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Commonwealth Club
Tavis Smiley on Martin Luther King's Last Year

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. died in one of the most shocking assassinations in U.S. history, but little is remembered about the trials and tribulations he faced in his final year. Award-winning television and radio broadcast host Tavis Smiley chronicles the final 365 days of Dr. King's life. Despite assaults on his character and ideology, Dr. King remained committed to ending racial inequality and segregation in our country.

Looks like the podcast can maybe be gotten via iTunes.. pity not just archived and easy..
Smiley has been fixated upon MLK since age 12, ever since a serious family event. He's talked to every MLK contemporary he could find. He's convinced that most think.. He Gave One Speech (of which most remember one sentence or maybe two.)

Smiley gives the title of a *speech MLK was to give the next Sunday (or sermon at his church) had he not been killed. That in context too, of what he's said to LBJ re Vietnam (he had already sated that he demed America to be the source of most violence in the orld today ['60s natch; did that change, sinnce?]

Lastly, during his final year, he had been dissed by all sorts of blocs (75% of Whites goes without saying) and '(was it 40%?) of Negroes deemed he was muddying the waters for their various agendas.. as the miltant groups were forming and expanding. So the general ignorance of MLK's many speeches, combined generally to creat discomfort with his pointed critiques of our culture (already going Murican..)

(I've heard or read several of his essays, but a minuscule sample.) I think that most may hear some useful factoids about that last year of MLK's life.. {"pushing" LBJ et al) and you get Smiley's comments on BHO..
"is symbolism enough? -vs- substance?" (Hint: The Numbers re blacks' share of the pie have diminished in the six years.)

Also heard Smiley when he had a regular slot on PBS, but hadn't realized he'd become a scholar of MLK's total works. His speaking style seems better focussed and more incisive incisive. Love to see hin in Congress. If we had one.
Book: Death of a King gets you his insights.

There's never been a time for black people to feel optimistic ... I'm not an optimist in times when many think our best days are behind us ... but I am hopeful (etc.)