Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested in October 1960 and held for nine days in a Georgia jail. When Jack and Bobby Kennedy were told his life could be in danger, they helped engineer his release. The Kennedys broadcast their success to Black voters in churches all over the North and South. On election day, grateful for King’s safety and freedom, Blacks voted overwhelmingly for Jack Kennedy for president of the United States, giving him a crucial edge in his victory over rival Richard Nixon.
The Reverend Stephen Kendrick, minister at the First Church, Boston, and his son Paul Kendrick have written a new book about this dramatic story and the people involved. Stephen Kendrick will tell that story at the Beacon Hill Village-sponsored “Conversations With . . .” on Monday, February 1, at 5:30 p.m. on Zoom. This event is free and open to the public.
Reviewers have praised the book. “No brief review can do full justice to the Kendricks’ masterly and often riveting account of King’s ordeal and the 1960 ‘October Surprise’ that may have altered the course of modern American political history. Suffice it to say that any reader who navigates the many twists and turns and surprises in this complex tale will come away recognizing the power of historical contingency,” wrote Raymond Arsenault in the New York Times.
This free virtual program is presented with support from Cambridge Trust. Registration is required in advance by signing up at www.beaconhillvillage.org and clicking on “Upcoming Events.” Or call Beacon Hill Village at 617-723-9713.