During the Civil Rights movement, The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King and few other leaders of the community at the time who were fighting for equality for people of color in America and for his tireless efforts, we celebrate the third Monday of January each year as Martin Luther King day but did you know his connection to Chicago? Dr. Martin Luther King was part of a movement right here in Chicago called the Chicago Open Housing Movement or the Chicago Freedom Movement whose mission was to end slums in the city. Dr. King along with James Bevel and Al Raby led the movement which saw Dr. King lead a march of 5,000 people place a list of demands at Chicago City Hall which included quality education, transportation and job access. Rallies were held in Grant Park, Soldier Field, Marquette Park and other parts of the city.
On June 21, 1964 Dr. King along with Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, President of the University of Notre Dame at the time were the principle speakers at the Illinois Rally for Civil Rights which featured a choir led by Mahalia Jackson. A few weeks later, President Lyndon B Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Bill.
The Chicago Open Housing movement is largely credited with inspiring the 1968 Fair Housing Act.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Dr. King moved into a West Side apartment at 1550 S. Hamlin Ave in 1966 to further drive home the message of segregated housing conditions in Chicago.
Though some of Dr. King’s fight have been realized, it still seems we have a long way to go. Chicago is still the most segregated city in the US.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. During the Solder Field speech he addressed the crowd “We have come a long, long way in the civil rights struggle, but let me remind you that we have a long, long way to go. Passage of the civil rights bill does not mean that we have reached the promised land in civil rights.” Unfortunately these words still ring true today.
*images via: Chicago History Museum, Chicago Tribune, ND archives,Flickr
