St Joseph Composite School - Blue and White Yearbook (Edmonton, Alberta Canada)

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Martin Luther King, Apostle of Non-Violence WASHINGTON — Almost from the moment when he erupted into the national consciousness as an apostle of non-violence, Dr. Martin Luther King brooded about the possibility of violent death. The Nobel Peace Prize winner had before him the example of his great mentor, Mohandas K. Gandhi, who died in India in 1948 at an assassin’s hand. Mr. King was stabbed in 1958 in a Harlem department store as he sat autographing copies of Stride Toward Freedom, the book that described his first great triumph as a civil rights leader — the boycott and sub¬ sequent integration of the Montgomery, Ala., bus system. MISSED HEART The blade, thrust into his chest by Izola Ware Curry, a 42-year-old Negro woman, just missed his heart. Dr. King spent three hours in an operating room and many days recovering. Even before that, at the height of the Montgomery struggle, persons unknown threw a bomb that did not detonate on the front porch of the King’s Montgomery home. By telephone, by letter, by at least four other failed attempts on his life, the threats came until it became quite natural to him to say, as he did in Albany, Ga., in 1962: It may get me crucified. I may even die. But I want it said, even if I die in the struggle, that ' he died to make men free.’ IMITATOR OF CHRIST Following the classic Christian way, Dr. King saw himself as an imitator of Christ and professed his willingness to follow in the footsteps of his Master, even if the path led ultimately to death on his own Calvary. As the civil rights movement became in¬ creasingly militant in 1966 and thereafter, and the shouts of Black Power displaced the strains of r We Shall Overcome, Dr. King scarcely wavered from his insistence that non-violent protest is the most effective weapon of an oppressed people.” Though his refusal to adapt his methods of protest towards courses advocated by more militant Negro spokesmen may have cost him some support among militants, a Michi¬ gan sociologist reported last fall that Dr. King was more popular and considered more effective than Stokely Carmichael among residents of riot-torn areas of Detroit. BRIDGE-BUILDING At the same time Dr. King remained probably the single most effective bridge between the nation’s increasingly estranged Negro and white communities. This power of bridge-building rose to two great climaxes during Dr. King’s career — the great outpouring of humanity that was the 1963 civil rights march on Washington, and the 1965 voters registration campaign in Selma, Ala., that culminated, in the trium¬ phant 5 0-mile Selma-to-Montgomery march. I have a dream,” said Dr. King on the torrid August day in Washington, that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ' We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ CONTENT OF CHARACTER ' I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character . . . I have a dream that one day, on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves, and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down at the table of brotherhood.” Dr. King was a son of Georgia, a preacher’s boy. He was ordained to the Baptist ministry in 1948, when he was only 19, ia his fathers church, Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta. As a youth, Dr. King s life was average and middle class, and since there were few economic worries, a usually happy time. But M. L., as his family and friends called him, early learned the facts of segregated life. TESTIMONIAL DINNER Dr. King was given a testimonial dinner in an Atlanta hotel that was attended by leading citizens, white and Negro, of his native Georgia and of the nation. The occasion wa to honor Dr. King for havine won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. King was summoned to Stockholm to receive his prize on Dec. 10, 1964, because he had provided his people with a powerful new weapon — non-violent protest — in their crusade for full American citizenship. In doing so, he captured the imagination and admiration of millions of people around the world. As Dr. King’s tame grew, he became an international hero. He was invited to the Ghana independence day celebrations. He toured Europe, Asia and South America, and in 1964, was granted an audience by Pope Paul VI, who pledged to support the Negro freedom movement. POTENT POLITICALLY It was perhaps inevitable that Dr. King and the freedom movement he led would become potent political forces by 1960. During the election campaign that year, after he wa jailed for speeding in a Georgia sit-in struggle, the late John F. Kennedy called Mrs. King to express his concern. Mr. Kennedy’s bro¬ ther and campaign manager, Robert, called the judge in the case to inquire about bail. Dr. King was released. In the view of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, his own Republican candidate for the presidency, Richard M. Nixon, made a costly strategic error by not also identifying himself with Dr. King. OWN ERRORS Dr. King himself made some serious strategic errors, according to some of his critics, who felt that in his new militancy after 1960, he jumped too far, too soon and with im¬ proper preparation. They referred to the freedom demonstrations in Albany, Ga., and in Birmingham Dr. King was also accused of mismanaging the civil rights onslaught on Birmingham, the most segregated of major Southern cities. Non-violent though his demonstrations were billed, violence of the ugliest sort erupted. Police used water hoses and vicious police dogs to quell Negro rioting. HEROIC STATURE Despite the violence, however, Dr. King continued to take on heroic stature in the eyes of Negroes and non-segregationist Am¬ ericans, who believed his non-violent Birming¬ ham crusade had been turned into tragedy by the segregationists. Martin Luther King Jr. was born Jan. 15, 1929, the first son and second child of his parents. He died April 4, 1968, the victim of an assassin with a gun, in Memphis, Tenn.

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Ai uvuf Mrs. M. Allan Pat King Sister Patricia ? K d Scwice ' Defuvttmwt Grade XII Graduating Class Grade XI Class Faculty and Staff (pictures unavailable) Mr. E. Bandura Mr. J. Klak Mrs. N. Workun Mrs. L. Ludlow Mrs. M. Baril Teacher Aid Teacher Aid Clerk, Food Service Cafeteria Help Cafeteria Help 19