The US government announced this last night the publication of more than 230,000 pages of documents related to the murder of the civil rights leader, occurred in April 1968 in Memphis (Tennessee).
“The American people deserve answers decades after the horrendous murder of one of the great leaders of our nation,” said US attorney general Pam Bondi, announcing declassification.
Bondi received at the headquarters of the Department of Justice in Washington the activist and niece of the murdered leader, Alveda King, to commemorate the fact, the Department of Justice reported in a statement. “I am grateful to President Trump and with the Attorney General Bondi for fulfilling his promise of transparency when disseminating these documents,” King said. “My uncle lived with courage in search of truth and justice, and his legacy of faith continues to inspire Americans until today,” he added.
The niece of the African -American leader, born in Atlanta (Georgia) in 1929, said that the declassification and publication of these documents is “a historical step towards the truth that the US people deserves.”
During the meeting, Bondi and King talked about the life and legacy of Reverend King, as well as the importance of shedding light on his death at 39 years of age.
However, the posture of the niece is not that of the King Center, founded by the wife of the civil rights leader, who reproached the announcement of the Republican Administration. Above all, he questioned the moment of declassification and warned that he can divert attention from the deep injustices that still persist in the United States and the world. “It is unfortunate and bad moment, given the multitude of urgent problems and injustices that affect the United States and global society,” the King center said in a statement.
“We cannot afford to lose the focus on how each of us can contribute to change the course of our ‘World House’. If we are not careful, that is precisely what could cause the publication of these files,” he explained in a statement.
The King Center pointed out that the fundamental thing is not who killed him, but the structural causes behind the crime, and reiterated the surveillance of the government then to Reverend King. The organization recalled the words of Bernice A. King, younger daughter of the leader, when a civil trial for King’s death ended in 1999: “It is not about who killed Martin Luther King Jr., but what he killed him. When we respond to that, we can face the injustices we still live.”
The King Center renewed his call to combat the “three ills” that King denounced: racism, poverty and militarism, and recalled that the Reverend was killed on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, an exact year after pronouncing his speech against the Vietnam War, where he accused the United States of being “the greatest supplier of violence in the world.”
Its importance, its legacy
Martin Luther King Jr. was a pastor and leader of the civil rights movement in the US, recognized for his peaceful struggle against racism and inequality. His historical speech “” (“I have a dream”) and his role in the approval of key laws made him a world historical figure.
The Reverend was killed on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, while supporting a strike of workers. His death generated national shock and reinforced his legacy as a symbol of the struggle for justice and equality.
According to the Department of Justice, declassification is the result of months of joint work with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Archives and Documents Administration (NARA).
