US

Unheard Martin Luther King Jr. Audio Found in Tennessee Attic (Listen To It Here)

Martin Luther King audio

AP

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (The Blaze/AP) — Stephon Tull was looking through dusty old boxes in his father’s attic in Chattanooga a few months ago when he stumbled onto something startling: an audio reel labeled, “Dr. King interview, Dec. 21, 1960.”

He wasn‘t sure what he had until he borrowed a friend’s reel-to-reel player and listened to the recording of his father interviewing Martin Luther King Jr. for a book project that never came to fruition. In clear audio, King discusses the importance of the civil rights movement, his definition of nonviolence and how a recent trip of his to Africa informed his views. Tull said the recording had been in the attic for years, and he wasn’t sure who other than his father may have heard it.

“No words can describe. I couldn’t believe it,” he told The Associated Press this week in a phone interview from his home in Chattanooga. “I found … a lost part of history.”

Many recordings of King are known to exist among hundreds of thousands of documents related to his life that have been catalogued and archived. But one historian said the newly discovered interview is unusual because there’s little audio of King discussing his activities in Africa, while two of King‘s contemporaries said it’s exciting to hear a little-known recording of their friend for the first time.

Listen to a portion of the audio, featuring King discussing the effectiveness of the sit-in movement. Transcript follows.

INTERVIEWER: Well doctor, what effect are the sit-ins having on the progress of the southern Negro and his struggle for equality?

KING: I think a tremendous effect. I am convinced that when the history books are written in the future years historians will have to record this movement as one of greatest epics of our heritage. I think the movement represents struggle on the highest level of dignity and discipline. No one of good will can disagree with the ends of the sit-in movement, the end, the breakdown of all barriers between people on the basis of race or color. But the thing that impresses me about the movement is the fact that they have followed means that grow out of the highest tradition of non-violence and peaceful methods. And I think this is the thing that makes this movement unique and makes it one of the most significant developments the whole racial struggle. I think also that one of the interesting things about the movement is that it’s not only a lofty movement based on proper means and proper ends but it is achieving something concrete so as a result of the sit-in movement more than 112 cities have desegregated their lunch counters in the border and southern states. Therefore we see tangible gains as a result of this very impressive and magnificent movement that has engulfed our self, man, and electrified not only our nation but the whole world.

Tull plans to offer the recording at a private sale arranged by a New York broker and collector later this month.

Tull said his father, an insurance salesman, had planned to write a book about the racism he encountered growing up in Chattanooga and later as an adult. He said his dad interviewed King when he visited the city, but never completed the book and just stored the recording with some other interviews he had done. Tull’s father is now in his early 80s and under hospice care.

During part of the interview, King defines nonviolence and justifies its practice.

“I would … say that it is a method which seeks to secure a moral end through moral means,” he said. “And it grows out of the whole concept of love, because if one is truly nonviolent that person has a loving spirit, he refuses to inflict injury upon the opponent because he loves the opponent.”

The interview was made four years before the Civil Rights Act became law, three years before King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, and eight years before his assassination. At one point in the interview, King predicts the impact of the civil rights movement.

“I am convinced that when the history books are written in future years, historians will have to record this movement as one of the greatest epochs of our heritage,” he said.

King had visited Africa about a month before the interview, and he discusses with Tull’s father how leaders there viewed the racial unrest in the United States.

“I had the opportunity to talk with most of the major leaders of the new independent countries of Africa, and also leaders in countries that are moving toward independence,” he said. “And I think all of them agree that in the United States we must solve this problem of racial injustice if we expect to maintain our leadership in the world.”

Raymond Winbush, director of the Institute for Urban Research at Maryland’s Morgan State University, said the tape is significant because there are very few recordings of King detailing his activity in Africa.

“It‘s clear that in this tape when he’s talking … about Africa, he saw this as a global human rights movement that would inspire other organizations, other nations, other groups around the world,” said Winbush, who is also a psychologist and historian.

“That to me is what’s remarkable about the tape.”

U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Freedom Rider and lunch counter protester who worked with King while a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, said hearing King talk about the sit-ins took him back to the period when more than 100 restaurant counters were desegregated over several months.

“To … hear his voice and listen to his words was so moving, so powerful,” said Lewis, adding that King’s principles of nonviolence are still relevant today.

“I wish people all over America, all over the world, can hear this message over and over again,” he said.

The Rev. Joseph Lowery, who founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with King, agreed.

“I can’t think of anything better to try,” Lowery said of nonviolence. “What we’re doing now is not working. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Matching violence with violence. We‘ve got more guns than we’ve ever had, and more ammunition to go with it. And yet, the situation worsens.”

A spokeswoman for King’s daughter Bernice, head of The King Center in Atlanta, said she was traveling and couldn’t comment on the audio.

Tull is working with a New York-based collector and expert on historical artifacts to arrange a sale. The broker, Keya Morgan, said he believes that unpublished reel-to-reel audio of King is extremely rare and said he’s confident of the authenticity of the recording based on extensive interviews with Tull, his examination of the tape and his knowledge of King. He‘s collected many of the civil rights icon’s letters and photos.

“I was like, wow! To hear him that crisp and clear,” Morgan said. “But beyond that, for him to speak of nonviolence, which is what he represented.”

Comments (43)

  • ConservativeNinja
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 11:18pm

    I have a dream. I dream of a time when people who have not a moral bone in their bodies stop lecturing and preaching to the rest of us about morality.

    Report Post »  
  • dontbotherme
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 10:52pm

    A voice. A haunting need for sanity from the past. Oh, God, let everyone hear this haunting voice from history recent & not those now filled with hatred.

    Report Post »  
  • FionnTebo
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 5:17pm

    martinlutherking.org taught be everything i needed to know about king…. the best part is the site is 100% true otherwise the owner would be sued for libel/slander

    Report Post »  
  • tothepoint
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 4:57pm

    I have seen shirts with Martin Luther King‘s photo on it along with Obama’s as if they are somehow kindred spirits.
    Martin Luther King would never have supported Obama. King was too honest and a God-fearing Christian. He would not have supported this corrupt Serial Liar obama.

    Report Post »  
    • black9897
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 5:14pm

      I’ve seen them to. It makes me very mad. It’s a disgrace to MLK Jr. Trying to link MLK’s dream to BO being elected president. Like somehow MLK would have supported BO. Yeah right.

      Report Post » black9897  
  • RayOne
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 4:12pm

    The King Family made a deal for control of his legacy, Rev. Belinda did not. She was the truth teller and unlike them.

    Report Post » RayOne  
  • suz
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 3:47pm

    oh snap mlk, jr. w/o one utterance of social justice — what can the left make of this? NOTHING. they’ll ignore it.

    “proper means and proper ends” said the great man, dr. king.

    Report Post » suz  
  • chainj
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 2:29pm

    I’ll bet 5 bucks that Glenn Beck will own this when it comes up for auction. :-)

    Report Post »  
  • steveh931
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 1:56pm

    I think I’ll let the speeches and interviews that Martin Luther King JR. gave in his lifetime speak for themselves. He was a peaceful and well educated man looking for what was promised in the Declaration of Independence and had every right to expect it while living in a God fearing Nation.

    Report Post » steveh931  
  • tradcatholicgirl
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 1:38pm

    Where are my posts?

    Report Post »  
  • RayOne
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 12:52pm

    I went with my grandfather for ice cream at a drug store fountain in Duquesne, PA. It was a sunny day, he wore glasses and a fedora hat. I felt something more than ‘a fun day with my Grand Pa,’ The same time, far away in the North.
    With no understanding of ‘the movement’, I was soon to know that it was and is my story. I am grateful that the recording was protected until now. I would like to hear Rev. Belinda King’s assessment of this current event.

    Report Post » RayOne  
  • Seede
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 12:23pm

    Short memories for short people. Many were not even alive when MLK was alive but those that were can remember the days of his marches all over the country and how he stirred up hate in the blacks. Oh yes he did stir up the hate in the blacks but in a nice way. That hate is still there and has been bred into the mush minds of both black and white today.

    Where is my proof. Look at the last POTUS election and you don’t need to go any further to realize the stats on who voted for who. If a one whitey voted for McCain it was called racial prejudice against Obama but when over 80% blacks voted for Obama it was called Justice. What a joke. The idiots of America deserve exactly what they have. A black welfare state with white wannabes.

    Report Post »  
    • black9897
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 12:38pm

      He did no such thing. He spread non-violent non-cooperation. He put his life on the line without being violent. He spread love and stood up to tyranny. If some blacks started to hate, could you really blame them? I would hate the stuff that was happening to me to. But, MLK Jr. did not do that.

      Report Post » black9897  
    • tradcatholicgirl
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 1:36pm

      @Seede,

      I’m afraid that you have it wrong.

      MLK PREVENTED an imminent violent uprising and redirected what would have become a hate-filled protest movement. He was a true leader. Yet, he was just a human being with all the weaknesses and temptations that we all have.

      And he had nothing to do with the current attempt to divide us all by race and faith.

      Report Post »  
    • RAMJR
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 3:33pm

      Martin Luther King made many mistakes, as all of us do, but his values of peaceful protest showed the value of morality. He also did magazine article for Ebony Magazine. His niece, who is also a pastor, shared some of these a while back. He was anti-abortion, pro family, conservative and a member of the Republican Party. He use to talk about the black leaders that ran for office, which was the founding of the Republican Party, & his calling out Planned Parenthood, & the connection to the value that Hitler gave to inspire this program. He also was a strong historian, in getting to the truth between the lines told, & spoke of both the blacks, & whites, that walked with him, & the blacks and whites that were hung by the Klu Klux Klan, side by side many times…which was run under the Democratic Party, & King spoke of that truth.
      Alveda King, his niece, has given many that same feeling he gave, & was eventually manipulated by many ‘wolves’ who tout they walked with MLK. Alveda walked with MLK, and saw the value in what others tainted by their immorality & secular nature, that many today even call themselves ‘reverend’ with a straight face.
      Many people joined MLK, but for a different value. They walked with him, but for a different reason. Many still today talk about how they picked up that stand…but their words & actions don’t match up. Some are Communists, which some even called MLK. Some are Marxists, which some called MLK. MLK was a man. Not perfect, but stood.

      Report Post »  
  • thegreatcarnac
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 11:23am

    MLK was closely associated with communist. J. Edgar Hoover (whatever you think about him) had King closely watched; not for wanting civil rights for blacks but for his communist links. I am not saying that black people had no complaints about equality….., they did; I am saying what I know. King had communist funding and communist contacts. Was he a card carrying communist? I cannot say for sure. The Russians have always paid good money to keep the blacks agitated to keep America in an uproar and they saw a leader in MLK and helped him. He was probably not as militant as they would have liked him to be….;but he kept things riled up.
    Another example is Rosa Parks. She too was affiliated with some communist front organizations. Do you know how many buses she rode until she finally found a bus driver that wanted her to sit in the back? Every bus she got on she attempted to sit in the front to get a reaction from the driver and get arrested. She had news people almost on stand-by ready to write her story when she was arrested. It was all a set up. Was it right to make blacks go to the back of the bus? No. But her “brave” act of defiance was contrived and she had to spend a lot of time riding buses before she found one driver that enforced such a law.

    Report Post »  
    • brezzeone
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 11:57am

      Shut up

      Report Post »  
    • SILAS
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 12:05pm

      Answer “Ssss-boom-bah“ Question ”Decribe the sound made when a sheep explodes” (Carnac the Magnificent)

      Report Post »  
    • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 12:19pm

      @brezzeone
      Sha-SHAH!!

      Report Post » Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
    • black9897
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 12:35pm

      He had no communist ties. That’s absurd. MLK Jr. was a great God-fearing man.

      Report Post » black9897  
    • doubletap
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 4:49pm

      Hoover and the FBI made the communist thing to discredit MLK. NO tries to the communist were EVER proven. I wouldn’t believe Hoover if he said the sky was blue without checking for myself.

      Report Post » doubletap  
    • black9897
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 5:15pm

      And the winner is…DOUBLETAP.

      Report Post » black9897  
  • Tickdog
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 11:08am

    couldn’t care less…

    Report Post » Tickdog  
  • just happy
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 10:58am

    I hope this gets into the hands of someone who will share this openly so Kings people of all colors and races will not be deceived by those who encourage them to take violent means. I think Mr King -seeing the situation today, would call it by it’s name: Good against Evil, not White against Black or liberal against conservative. Those who set us on and entice us down the path toward Government control and Government Charity both individual and corporate, are evil.

    Report Post »  
  • netmail
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 10:56am

    From this to today’s inner city violence and Black Panther Movement…has there ever been a race of people who have fallen so far down so fast?? Tragic, sad and dangerous. I love MLK’s heart. It certainly wasn’t easy to think as he did in his life time. A great hero.

    Report Post »  
    • The_Jerk
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 11:04am

      When his sealed records are released you may eat those words, “Great hero.” Fact is, you don’t know. How many other ‘great heroes’ have had their records sealed?

      Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 10:56am

    Amazing discovery.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • MoreCowbellPlease
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 10:54am

    Very cool!

    I love his emphasis on moral means as well as moral ends. Those involved in violent protests like Black Bloc, OWS, G8, NBPP etc., may have a “more just” society as their goal – but the way they seek to bring it about through destruction of property, intimidation and physical harm is evil. The ends don’t justify the means.

    Report Post »  
    • cookcountypatriot
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 12:09pm

      mlk was a great american…..he stoop by his principles….i dont see the spirit of mlk in the progressive blacks of tdy…i see a violent mob,i see black babies being born with no fathers,,i see black babies aborted at epic levels…where are all the so called black leaders on these issues…i notice that those who marched wear that on thier sleeves like a badge of honor..john lewis comes to mind…but look at his works…he,s a divider like obama..he even lies and said tea party people spit on him when that fraud obamacare was passed…he is not a peacfull man…he,s a lying tryrant….the people with the spirit of mlk are indeed the tea party folks…….those that seperate will be seperated at the polls this yr…romney 2012

      Report Post » cookcountypatriot  
  • IMCHRISTIAN
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 10:53am

    MLK Was quite a guy that changed America the way it should of been changed not because he wanted to destroy his beloved land. Now we have a man as President that has done nothing but tried to divide and bring back a lot more division among people and ethnic groups. Lets go back to MLK ways of building America as it was so much better at the end. God Bless America

    Report Post »  
  • The_Jerk
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 10:49am

    If King were such a great guy, his records would not have been sealed for 50 years. He was a communist, if not card carrying, then by actions and deeds.

    Report Post »  
    • thegreatcarnac
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 11:09am

      You are right….King was a communist. Communist and the USSR funded a lot of what he did.

      Report Post »  
    • JULIKINS209
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 12:29pm

      MLK was a Republican. I wish our black leaders of today were more like him.

      Report Post »  
  • Man-On-A-Mission
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 10:49am

    I wish more of our politicians were more like MLK. I do not see any comments from the Neo-Cons. This man should be on Mt. Rushmore!!!!!!!!

    Report Post »  
    • watersRpeople
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 10:57am

      Most people have selective listening skills, and most people do not even listen to the entire verses of songs – which is why an ambiguous nice sounding Chorus makes for the most popular songs.

      Report Post »  
  • watersRpeople
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 10:47am

    The irony is that video and footage of Martin Luther King Jr. would inspire more Caucasians to vote for Obama than it will inspire blacks to vote for Romney.

    Report Post »  
    • just happy
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 11:04am

      what?? King is saying that the methods used and encouraged by Obama’s cronies are the total opposite of Kings methods.!! are whites or Blacks this stupid? or are you just seeing RACE-king is good, King is Black , Obama is Black so if I like King I vote for Obama?? mare you nuts?

      Report Post »  
  • Man-On-A-Mission
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 10:43am

    I wish more politicians were like MLK…..I don’t not see any of you Neo-Cons commenting on this. This was and always will be a GREAT AMERICAN….he should be on Mt. Rushmore.

    Report Post »  
    • The_Jerk
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 10:52am

      If what you say is true, why seal his records for 50 years? He was a communist, just look at his associations.

      Report Post »  
    • watersRpeople
      Posted on August 22, 2012 at 11:03am

      I’ve always thought that people are judged by the company they keep – somehow it’s always made sense.

      Report Post »  
  • watersRpeople
    Posted on August 22, 2012 at 10:41am

    That’s nice. Do you think it will help keep 98 % of blacks from voting for Obama?

    Report Post »  

Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In

Sign Up For Our Newsletter!

Glenn Beck Radio

Listen to Glenn Beck 24/7 Listen Now
Restoring Love