The Sixties were years of turmoil. In the U.S.A. Martin Luther King fought for Civil Rights for Blacks and reminded Canadians of their proud role in the Underground Railroad. Canada continued to force residential schools on Indigenous families. Manitoba's Margaret Laurence emerged as English Canada's most popular novelist. In Quebec the arts scene flourished with stars like Borduas and Riopelle while separatism grew, encouraged by General De Gaulle with his "Vive Le Quebec Libre" speech in Montreal in 1967. After the murder of Pierre Laporte, one of the leading Quebec novelists, Jacques Ferron, became a negotiator for the FLQ, while W.O. Mitchell spoke for Canada's sorrow.