At Canaan's Edge (156 page)

“We can start by planning”: Powers,
I Shared,
p. 151.

“Martin has been thinking about you”: Ibid., p. 146.

“I had no choice”: Ibid., p. 148.

“This is no Methodist Church!”: Excerpts, SCLC board meeting, Louisville, Kentucky, March 30, 1967, Tape 147, Hosea Williams tapes collection, King Archives.

Hosea Williams would recall: Garrow,
Bearing,
pp. 552, 711 (note 29).

a weaker version passed: John Herbers, “Dr. King's Aides Score Asia War,” NYT, March 31, 1967, p. 1; Morgan,
One Man,
pp. 162–63.

“a major policy paper”: NYT, April 2, 1967, p. 76.

interview appeared on the front page: “Dr. King to Weigh Civil Disobedience if War Intensifies,” NYT, April 2, 1967, p. 1.

changes past the deadline crunch: Int. Richard Fernandez, Jan. 10, 1991; int. Andrew Young, Oct. 26, 1991; int. Vincent Harding, Dec. 30, 2004; int. Barry Johnson, Jan. 4, 2005; Garrow,
Bearing,
p. 552; Hall,
Because,
p. 42; Goldstein,
Coffin,
p. 181.

Henry Steele Commager: John C. Bennett to Henry Steele Commager, March 22, 1967, Series 3, Box 7, CALCAV, SCPC.

promotional releases drew a full turnout: Fernandez to CALCAV executive committee, March 27, 1967, “Arrangements for Martin Luther King Meeting on Vietnam,” March 30, 1967, and CALCAV press release dated April 2, 1967, all in Series 3, Box 7, CALCAV, SCPC; Powers,
War,
p. 161.

suite at the Americana Hotel: New York FBI report dated Jan. 29, 1968, SFC-NR, pp. 6–7.

Levison and Harry Wachtel: Int. Harry Wachtel, Nov. 29, 1983, and May 17, 1990.

same charged moments to absorb: Wiretap transcript of telephone conversation between MLK and Stanley Levison, 4:34
P.M
., April 8, 1967, FLNY-9-1267a.

overflow line stretched toward 120th Street: Ibid.; NYT, April 5, 1967, p. 1; Branch,
Parting,
pp. 38–39.

acute foreboding sent Levison: Wiretap transcript of telephone conversation between Stanley Levison and Alice Loewi, 11:24
A.M.
, April 5, 1967, FLNY-9-1265.

“I come to this magnificent house of worship”: King's prepared text for the April 4, 1967, speech at Riverside Church was distributed beforehand by CALCAV sponsors under the title “Beyond Vietnam,” Series 3, Box 7, CALCAV, SCPC. The same text appears under the title “A Time to Break Silence,” in Washington, ed.,
Testament,
p. 231ff. The address as actually delivered, which includes new beginning and ending paragraphs, plus minor changes from the body of the text, was recorded by WRVR (Radio Riverside) and preserved in Box 23, A/KS.

“greatest purveyor of violence in the world”: Ibid.

“They must see Americans as strange liberators”: Ibid.

“The world now demands a maturity”: Ibid. This phrase and those cited above come from the comprehensive twenty-two-page speech draft submitted to King by Vincent Harding, “Suggested title;
Beyond Vietnam,
” Vincent Harding Papers, courtesy of Vincent Harding.

“barefoot and shirtless people”: Ibid. For MLK's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, Dec. 10, 1964, and Nobel Lecture, Dec. 11, 1964, see NYT, Dec. 11, pp. 1, 33; Washington, ed.,
Testament,
p. 224ff; “Outline for Nobel Prize Lecture” in Nobel Prize speech drafts, A/KP18f33 and A/KP12f67; Branch,
Pillar,
pp. 540–43.

“roll down like waters”: Amos 5:24.

“There is no one who can speak”: CALCAV pamphlet,
Speak on the War in Vietnam,
1967, p. 19.

“I am not aware that Dr. King”: Transcript, “Question and Answer Period Following Dr. Martin Luther King's address, Riverside Church, 4/4/67,” Series 3, Box 7, CAL CAV, SCPC.

musician Robert Williams: Branch,
Parting,
pp. 60–63, 201, 312.

friend now euphoric with relief: Int. Robert Williams, April 3, 1984; Garrow,
Bearing,
pp. 552–53; wiretap transcript of telephone conversation between Stanley Levison and Alice Loewi, 11:24
A.M.
, April 5, 1967, FLNY-9-1265.

distorted news coverage for a rude shock: Garrow,
Bearing,
pp. 553–55; Young,
Burden,
pp. 429–30;
Jet,
April 20, 1967, pp. 8–9; Hall,
Because,
pp. 43–44.

“almost universal condemnation”: Friedland,
Lift Up,
p. 183.

“any attack on you”: Wiretap transcript of telephone conversation among Stanley Levison, Harry Wachtel, and MLK, 5:35
P.M.
, April 9, 1967, FLNY-9-1269a; “Dr. King Upheld As Critic of War/ Rabbi Notes Rights Leader Received Nobel Prize,” NYT, April 23, 1967, p. 15.

Jewish war veterans: “Jewish War Veterans Attack Dr. King's Stand on War,” NYT, April 6, 1967, p. 10.

pamphlet of the collected Riverside addresses: CALCAV pamphlet,
Speak on the War in Vietnam,
with “a foreword by Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr,” dated April 11, 1967; Hall,
Because,
p. 43.

“it would help to clarify things”: Wiretap transcript of telephone conversation between MLK and Stanley Levison, 1:33
P.M.
, April 12, 1967, FLNY-9-1272a.

Stanley Levison considered the speech itself: Wiretap transcript of telephone conversation between Stanley Levison and Alice Loewi, 11:24
A.M.
, April 5, 1967, FLNY-9-1265; Wiretap transcript of telephone conversation between Stanley Levison and Harry Wachtel, 11:03
P.M.
, April 6, 1967, FLNY-9-1266a.

“I do not think it was a good expression”: Wiretap transcript of telephone conversation between MLK and Stanley Levison, 4:34
P.M.
, April 8, 1967, FLNY-9-1269a.

“What on earth can Dr. King”: Frank Getlein, “Sen. Brooke—Rev. King Contrast,” WS, April 5, 1967, p. 18.

“crown prince of the Vietniks”: Harry McPherson to LBJ, 6:30
P.M.
, April 4, 1967, McPherson Papers, Box 14, LBJ.

“has thrown in with the commies”: John P. Roche to LBJ, April 5, 1967, White House Conference, Box 56, LBJ.

called King to argue in detail: Clifford L. Alexander, Jr., to LBJ, 5:07
P.M.
, April 7, 1967, EX SP2-4/1967, LBJ; int. Clifford Alexander, Dec. 17, 2004.

Alexander and others mobilized: Ibid.; Garrow,
Bearing,
pp. 554–56; George Christian to LBJ, 12:30
P.M.
, April 8, 1967, MLK Name File, Box 144, LBJ.

Carl Rowan angrily told King: Rowan,
Breaking,
pp. 246–48; Carl Rowan, “Martin Luther King's Tragic Decision,”
Reader's Digest,
Sept. 1967, p. 37ff.

“N.A.A.C.P. Decries Stand”: NYT, April 11, 1967, p. 1.

“Bunche Disputes Dr. King”: NYT, April 13, 1967, p. 1.

text supplied by J. Edgar Hoover: Hoover to Mildred Stegall, April 11, 1967, Box 32, OFMS, LBJ.

press conference at the Biltmore: Wiretap transcript of telephone conference call among MLK, Andrew Young, Stanley Levison, Ralph Abernathy, and Tom Offenburger, 10:54
A.M.
, April 11, 1967, FLNY-9-1271; wiretap transcript of telephone conversation between Stanley Levison (dictating) and Dora McDonald, 1:32
P.M.
, April 11, 1967, FLNY-9-1271a; MLK statement, Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, April 12, 1967, A/SC28f35; NYT, April 13, 1967, p. 32.

“The war in Vietnam is a much graver injustice”: Transcript of MLK press conference, April 12, 1967, A/KS.

“I felt sorry for him”: Wiretap transcript of telephone conversation between MLK and Stanley Levison, 12:55
P.M.
, April 13, 1967, FLNY-9-1273a.

promising to make clear: Ibid.; NYT, April 14, 1967, p. 21; NYT, April 26, 1967, p. 14.

“in every movement we have started”: Wiretap transcript of telephone conversation between MLK and Stanley Levison, 8:20
P.M.
, April 12, 1967, FLNY-9-1272a.

“This was very true in Birmingham”: Wiretap transcript of telephone conversation between MLK and Stanley Levison, 12:55
P.M.
, April 13, 1967, FLNY-9-1273a.

“It will be harder than Birmingham”: Ibid.

“those who are ashamed”: Young,
Burden,
p. 422.

“Many who have listened”: “A Tragedy,” WP, April 6, 1967, p. 20.

“Dr. King's Error”: NYT, April 7, 1967, p. 36.

broke down more than once into tears: Int. Harry Wachtel, Nov. 29, 1983; Wofford,
Kennedys and Kings,
p. 223; Young,
Burden,
p. 429; Garrow,
Bearing,
p. 554.

U.S. marshals escorted him: NYT, April 10, 1967, p. 13.

ballroom of the Hotel Heidelburg: NYT, April 11, 1967, p. 18.

“We have children”: Hearings, U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Unemployment, Manpower, and Poverty, April 10, 1967, Y4.L11/2:P86/4/pt.2, p. 585.

“He is wrong”: Ibid., p. 646ff; int. Marian Wright Edelman, March 5, 1985.

A few subcommittee members ventured: NYT, April 12, 1967, p. 29.

“What did you have for breakfast?”:
Jet,
May 4, 1967, pp. 14–22.

Kennedy pushed into places: Schlesinger,
Robert Kennedy,
pp. 854–55; Stein,
Journey,
pp. 278–79; Dittmer,
Local People,
pp. 382–88; Shesol,
Contempt,
pp. 329–30; Thomas,
Robert Kennedy,
pp. 339–40; int. Edwin King, June 26, 1992.

“have been implemented in the best way”: WLBT television news footage, April 11, 1967, Tape 3414/F2469, MDAH.

All nine members of the subcommittee: Joseph S. Clark et al. to LBJ, April 27, 1967, RFK Senate Papers, Subject File Hunger, 4/67-5/67, Box 59, JFK.

“I cannot agree with you more”: RFK to MLK, April 28, 1967, RFK Senate Papers, Subject File Hunger, 4/67–5/67, Box 59, JFK.

Rabbi Heschel: Wiretap transcript of telephone conference call among MLK, Stanley Levison, and Harry Wachtel, 6:18
P.M.
, April 9, 1967, FLNY-9-1269a.

“I don't want to be up on that stage”: Ibid.

“and I know that scared the hell”: Wiretap transcript of telephone conference call among MLK, Stanley Levison, Harry Wachtel, Andrew Young, Harry Belafonte, and Cleveland Robinson, 6:28
P.M.
, April 12, 1967, FLNY-9-1272a.

Stanley Levison persuade King to adjust: Wiretap transcript of telephone conversation between MLK and Stanley Levison, 8:20
P.M.
, April 12, 1967, FLNY-9-1272a.

His revision sheltered: Wiretap transcript of telephone conversation between Stanley Levison and Clarence Jones, 10:46
A.M.
, April 14, 1967, FLNY-9-1274; wiretap transcript of telephone conversation between Stanley Levison and Harry Wachtel, 12:42
A.M.
, April 14, 1967, FLNY-9-1275. Levison complained to Wachtel that King was relying too much on Al Lowenstein, who was a newcomer to the team of speech contributors.

King flew overnight: Ibid.; MLK itinerary, April 1967, A/SC47f20.

April 15 Mobilization: Zaroulis and Sullivan,
Who Spoke Up?,
pp. 98, 111–14; Powers,
War,
pp. 181–83; Dellinger,
From Yale,
pp. 284–86; Wells,
War Within,
pp. 132–35; Williams,
King God Didn't Save,
p. 104; Hall,
Because,
p. 44; minutes of the working committee of the Spring Mobilization, 8:00
P.M.
, March 30, 1967, Series 1, Box 1, MOBE, SCPC; int. Ivanhoe Donaldson, Nov. 30, 2000.

“Stop the bombing!”: Garrow,
Bearing,
pp. 556–57; King speech, April 15, 1967, A/KS; Marvin Watson to LBJ, April 19, 1967, MSF, LBJ.

singer's assistant expressed chagrin: Wiretap transcript of telephone conversation between Stanley Levison and Gloria Cantor, 12:40
P.M.
, April 17, 1967, FLNY-9-1277a.

“Dr. King, yesterday you led”: Transcript,
Face the Nation,
Vol. 10, No. 16, April 16, 1967, A/KP6f25.

Press disputes clouded: Mike McGrady, “The Press and the Protest,”
Newsday,
May 13, 1967; Wells,
War Within,
p. 133; NYT, April 16, 1967, p. 1; NYT, April 17, 1967, pp. 1, 26; NYT, April 19, 1967, p. 3; NYT, June 4, 1967, p. 49; Young,
Burden,
p. 429.