A film that exploes the conflict between the civil rights leader and J. Edgar Hoover.
Marked Man: Martin Luther King and The FBI airing Monday, January 19 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI and PBS apps.
For years before Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, he was subjected to a campaign of intimidation by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI. Hoover believed King was a puppet of the Communists, intent on destroying America, and he was determined to neutralize the threat. Marked Man: Martin Luther King and The FBI reveals the depth of Hoover’s vendetta against King and examines how and why he targeted the civil rights leader.
King was a visionary — a leader who had a dream of an America where the Black community could attain equal rights, freedom, and justice. A gifted orator, his life’s work was to achieve this goal through peaceful protest and the persuasive power of his words. In contrast, Hoover was a lifelong bureaucrat, fiercely resistant to change and intent on preserving America’s status quo. With unchecked power and unrivaled influence, Hoover headed his organization through intimidation and surveillance.
Unfortunately, Hoover used this power to relentlessly pursue King, tracking his every move and even sending him threatening letters that encouraged King to take his own life. In revealing the extent of this campaign, the documentary sheds light on the toll these actions took on King and the larger implications for American society.
Photo: Leaders at a March on Washington, August 28, 1963/ Credit: Robert W. Kelley, Getty Images