To Manuel D. Talley
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Montgomery Improvement Association)
Date: September 19, 1956
Location: Montgomery, Ala.?
Genre: Letter
Topic: Montgomery Bus Boycott
Details
On 17 August Talley, action director of the Los Angeles-based National Consumers Mobilization,1 informed King that in March his organization had considered a sympathy boycott against Los Angeles Transit Lines, a subsidiary of National City Lines, but now considered it unwise. Talley sought Kings guidance on the question, noting that the MIA's struggle was not with the bus company but against state and local segregation ordinances.
Mr. Manuel D. Talley, Action Director
National Consumers Mobilization
P.O. Box 6533
Los Angeles 55, California
Dear Mr. Talley:
Thanks for your very kind letter of August 17. First, let me apologize for being somewhat tardy in my reply. Absence from the city plus the accumulation of a flood of mail account for the delay.
After reading your letter I think you have analyzed the situation correctly. It is true that the bus company has softened a great deal since the Supreme Court’s decision, and that the stumbling block which we confront at this time is really the city officials of Montgomery. In the light of this, I would not advocate your boycotting the Los Angeles Transit Lines. We certainly appreciate your interest in our struggle, and your willingness to help us at every point. Your moral support has given us renewed vigor and courage to carry on. I am very happy to know of your interest in the Tallahassee situation. I am sure that whatever you can do there will be highly appreciated.
Sincerely yours,
M. L. King, Jr.,
President
MLK:mlb
1. Committed to nonviolence, the National Consumers Mobilization sought to protect consumers from discrimination in public places and in employment practices by investigating complaints, negotiating conflicts, pursuing litigation, and organizing consumer boycotts.
Source: MLKP-MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954-1968, Boston University, Boston, Mass.