On June 12, 1968, a widowed Coretta Scott King stood before Harvard's outgoing senior class in place of her husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. Only months after her husband's assassination and in the midst of a tumultuous year, Scott King urged the young crowd to carry forth MLK's mission, saying "there is reason to hope and to struggle if young people continue to hold high the banner of freedom." Fifty years after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King's speech on that rainy, Cambridge Wednesday, young people remain at the helms of many social and activist movements across the country. This week on Under the Radar and in the concluding hour of our series honoring Dr. King's legacy, we speak with leaders of two separate youth civil engagement groups that have carried MLK's vision into the 21st century.

Guests:

Rachel Gilmer - Co-Director of Dream Defenders

Alexandra Oliver-Dávila - Executive Director of Sociedad Latina

Later in the show…

The City of Boston plans to raise about $5 million for a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King. But most Bostonians don’t realize how deep the MLK-Boston connection really is.

In the early 1950s, King lived in segregated housing while earning his doctorate in Theology at Boston University – he preached at local churches and played basketball on Columbus Avenue in his preacher’s shoes. He met Coretta here while she was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music.

But strangely, there are almost no markers of MLK’s presence in Boston. That’s why award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist Clennon King made it his mission to highlight Reverend King’s Boston years before they’re completely lost to history.

Guest:

Clennon King - journalist and award-winning documentary filmmaker.