Black History Database

10/10

King cited the incident saying it was “a formative step” in his “commitment to a more just society.” The Mary's Cafe sit-in demonstrated the power of non-violent civil disobedience.

9/

Nichols was charged with disorderly conduct and violation of the anti-discrimination law. He was found guilty and fined $50, however the racial discrimination count was dismissed.

8/

King and McCall contacted Ulysses Simpson Wiggins then President of the Camden County Branch NAACP, who helped them successfully file a police report.

7/

Nichols stomped out and returned with a gun standing outside firing into the air reportedly shouting "I'd kill for less". Fearing for their lives, the four activists ran from the tavern. The group went to the Maple Shade Police Department where officers refused to file their complaint.

6/

King and company met refusal with refusal, and remained in their seats as was their right per New Jersey's 1945 anti-discrimination law, which guaranteed non-discrimination by race in public accommodations.

5/

McCall then requested 4 glasses of beer to which Nichols answered "no beer, Mr! Today is Sunday”. McCall requested ginger ales as non-alcoholic beverages were not subject to the blue law. Nichols refused the group even ginger ales and reportedly stated "the best thing would be for you to leave".

4/

McCall asked bartender and Mary's Cafe owner Ernest Nichols for packaged goods (beer for takeaway). Nichols refused, explaining he could not sell packaged goods on Sundays or any day after 10pm, by law.

3/

King replied to the effect of maybe they needed to go, so they could start to go anywhere they wanted. The seminarians had opted for Mary's Cafe with full knowledge of its reputation.

2/

Afterwards they stopped at tavern Mary's Cafe in Maple Shade for beers. The foursome were left waiting without anyone approaching them for service, not unexpectedly. A friend's father and King and McCall's landlord Jesthroe Hunt had warned them Black people were not welcome at Mary's.

On Sunday, June 11, 1950, King, classmate at Crozer Seminary and housemate Walter McCall, and their dates Doris Wilson and Pearl Smith attended church services in Merchantville. 🧵

5/5

King limited Coretta's role in the civil rights movement, expecting her to be a housewife and mother.

4/

King married Scott on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her parents' house, in Heiberger, Alabama. They had four children: Yolanda King (1955–2007), Martin Luther King III (b. 1957), Dexter Scott King (1961–2024), and Bernice King (b. 1963).

3/

On their first call, King told Scott, "I am like Napoleon at Waterloo before your charms," to which she replied: "You haven't even met me."

2/

Powell spoke to fellow student Coretta Scott; Scott was not interested in dating preachers but eventually agreed to allow King to telephone her based on Powell's description and vouching.

While studying at Boston University, King asked a friend from Atlanta named Mary Powell, a student at the New England Conservatory of Music, if she knew any nice Southern girls. 🧵

They’re very comfortable being openly racist right now.

6/6

“If you had a rebellious son… the father is to bring them out into the town square...and then they stone him to death. They kill him,” he said.⁠

5/

Sauvé went on to reference the Old Testament’s prescription for stoning a rebellious son, equating the behavior of young Black men to the disobedient sons in the Bible.⁠

4/

“Any criminal statistic that you could look at almost pretty much without exception, they excel at them, Black culture,” Sauvé said. ⁠

3/

Sauvé linked Old Testament passage, specifically Deuteronomy 21, to "Black culture," which he described as "evil, murderous, violent, and bestial."⁠

2/

During a recent episode of "The King's Hall" podcast, Brian Sauvé, a pastor at the Refuge Church in Utah, argued that the U.S. government should adopt "just laws" from the Bible, including those that call for the death penalty for disobedient sons. ⁠

A Utah pastor has sparked outrage after calling for the execution of "rebellious" young Black men.⁠ 🧵
⁠
Repost via IG @blackinfonet.bsky.social
⁠
(📷: Refuge Utah website; 🎥: X/RightWingWatch)

Perspective is everything 😂

8/8

…. and the first woman appointed to the Massachusetts Superior Court. Judge Barron’s legacy lives on through the work of her granddaughter, CLA’s Deputy Director Faye B. Rachlin, and the rest of her family.

7/

She was the first woman to present evidence to a Grand Jury in Massachusetts, the first to prosecute major criminal cases, the first woman judge appointed for life to the Boston Municipal Court,….

6/

Pictured here receiving an honorary degree is Jennie Loitman Barron, remembered as an American suffragist, accomplished lawyer, and judge.

5/

…. with a dissertation (initially supervised by Edgar S. Brightman and, upon the latter's death, by Lotan Harold DeWolf) titled A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman.

4/

At the age of 25 in 1954, King was called as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. King received his PhD on June 5, 1955, ….

3/

The young men often held bull sessions in their apartments, discussing theology, sermon style, and social issues.

2/

Hester was an old friend of King's father and was an important influence on King. In Boston, King befriended a small cadre of local ministers his age, and sometimes guest pastored at their churches, including Michael E. Haynes, associate pastor at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury.