Topic: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Ohio Valley History Conference Closes with flourish

By Turner McCullough Jr. | November 6, 2008 |

The conference banquet dinner featured John Seigenthaler Sr. as keynote speaker. Panel presentations on Day Two prove diverse and expansive in scope.

The 24th annual Ohio Valley History Conference continued on a high note with the banquet dinner on Friday night, October 30th. The keynote address was given by John Seigenthaler Sr. in the Morgan University Center Ballroom. Seigenthaler shared his remembrances of Bobby Kennedy and the Kennedy Presidential era in his address, “Conversations with Bobby Forty Years Later.”

Among his many remembrances, he recounted the young attorney general’s zeal in pursuing union corruption and the tumultuous tension of the Civil Rights struggles, particularly in Alabama and Mississippi; the Selma Bus Boycott, and the lead-up to the March on Washington. When U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy agreed to speak at the Law School of the University of Georgia, following their confrontational desegregation battle the year before, the university administration did not want him to meet with either of the two Black students that had been admitted in its desegregation battle. However Bobby did precisely that and met with Sharlene Hunter Galt.

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OMG, Seize the Day!

By Turner McCullough Jr. | November 5, 2008 |

A Personal Commentary

Watching the election returns last night as history was being made in Tennessee State Senate District 22 and the national race for president, I was mindful of my unique position as a witness to change.

I was keenly mindful that at the age of thirteen, my father and mother had insisted that I go to Washington, D.C. for the March on Washington in 1963. It was the first time I had ever traveled away from Charleston, and doing so myself was intimidating. Hearing all the speeches made that day astounded me. However, Dr. King’s address calling the nation to acknowledge its debt to America’s Creed was absolutely mesmerizing. Tonight, just short of six months since my father passed away, I witnessed an achievement of Dr. King’s Dream for this nation in which I know he would have rejoiced. My heart literally filled my chest in amazement, stunned and nearly in shock, that I have lived to see what my father, mother and grandfather could only dream of, become a reality. «Read the rest of this article»

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The First Family of Civil Rights Loses Another Family Member & Icon

By Terry McMoore | June 3, 2007 |

The African American community mourns the recent death of Yolanda King.

With great sadness we mourn the lost of Yolanda King. Civil Rights Activist, Producer, Actress, and Lecturer. As we reflect on her achievements while on this earth let’s not forget that this Homegoing will unite her with God, Mother and Father.

She will be missed by many but her advocacy for the poor will be remembered forever as will her spirit for life and equity for all.  As an avid supporter of Gay rights, Yolanda King was not always placed in the forefront of the media like other King family members for their stance on this issue. 

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