MLK/FBI

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." MLK

It's shocking to hear in the eye-opening documentary MLK/FBI William Sullivan, the FBI's director of domestic intelligence, encourage Martin Luther King, Jr. to commit suicide. The theme of the doc is that the agency, under J Edgar Hoover's direction, from 1955.was dedicated to bringing down King and the Civil Rights Movement.

Although the animosity was known even in the 60's, the doc does a credible job showing this aggressiveness was a part of the mid-century paranoia dominated by the fear of communism and perhaps mirrored it. In this case, the agency, like Joe McCarthy, had little evidence of the subjects' undemocratic tactics but probably was motivated more by the fear of losing influence to liberal protestors or lonely anarchists.

Mixing archival footage of King parading and snippets from his famous speeches, director Sam Pollard gives a fluid narrative to otherwise discursive material. To his credit, talking heads are at a minimum as he emphasizes the growing concern that King was being targeted to go down.

That plot was notoriously supported by ample evidence of King's philandering, mainly in hours of tapes with his women, not his wife, from wiretapping to photos. The actual auditory evidence will be released in 2027, and the ballyhoo will probably be disappointing because he did his good while he was doing his bad, and the good he did for civil rights and Black people far outweighs infidelities to his estimable wife and puritanical white folk.

MLK/FBI could have profited from discussion of his influence and flaws and how the latter might have been better served by expert analysis about their importance. That he was an appetitive man, at least in regards to women, was known before this documentary; that he was a powerful player in the freedom of his own people and other repressed minorities, will redound through history.

MLK/FBI will remind you in important evidence that like JFK, MLK was destined to change a nation and lose a young life in return. I never tire of remembering true heroes.

This documentary tackles a very interesting part of history. It is a story I don't often see taught in school. It features a lot of big figures is U. S. History. It is the 1960's, we have J. Edgar Hoover, Lydon Johnson and of course, Martin Luther King Jr. Take those characters and put them in the U. S. 1960's setting, with the Civil Rights, Cold and Red Scare. Put all these ingredients together and you have your self a fascinating recipie.

Looking at the situation from the lense of today, it is easy to see that Hoover is acting selfishly and irrationally, but this documentary does a good job of rationalizing his actions, without justifying them.

It is also quaint to remember a time when the FBI needed wiretaps in order to listen in to American's phone calls.

Not much to say, the film does its job well. It informs its audience of an interesting story in an interesting matter.

The FBI begins spying on MLK on suspicion of communist activities and ends up spying on his sex life. It is the disease of the moral watchers. The documentary accurately narrates these espionage activities that move against the defense of human rights. Through well selected archival material, it is a necessary film to show the moral baseness of those who considered themselves protectors of moral integrity. It is the danger of a policy based on constant suspicion.

A very thorough documenting of MLK's political activism and attempts by the FBI and others to shut him down for political and ideological reasons.

Using the latest info available on him, it connects all of the dots and reveals his work to bring about equality and his frustrations with the forces who were preventing that.

Very thorough and incredibly detailed account of what we do not know... Infuriating and educational. It saddened me and taught me a lot. I hope everyone will get the chance to see this. How sad that this icon and hero was taken away from this world at such a young age. The world would have been so different had he been able to have lived his full life.