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| Martin Luther King |
On the morning of King’s funeral, the rest of the country paused for a moment of silence. Many government offices and schools were closed. Stock exchanges took the day off as well, the first time the New York Stock Exchange closed to honor a private citizen. One hundred twenty million Americans tuned in to watch the service on television.
People poured into Atlanta. The city “felt like the center of the universe,” recalled Maria Saporta, an Atlantan who was 12 years old at the time. Newsstands at the airport stocked Life’s commemorative King issue, and raised the price from 35 cents per copy to one dollar. They quickly sold out of all 100,000 copies. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference put out a frantic call for volunteers to assist with the influx of visitors. Atlanta residents opened up their homes. For many whites, it was the first time they had hosted African Americans. Local churches and schools prepared to receive the fatigued travelers. Krispy Kreme donated 150 dozen doughnuts and Coca-Cola contributed 16,000 bottles of soda. Central Presbyterian Church acted as the de facto headquarters. It provided food, blankets, and sheets, and bused visitors to churches and colleges throughout the city. Rows of army cots dotted classrooms and gymnasiums. It seemed every structure in the city held grieving visitors, a mourner in every bed.
James Baldwin traveled to Atlanta by himself. He had last seen King when they both appeared at an event at Carnegie Hall earlier in 1968. Baldwin, the celebrated black writer, bought a new dark suit for that occasion. And he wore it again to King’s funeral.
On the morning of Tuesday, April 9, Baldwin left his Atlanta hotel and walked toward Ebenezer Baptist Church. Throngs of people stretched in every direction. Baldwin squeezed his way closer to the church, inch by inch, until an impenetrable wall of humanity finally stopped him in his tracks. The people “were like rows of poppies,” recalled June Dobbs, a lifelong friend of King’s. Outside the church, Baldwin leaned up against a Cadillac carrying football star Jim Brown, but Brown did not see him. Baldwin gesticulated wildly until someone on the church steps recognized him, pushed toward the Cadillac, and “sort of lifted me over.” He followed his escort into the church and found a seat among the 1,000 souls pressed into Ebenezer. The pew in front of him held a lineup of celebrity entertainers: Marlon Brando, Sammy Davis Jr., Eartha Kitt, and Sidney Poitier. Harry Belafonte sat up front, alongside Coretta Scott King. Ralph Abernathy occupied the pulpit. “The atmosphere was black,” Baldwin wrote, “with a tension indescribable—as though something, perhaps the heavens, perhaps the earth, might crack.” ... [mehr] https://lithub.com/james-baldwin-i-did-not-want-to-weep-for-martin-tears-seemed-futile/
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