Dr. Martin Luther King's time in Boston had a profound influence on him. Malcom X's life and work was forged in Boston.
Here, Martin did his doctoral studies in Christian theology at Boston University. Malcolm learned to read and created his own education while imprisoned for burglary in Charlestown and other state penitentiaries.
Both sons of Baptists ministers preached and ministered here, Martin in Baptist churches, Malcolm at Nation of Islam temples.
Both left to blaze on the worldwide stage, but both returned back to Boston again and again and always acknowledged the inluence the city had upon them.
Martin arrived in Boston in the fall of 1951 to enroll at B.U. for graduate studies just as Malcolm was finishing his intense prison self-education, receiving parole in 1952.
Martin, born on January 15, 1929, would be 81 this year. Malcolm, born May 19, 1929, would be 85. Both could be alive today and serving as important American elder statesmen of the stature of Nelson Mandela in South Africa, who's 92 this year. But both lives were brutally cut short by assasins bullets, Martin in 1965 at age 39 and Malcolm in 1965 at 40.
We'll talk about Dr. King's time in Boston in the January 15th issue of Roofscape, the date of his birthday. In the May 15th issue we'll look at Malcolm's, around the time of his.
Image ... Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Courtesy of MLK Online.
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