Marian Wright Edelman discusses Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s commitment to nonviolence, his patience, accessibility, ability to listen, and his relevance today. She tells a story of Dr. King trying to understand the Black Power movement and of the loneliness he felt in the last year of his life. Edelman explores the role of women and music in the Civil Rights Movement, and talks about the impact of the Poor People’s Campaign from 1968, and the importance of economic rights.
Marian Wright Edelman is a lawyer and civil rights activist, and a leading U.S. advocate for children’s rights. Born in Bennettsville, South Carolina in 1939, she earned an undergraduate degree from Spelman College in 1960, and a law degree from Yale University in 1963. In 1964, she left her position on the legal defense team of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to organize voters and advocate for civil rights in the South. In 1973, she founded and became acting President of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF). She received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1985, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000 and a Robert F Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award.
From the HBO / Kunhardt Film Foundation (KFF) Documentary “King in the Wilderness” that follows Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the last years of his life: from the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to his assassination in 1968, through personal stories of the people who were around him.
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Marian Wright Edelman, Mississippi Director, NAACP
Interviewed By: Trey Ellis
Interview Date: March 20, 2017
Chapters:
00:00 Meeting Dr. King
03:46 How Relationship with Dr. King Evolved
06:16 March Across Atlanta
09:09 March Against Fear
13:31 SNCC and Black Power Movement
19:16 Poor People’s Campaign
27:45 Anti-War and Anti-Poverty Factions
34:22 Dr. King’s Assasination
38:10 Resurrection City
40:26 If Dr. King Had Lived
52:13 Fond Memories of Dr. King
58:10 Biggest Misconception About Dr. King
01:01:00 Martin in the Wilderness
01:06:49 Bobby Kennedy
01:07:35 Non Violence
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