Martin Luther King's birthplace and the surrounding area have become a national historic park. For the occasion, we went to Atlanta to visit it.
Atlanta, southeast of the United States. It is a beautiful winter's day, but the cold is biting: according to locals, temperatures are even lower than usual. The icy wind doesn't deter us, and we leave the city centre to venture into the Sweet Auburn neighbourhood, which now encompasses a national historic park – the first in Georgia.
"Can you believe he walked past here hundreds of times?", exclaims a girl, her voice full of emotion, dancing on the porch of a house that at first glance doesn't look all that different from the others. We draw closer to understand the reason for such enthusiasm and discover that here, on 15 January 1929, Martin Luther King was born. Until the age of twelve he lived in this house at 501 Auburn Avenue. It is not hard to imagine him playing basketball in the garden – he was apparently unbeatable – or running along the street to Fire Station No. 6, where he dreamed of working one day. A dream he would never fulfil, because it was a job reserved for white people.
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On the other side of the street are the houses where African Americans began to move after the racial riots of 1906, when the workers from the Empire textile co. who had been living there abandoned them. Apparently a bullet could pass straight through them, because the front door and the back door are aligned: that is why they are called "shotgun houses". Or perhaps the name refers to the word "to-gun", which in West Africa denotes a gathering place.
The atmosphere is difficult to put into words: we know that these buildings bore witness to events that changed the lives of countless people for ever. Crossing the threshold of Ebenezer Baptist Church, you can almost hear the gospel choirs that rang out during the services of Martin Luther King's grandfather and father. King himself was a reverend and preached within these walls, and his sermons inspired all those who fought for the rights of African Americans. The same is true of his speeches: the most famous is the one delivered on 28 August 1963, the day of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, entitled "I have a dream".
The site also includes a visitor centre, a botanical garden, Freedom Hall (where exhibitions and events are held), a walk of fame featuring the footprints of some of the most important civil rights activists, and two monuments, one of which honours Mahatma Gandhi. From Monday 8 January the area has enjoyed greater protection: United States President Donald Trump signed a law transforming it into a national historic park. He did so aboard the presidential helicopter, in the presence of King's niece, shortly after landing in Georgia to attend the American football match against Alabama. The headquarters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference will also be included in the park. "Through his life and his work, Martin Luther King made America more just and more free," said White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley. "The park tells his story, and this law will help ensure that it continues to tell that story to generations to come."
Martin Luther King founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (Sclc), through which he gave voice to Black people in the struggle against racial segregation, and carried forward non-violent resistance through marches, sit-ins and defiance of unjust laws. Together with John Lewis, then representative for Georgia and promoter of the decree just signed by Trump, he took part in the Freedom Rides, travelling on buses alongside white people until he was arrested.
Martin Luther King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, the year the Civil Rights Act came into force, declaring racial segregation illegal in schools, in the workplace and in all public facilities. He was assassinated on 4 April 1968 and is now buried alongside his wife next to Ebenezer church. In some way, however, he will live for ever. You sense this watching the African Americans who visit this place: many are teenagers and their eyes shine with admiration, with wonder and with gratitude for what this man did for them. Their sense of awe is unbounded, as was the case with the girl we met at the start of our visit. A street poet even thanked us: "it's good that you came by here." The decree signed by Trump ensures the proper preservation of a place that cannot, and must not, be forgotten.
