To Barbara Lindsay
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Date: May 3, 1961
Location: Atlanta, Ga.?
Genre: Letter
Topic: Martin Luther King, Jr. - Political and Social Views
Details
In an attempt to overthrow Cuba’s dictator Fidel Castro, the United States sponsored an invasion by Cuban rebels at the Bay of Pigs in April 1961. After the coup failed, Lindsay wrote a lengthy letter to King, expounding her fears and opinions on the political situation in Cuba.1 Below, King echoes Lindsay’s disapproval of the Cuban situation, warning that “unless we as a nation join the revolution and go back to the revolutionary spirit that characterized the birth of our nation, I am afraid that we will be relegated to a second-class power in the world with no real moral voice to speak to the conscience of humanity.”
Miss Barbara Lindsay
498 N. 2nd Street
San Jose, California
Dear Miss Lindsay:
This is just a note to acknowledge receipt of your letter of recent date. Let me say emphatically that I absolutely share your views on the Cuban situation.2 I think our country has done not only a dis-service to its own citizens but to the whole of humanity in dealing with the Cuban situation. For some reason, we just don’t understand the meaning of the revolution taking place in the world. There is a revolt all over the world against colonialism, reactionary dictatorship, and systems of exploitation. Unless we as a nation join the revolution and go back to the revolutionary spirit that characterized the birth of our nation, I am afraid that we will be relegated to a second-class power in the world with no real moral voice to speak to the conscience of humanity.
I have already signed one statement which is to appear in one of the major newspapers concerning disapproval of our participation in the Cuban invasion.3 I did this because I am as concerned about international affairs as I am about the civil rights struggle in the United States.
Thank you for your letter, and for the book which you enclosed. I will look forward to reading Dr. Mills’ book as soon as time will permit.4
Very sincerely yours,
Martin Luther King, Jr.
K.m
1. Lindsay was concerned that U.S. relations with Cuban exiles would put both countries on the brink of war. She also compared the Cuban situation with the Civil Rights Movement and hoped that civil rights and other leaders would “speak out for peace and against intervention in the Cuban matter” (Lindsay to King, April 1961). Barbara Sterne Lindsay (1920–1978) grew up in Wilton, Connecticut, and received a B.A. in linguistics (1961) from San José State University. An active member of the Communist Party of the United States of America, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and SNCC, Lindsay also helped organize farm workers in Marysville and Watsonville, California, after attending the California Labor School in San Francisco. Additionally, Lindsay wrote a number of books for children and juveniles. Clarence B. Jones, King’s attorney, later urged King in November 1962 to address the Cuban Missile Crisis with the president: “There are those who feel someone of ‘Dr. King’s stature’ should say something ‘forcefully’ on the Cuban crisis.” Jones further admonished other black leaders of “stature” who had remained “silent on this question.” Jones’s letter included a draft statement (Jones to King, 1 November 1962).
2. Tensions between the U.S. and Cuba increased between January 1959, when Castro assumed power in Cuba, and April 1961. Due to Cuba’s communist policies and alignment with the Soviet Union, the U.S. imposed an embargo on trade with Cuba, and eventually severed all diplomatic ties with the country. The Bay of Pigs highlighted the growing animosity between the U.S. and Cuba, culminating in the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962.
3. On 28 April 1961 socialist leader Norman Thomas asked King to sign an open letter to President Kennedy protesting the United States-backed attack on Cuba. The letter, which was published in New America on 19 May 1961, did not include King’s signature (“An Open Letter to the President: No Intervention in Cuba!”).
4. In a handwritten addendum to her letter, Lindsay suggested that King read C. Wright Mills’s 1960 book Listen, Yankee: The Revolution in Cuba: “It’s an interesting book. Probably you have read it” (Lindsay to King, April 1961).
Source: MLKP-MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954–1968, Boston University, Boston, Mass.