Martin Luther King Jr. Revisited: A Black Power Feminist Pays Homage to the King

In this part memoir–part historical reflection on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Gwendolyn Simmons recounts her association with Dr. King during the 1960s—the heyday of the civil rights and Black Power era—as a college student, field-secretary (organizer)-turned–Black Power revolutionary in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)—the "radical" wing of the movement. She contrasts her early favorable perceptions of King as both Baptist minister and civil rights leader with her later ones—filtered through her radicalized SNCC lenses—which pictured him as an accommodationist to racism and racists. Last, she reviews what she considers the "real" Dr. King—formerly obscured by her youth and ignorance—reflecting on his words and actions and concluding: King had the most realistic and ethical analysis of and remedy for the problems besetting America. For her, his vision and his calls for action are not only relevant today but are also an imperative for all Americans—black, white, brown, yellow, and red—who yearn for peace and justice in our world today.