This talk explores Martin Luther King’s six visits to the UK, starting in 1957 and culminating in a remarkable journey to Newcastle upon Tyne in November 1967 – his last trip outside the US before his murder in April 1968 – when he urged people to rally against the world-wide problems of war, racism, and poverty. Along the way, we will encounter bureaucratic incompetence, a catering crisis, and highly unusual security arrangements in Newcastle, a trip that reveals much about King’s shifting politics and priorities during the last 18 months of his life. Crucially, we will see how King repeatedly stressed links between the US civil rights movement and global struggles for freedom, justice, and opportunity, including battles to protect the rights of racialized minorities in the UK amid panics over immigration.
Audience: KS1-5
