With the limited success of Albany still fresh on his mind, King contemplated his next steps in September of 1962. Despite enduring a beating during a speaking engagement and watching bedlam break out at Ole Miss as a Negro student sought enrollment, King turned down a six figure salary and committed himself fully to the movement during this time. With renewed resolve he sought a way to convince President Kennedy of the historical context of the race relations problem in the United States. With the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation approaching, King found his national platform after shop owners in Birmingham reneged on compromises made over downtown segregation. An openly racist, easily provoked police chief with unchecked power because of political infighting made Birmingham an extremely dangerous situation to walk into; this, combined with limited initial support from the Negro community, made Birmingham a stage upon which King’s credibility hinged.
Never one to shirk away in times of crisis, King soon found himself in jail. It was here he penned his eternal “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” While King was in Jail the Birmingham movement floundered. Upon release King realized dramatic and symbolic action was needed to prevent failure in a second successive city. To supplant the dwindling ranks of protestors the decision was made to stage a children’s march. Enduring vicious police dogs and fire hoses, the children’s march forced the world’s eyes to Birmingham and soon an agreement was reached. Whites responded with dynamite and the federal government had to be deployed in order to subdue discontented whites. Nevertheless, Birmingham seemed “indisputable proof that nonviolent direct action could […] win a resounding victory for love and racial justice.” The victory in Birmingham cemented King as the most prominent African American Leader of the civil rights movement. It also placed a target firmly on his back. He was accosted from every side. Segregationists threatened to kill him, the FBI labeled him a communist rabble rouser, and other less peaceful civil rights leaders labeled him a turn coat Uncle Tom. Despite these and more scandalous accusations progress was being made.
President Kennedy introduced Civil Rights legislation and began to fulfill the role of leader that King had been pushing him to take since before the presidential election. In support of Kennedy’s legislation a massive march was planned in Washington D.C. It was as this march that King gave his famous “I have a dream” speech. It was from this high that King received news of a church bombing in Birmingham that had killed four church girls. Both “Bombingham” as the city grew to be known and the assassination of President Kennedy shocked the world and provided new prospective on the Civil Rights movement. President Johnson vowed to pursue Kennedy’s legacy and pushed for Kennedy’s civil rights legislation. King was under increasing pressure from the FBI who had illegally obtained tapes of King’s illicit philandering. But despite underhanded gossip, he and his impressive staff continued looking for places to be of service. Soon St. Augustine came to their attention.
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The oldest city in North America, St. Augustine was also one of the most racist. Mobs of bigots, including convicted felons, were conscripted by the police specifically to clash with the nonviolent protests the SCLC was sponsoring. The hellish scene showed no sign of abating despite a judge’s orders because white agitators continued to incite violence against the protesters. Finally, the governor intervened and the beaten and ragged SCLC camp was able to limp away head held high, victorious. When President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act on July 2nd, King acknowledged a major victory for his cause. This legislation, while not perfect was the most significant civil rights ordinance since Reconstruction. It did not quell discontent quite the way naïve Washington leaders thought it might though. In fact, King spent so much time attempting to stop riots and silence his critics that in October he checked himself into an infirmary for a rest period. It was here that he learned he had won the Nobel Peace Prize. This infuriated the FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover and he attempted a smear campaign too graphic for even King’s most prominent opponents. King was shocked but attempted to make peace and clear the air with the FBI. Hoover placated, the King entourage ascended to the proverbial mountain of American history as King accepted the Nobel Peace Prize and became not only an African American spokesperson, but an international American Hero. King could not settle here though, Selma, Alabama awaited him—his work was not yet complete.
