When we consider the broad and multi-faceted Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and ’60s, a considerable number of figures are deservingly celebrated for their contributions. But there are many more individuals who are largely unknown, and without whom the movement may not have accomplished nearly so much.
During Black History Month, this brief profile followed by three more will highlight the accomplishments of four such lesser-known figures who deserve our attention.
Willie Pearl Mackey King is one of these unsung—or at least, less “sung”—heroes of the Civil Rights Movement, yet she was an instrumental part of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s team from 1962 to 1964. (She is not related to Martin Luther King, Jr.)
In truth, Mackey King did not join the movement because she felt called to do so. In fact, she got involved in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s work essentially by accident—she’d never even heard his name when she first met him. But once she was brought on board, Mackey King embraced her role wholeheartedly. She worked diligently and faithfully, and indeed, risked her life to further MLK Jr.’s mission.
Born Willie Mae Mackey in the early 1940s in Lynwood, Georgia, her family lived in poverty with no electricity or indoor plumbing. She has recounted that it was not an easy life and she was motivated to make a more promising path for herself. After graduating from high school, Mackey King went to Atlanta in search of work. A sexual harassment incident led her to walk away from her job at an airport, and a roommate at her boarding house (another important civil rights figure, Dorothy Cotton) urged her to apply for a job with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
Mackey King was given a secretarial job at SCLC. She has recounted that her first interactions with Martin Luther King, Jr. were so positive that Mackey King made it her mission to have a continuing role with SCLC, and she went on to work there from 1962 to 1966. Dr. King recognized her motivation and diligent work habits, and she became secretary to his chief of staff.
Mackey King was part of the staff that routinely traveled with Dr. King, even under threat to her life. She admits that there were times on the road with Dr. King when she was fearful. “But Dr. King’s attitude sort of grew on you,” she said in an interview in 2024 (published by AARP, 1/3/2024). “You don’t even think about the sacrifices that you are making.”
In December of 1962, Mackey King traveled with MLK, Jr. on a tour of the state of Alabama, including a non-violent protest in Birmingham, which was possibly the most dangerous place at this particular juncture for civil rights activity. There were credible threats and warnings from the FBI, but Dr. King would not be swayed. He warned his staff that they could be killed. Mackey King was only 22 years old at this time and she reportedly took a private moment to worry and to consider her options—and then she told Dr. King and the team that she was on board.
During the Birmingham protests in spring 1963, Dr. King was arrested and put in a Birmingham jail. While he was jailed, a group of white clergy wrote an article calling into question King’s tactics and use of protests, and urging African Americans not to join him. Many familiar with the civil rights movement are aware that Dr. King wrote an impassioned response to this article, which became his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” But most are unaware of Mackey King’s role in putting this letter together.
Dr. King’s jailors denied him access to paper on which to write, and so he wrote his thoughts down piecemeal on whatever scraps of writing material he could get his hands on. “He wrote on the edges of newspaper, on toilet paper, on sandwich bags,” Mackey King explained in her 2024 interview. MLK’s attorney smuggled these scraps out of the jail and into the hands of none other than Mackey King.
MLK Jr.’s handwriting was reportedly not very good, and assembling these scraps of writing into a cohesive form was like putting together a puzzle. Three days and a number of drafts later, Mackey King had typed up the famous letter. She had no idea that this letter would become a key historical document. She says that if people would read this letter, they would understand why Dr. King went to Birmingham and what he was fighting for. Mackey King’s initials (WM) appear at the end of the letter beside Martin Luther King Jr.’s initials. An excerpt from the famous letter:
“You may well ask: ‘Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path?’ You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.”
Willie Pearl Mackey King continued on from her work at the SCLC in an impressive career working for the cause of equality. She earned her bachelor’s degree in business management and worked for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for 32 years, followed by six years for the U.S. Office of Compliance on Capitol Hill. In 2019, Mackey King received the Civil Rights Legend award from the International Association of Official Human Rights Agencies, and in 2022, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Montgomery County Maryland Office of Human Rights.
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