Today, 19 January marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States, where King was born on 15 January 1929. Across the US and indeed the world, it will be a day for reflecting on the life and work of Dr King, but here in the North East we can take special pride in and reflect on the fact that Newcastle University was the only university in Britain to honour King in his lifetime. In his famous speech on receipt of Honorary Doctorate in Civil Law, he said:
“There are three urgent and indeed great problems that we face, not only in the United States of America, but all over the world today; that is the problem of racism, the problem of poverty and the problem of war.” (Martin Luther King Jr, Newcastle, 13 November 1967)
So how did it come about that Martin Luther King made the long journey to Newcastle on 13 November 1967 and what is the legacy of that visit?
Martin Luther King and Newcastle
The time that King came to Newcastle, was a very busy time for the pastor and Civil Rights leader, the time of a frenetic schedule which allowed him only 24 hours in the UK. Indeed, he arrived on the 6 am train from King’s Cross and after meeting students’ representatives and then taking part in the ceremony he had to leave Newcastle the same day. It has been noted that the schedule included, “campaigning for Carl Stokes in his successful bid to become the first black mayor of Cleveland, Ohio,” as well as many other activities.
At the ceremony, held in King’s Hall, Dr King received his degree from the University’s Chancellor, the Duke of Northumberland. While it is unusual for anyone to make a speech at such an acceptance ceremony, Dr King was then invited to give one and he subsequently held the audience spellbound as he spoke of his struggle for racial justice.
Why did King come to Newcastle?
In his book ‘Martin Luther King in Newcastle,’ Brian Ward, explains why it was that he was invited to Newcastle and relates more of the events of the day itself.
Interestingly, Ward also relates some of the reasoning as to why and why he flew across the Atlantic to “spend less than eleven hours in a city that he knew little about at a time of enormous professional strain and personal doubt.” By 1967, King had started to speak out against the war in Vietnam and was increasingly being criticised for doing so and for not sticking to his original agenda of Civil Rights. So it was that the visit to Newcastle, came as an opportunity to escape that duress for a short while, but also clearly meant a lot to Dr King at a time when he was under a lot of pressure.
King began his speech by saying:
“I need not to pause to say how very delighted I am to be here today and to have the privilege of sharing with you in this significant experience. Words are certainly inadequate for me to express my deep and genuine appreciation to the University of Newcastle for honouring me today in such a significant way. And I can assure you that your honouring me today in this very meaningful way is of inestimable value for the continuance of my humble efforts.”
I think we can assume that King really meant those words, when he spoke them here in the North East that November afternoon in 1967.
Another forgotten history
It has also been pointed out that Professor Ward’s book puts King’s visit within the context of another history, which had been forgotten: the connection between the African American freedom struggle and the North East. It is argued that the book, “not only shows how he was one of many distinguished African American visitors to the region, including Olaudah Equiano and Frederick Douglass before him and Muhammad Ali and Harry Belafonte afterwards, but also explains how those connections influenced the development of race relations in the region.”
King’s visit was remembered in various ways around the time of the 50th anniversary. It has been noted that the research undertaken by Brian Ward, during the writing of his book, was used as the basis for a major commemorative festival known as Freedom City 2017, involving 100,000 people from across the region. It helped many more members of the public to become aware of the visit and other aspects of the region’s cultural heritage.
The research is said to have “directly informed the work of organisations: it enabled Journey to Justice to expand from a Newcastle-based pilot to social justice projects in UK 14 cities with approximately 170,000 people visiting its exhibition and educational events; and Northern Roots (creative arts charity) secured over GBP 1,000,000 in funding to support their outreach work with displaced communities.”
The visit was also remembered in a debate in the House of Commons on 1 November 2016.
Another, this time physical legacy of the visit, is the bronze statue of Martin Luther King, at Newcastle University. There is a digital exhibition and a video commemorating the visit of Martin Luther King Jr to Newcastle University.
A living legacy
It is right that people in Newcastle and the wider North East should be proud of the fact that Newcastle University was the only university in Britain to honour Martin Luther King in his lifetime and that he visited the city of Newcastle on 13 November 1967.
This pride should be transformed into actions supporting human rights and ensuring that racism never gets a hold of our streets or our communities. We should ensure that all the citizens of Newcastle and the North East are treated with dignity and respect.
On a wider level we should also remember our great heritage of supporting international human rights of which the visit of Martin Luther King is an important part. This means supporting human rights of people across the world, in Gaza and in the United States, in Iran and in Saudi Arabia, in Burma and in Sudan, and in so many other places besides.
If we don’t do these things, then surely Martin Luther King’s words on his visit and at so many other times, will have been in vain and that is something we simply shouldn’t allow to happen.
You can read a transcript of Martin Luther King Jr’s speech in Newcastle here.
