Merritt, Carole
Description
In this interview, Lonnie King describes his experiences in the Navy, especially in terms of racial discrimination. He discusses the Appeal for Humans Rights statement (1960) and how he played a significant role in the formation of the Atlanta Student Movement. King chronicles the birth of the Atlanta Inquirer Newspaper. He addresses the negative reaction of the black college presidents to the students spearheading the movement, believing the NAACP should have provided the leadership role in the movement. He recalls the strong support of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company’s staff to the Civil Rights Movement.Lonnie C. King, Jr. became a civil rights activist as a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta. He later served as the head of the Atlanta branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the early 1970s. In that role, he was instrumental in negotiating a compromise that rejected school busing in return for the hiring of Atlanta’s first black school superintendent, Alonzo Crim, and the appointment of African American members to the Board of Education.
Video
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Record Contributed By
Atlanta History CenterRecord Harvested From
Digital Library of GeorgiaKeywords
- African Americans
- Atlanta
- Atlanta Chamber Of Commerce
- Atlanta Constitution (Firm)
- Atlanta Daily World (Firm)
- Atlanta Journal (Firm)
- Atlanta Life Insurance Company (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Atlanta Negro Voters League
- Butler Street Ymca (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Citizens Trust Bank (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Civil Rights
- Clark University (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Dinkler Plaza Hotel (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Discrimination
- Ebenezer Baptist Church (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Ebenezer Youth Organization
- Empire Real Estate Board
- Georgia
- Government
- History
- Howard High School (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Morehouse College (Atlanta, Ga.)
- National Association For The Advancement Of Colored People
- Navies
- New York Times (Firm)
- Politics & Government
- Providence Baptist Church (College Park, Ga.)
- Race Discrimination
- Race Relations
- Racism
- Religion
- Rich's (Retail Store)
- Rush Memorial Congregational Church (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Southern Bakery Company (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Spelman College
- Sports
- United States