This reading list is intended to complement the MLK Commemoration programming hosted by the Office of Community Engagement and Access and Feinberg School of Medicine. Starting in January, books will be displayed in the case to the right of the library entrance and are available to be checked out.
The Chicago Freedom Movement brought the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), led by King, together with Chicago activists in an attempt to bring nonviolent civil rights organizing strategies out of the South. Chicago activists were already fighting for fair housing, economic empowerment, equity in Chicago Public Schools, and an end to the Vietnam War before Dr. King arrived in Chicago in 1966. The Chicago Freedom Movement begins by telling the story of the Chicago Freedom Movement through voices of Chicago-based activists before discussing the long-term consequences of the movement, including the Fair Housing Act.
If you want to learn more about King’s time in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune produced a short video documentary:
The video discusses the march in Marquette Park, which was attacked by white supremacists. Today, there is a “Living Memorial” in Marquette Park commemorating the march.
King and the Other America focuses on the Poor People’s Campaign, the last campaign King worked on before his assassination. The book gives the larger context of King’s economic justice activism and the long-term effects of the Poor People’s Campaign such as interracial coalition-building.
You can learn more about the changes that King fought for in Chicago and through the Poor People’s Campaign. The Chicago Freedom Movement led to the passing of the Fair Housing Act, whihc you can read about in The Fight for Fair Housing. If you’re interested in guaranteed income, Eve Ewing’s podcast Guaranteed highlights guaranteed income recipients in the Chicago area. And, the Chicago History Museum currently has an exhibit, “Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960s–70s” that features art from the Chicago Freedom Movement and other civil rights struggles in Chicago.
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