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MLK/FBI

Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered as a great leader whose non-violent protests profoundly changed the world. The documentaryMLK/FBI makes use of newly declassified files to tell the story of how Dr King was harassed and surveilled by the US government.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient. His work helped change minds and laws, and it secured greater equality between Black and white citizens in the United States. Dr King was assassinated in 1968. His murder led to riots around the country. In this film, we learn more about the civil rights movement, and how the US government attempted to curtail King's influence and put obstacles in the way of his work.

Take notes:

You can use the key words, names, and phrases below as a starting point to take notes as you watch the documentary.

You may copy and paste the key words, names, and phrases into a separate document or use the word document in this box.

  • Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968)

  • the FBI's attitude to the civil rights covement

  • J. Edgar Hoover; FBI's director for 48 years (1924–1972)

  • William C. Sullivan (1912–1977), FBI director of domestic intelligence

  • the March on Washington (1963)

  • the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956)

  • Stanley David Levison (1812–1979)

  • the authorities' worry about communist influence over the civil rights movement

  • Wiretapping / private life

  • Robert Kennedy (1925–1968), US Attorney General

  • President John. F. Kennedy (1917–1963)

  • President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973)

  • Nobel Peace Prize (1964)

  • package and threatening letter from the FBI

  • Selma to Montgomery March (1965)

  • Vietnam War

  • King’s attitude to non-violence

  • the use of informants

  • Poor People’s Campaign (1968)

  • indictment document (accusations of rape)

  • murder of Martin Luther King Jr. (1968)

  • riots

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