted a new flag.  That same year Georgia’s native son, Martin Luther King, was arrested for for the first time for speeding in Montgomery, Alabama.

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Dear State of Alabama,

by Kevin Levin on January 17, 2011 · 46 comments · Follow me on

in Civil Rights History, Lost Cause

General Robert E. Lee never marched through your state.

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Should Black Americans Celebrate Lee-Jackson Day?

by Kevin Levin on January 26, 2010 · 2 comments · Follow me on

in Civil War Culture

After all, Stonewall Jackson was an active member in Lexington’s Presbyterian Church.  He even worked to teach enslaved and free blacks to read the Bible.  All of this should appeal to black Americans, who to this day and as a group closely identify with Christianity.  Robert E. Lee spent the last few years of his [...]

On April 4, 1968, LIFE photographer Henry Groskinsky and writer Mike Silva, on assignment in Alabama, learned that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had been shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. They raced to the scene and there, incredibly, had unfettered access to the hotel grounds, Dr. King’s room, and the surrounding area. For [...]

Citizens

by Kevin Levin on January 19, 2009 · 5 comments · Follow me on

in Civil Rights History, Current Affairs, Memory, Slavery, Southern History

Acknowledging Martin L. King Through Others

by Kevin Levin on January 21, 2008 · 5 comments · Follow me on

in Civil Rights History

Martin Luther King Day has become too fashionable.  At its worst it reinforces a skewed memory of the Civil Rights Movement as beginning with his organization of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 and ending with his assassination in 1968.  It also obscures the complexity of organization on the grassroots level and [...]