From Septima Poinsette Clark
Author: Clark, Septima Poinsette
Date: May 23, 1961
Location: Monteagle, Tenn.
Genre: Letter
Topic: Freedom Rides
Details
“As one Freedom Fighter to another,” Clark commends King for his support of the freedom riders who met violent opposition in Alabama. She writes: “I could not sit on this mountain top and not let you know how much taller you have grown in my estimation.” King replied on 13 June 1961.1
Dr. Martin Luther King
407 Auburn Avenue N.E.
Atlanta, Georgia
Dear Dr. King;
Once more you have endeared yourself to the Peoples of the World as a real leader of the American People.
To read about you flying into strife torn Montgomery to be with your beloved people is a great feat and I commend you for it.
I saw the Broadcast on Monday night and heard you speak in eloquent simple terms to the courageous who braved the violence of the mob to unite their prayers and cement their determination for justice.
You did not wire a statement but went into the thickest fight as a real symbol of courage to the grass roots people.
I am writing, not as a representative of Highlander but as one Freedom Fighter to another. I could not sit on this mountain top and not let you know how much taller you have grown in my estimation.
My heart thrilled when I read the article in the Afro-American which gave your statement about Braden and Wilkinson.2 Yes the road ahead, as James Baldwin says, is dangerous but I see you are not attempting to bypass it.3 May God continue to pour His blessings upon you and your family and keep you ever in His care.
We cannot turn back, the future lies bright before us. We have a great job to do. The White Southerner must be educated. We, the American Negro must educate him.
Sincerely yours,
[signed]
Septima P. Clark
1. In his reply, King wrote that Clark’s “words came as a great spiritual lift,” and “your courage strengthens my courage.”
2. In 1958 Carl Braden and Frank Wilkinson appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and refused to answer questions about their communist ties. They were convicted of contempt of Congress and sent to federal prison in 1961. An article appeared in the Chattanooga News-Free Press quoting King as saying the recent jailing of Braden and Wilkinson is evidence of “McCarthyism” and that they were “being punished—particularly Mr. Braden—for their integration activities” (“King Claims Braden, Wilkinson Jailing Evidence of ‘McCarthyism,’” 2 May 1961).
3. Clark refers to Baldwin’s article “The Dangerous Road Before Martin Luther King,” Harper’s Magazine, February 1961, pp. 33–42.
Source: MLKP-MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954–1968, Boston University, Boston, Mass.