After leaving the Court Square Fountain, I walked about six blocks down Dexter Avenue to Bainbridge Street, and then to the large white steps in front of the Alabama State Capitol. This imposing building is where legislators from all over Alabama have convened for more than 150 years to create laws and govern, even before the days of the American Civil War. During the war, in fact, the building served as the first capital of the Confederate States of America.
Ironically, also on Dexter Avenue—just a block from the first capital of a government dedicated to the oppression of black people through slavery—stands the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where King delivered his Sunday sermons during the six years he lived in Montgomery. This was where he developed his skill in mesmerizing listeners with his words. The church, as I walked by it, looked immaculate, as if King might still be inside, lifting minds and hearts toward God and freedom. Montgomery was like one huge virtual museum filled with timeless monuments to the past.
Later that morning, I arrived at Nelson’s house on Wabash Street for my second round of Civil Rights Movement 101. As my Uber driver pulled up in front of Nelson’s two-story house, I couldn’t help but notice that he had the largest home, by far, on the block. His house towered over the others, suggesting to me that the Maldens were standouts and important figures in the community. The quiet, well-manicured neighborhood was mostly filled with single-family ranch homes that lined the streets. There was a car in every driveway, a dog in every yard, and a welcome mat on every doorstop.
“Good afternoon, my friend!” Nelson welcomed me joyfully as he opened the large, solid wooden front door of his home.
As I walked through the living room and then through the kitchen, I was stopped by the smell of freshly baked biscuits. I was reminded of the exquisite baking of my grandmother, who was originally from South Carolina. Cooking, baking, and incredible food are signatures of Southern culture. It’s the great common denominator that connects people from different walks of life.
“Are you hungry? I can throw some fish on the stove real fast.”
“I’ve been eating all morning.”
“Come on. It will be lunchtime soon, and it’ll only take a few minutes. I have some Alabama catfish here and some fresh green beans.”
There was no way I could say no to the hospitality of my host and elder. There’s something indescribable about the welcoming feeling you get in the South that only a traveler there can fully appreciate.
As I sat in Nelson’s study eating Alabama catfish smothered in garlic and golden butter, along with the best green beans I’ve ever had, he began reminiscing for me again. I already knew that Nelson wasn’t just a casual observer of the civil rights movement, but I now began to understand how deep his involvement was. I also learned more about his relationship with King. It was no simple barber–client relationship.
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Michael Martin King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Baptist minister Michael King Sr. and Alberta Williams King, who was a schoolteacher. Young Michael’s father was so inspired by the German Protestant religious leader Martin Luther that he adopted the same name and became Martin Luther King Sr.; his son’s name was also changed to Martin.
Martin was destined to be a leader and fight for the rights of others. The elder King was an important voice for civil rights in Georgia and became the head of the Atlanta chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He played a crucial role in helping to rid the state of Georgia of its oppressive Jim Crow laws, which was a priority for the NAACP. Martin Luther King Sr. was also the longtime pastor of the prominent Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where he delivered his sermons to parishioners for decades, until his death in 1984.
Nelson knew there was something special about Martin from the first time he met the reverend. After hearing him preach at Dexter Avenue Baptist, the young barber believed that someday Rev. King would be a powerful voice in America. Over the years, they grew very fond of each other and considered each other close friends. They stayed in touch after King moved from Montgomery to Atlanta, and on King’s frequent trips back to Montgomery after the move, he would visit Nelson in the barbershop, get his usual haircut, and catch up on everything under the sun.
Nelson describes King as a family man with a good heart and one of the smartest men he ever met. The public was familiar with King’s serious side, but Nelson was privileged to see his relaxed personality and good sense of humor, which he would use to joke around with people he knew well. “He could be sarcastic sometimes, but in a funny kind of way.”
Nelson was also friendly with King’s wife, Coretta Scott King, although she never came to the barbershop. He describes her as an elegant and classy woman, a kind and humble person, and also a proud wife who was the backbone and matriarch of the family. Nelson says that Mrs. King spent a considerable amount of time nurturing the King children. He remembers that he often saw their oldest daughter and son at church services, and that they would come into the barbershop with their father periodically.
Martin and Coretta Scott were married on June 18, 1953, in Marion, Alabama, at the home of Coretta’s parents. One year later, in 1954, they moved to Montgomery, and Reverend King became the pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist. He was only twenty-five years old at the time. Years later, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church would be renamed Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. Today, it is a National Historic Landmark. The church still conducts services in the location where King preached some of his most riveting sermons.
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Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was beloved by people across America who were unwavering supporters of his method of protest through civil disobedience. They agreed with that practice, and they also agreed that policy changes in favor of civil rights for African Americans were desperately needed. But King also had many detractors and enemies, people who wanted to end his efforts to transform the racial landscape of America. Many people even wanted to see him dead.
It’s common knowledge today that the Federal Bureau of Investigation worked to undermine King and used prohibited means to do so, ranging from illegal wiretapping and unauthorized surveillance to concentrated character assassination. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover stated in a November 18, 1964 news conference that King was, “the most notorious liar in the country.” King’s home, offices, and hotel rooms were frequently wiretapped, and he was constantly harassed by Hoover’s agents and threatened in ways that if used today would probably send a law enforcement official to federal prison. The FBI even sent King a letter that recommended he commit suicide.
In a declassified internal Justice Department memo dated October 7, 1963 and sent to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, J. Edgar Hoover wrote:
In view of the possible communist influence in the racial situation, it is requested that authority be granted to place a technical surveillance on King at his current address or at any future address to which he may move.1
In 2003, that memorandum was declassified by the Justice Department. Its text wasn’t totally shocking, but it was disheartening to know that the federal government had worked in such a vicious way to undermine a leader for social justice. Today, the FBI uses the encroachment on King’s civil liberties by J. Edgar Hoover as part of the bureau’s cultural sensitivity training at the academy in Virginia for its new agents. It’s a shameful reminder of a past injustice, but it’s being used