Journalist, activist Charlayne Hunter-Gault discusses memories of MLK's Civil Rights Movement
As we approach the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday, we take a step back in time with award-winning journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault.
The civil rights activist and Peabody Award recipient, along with Hamilton E. Holmes, were the first two students to integrate The University of Georgia in 1961, a time where the height of the Civil Rights Movement was broiling.
Hunter-Gault recently sat down with WABE’s “Morning Edition” to discuss her recollections of the Civil Rights Movement and how the leader at the helm of it, Dr. King himself, helped to inspire herself and her peers.
One interaction in particular still holds a special place with her over 60 years later.
“I was down on Auburn Ave., and there, all of a sudden, I saw Dr. King,” said the former NPR correspondent. “I went running over … and I said ‘Dr. King, Dr. King’, and before I could say that my name was Charlayne Hunter, he said, ‘I know who you are, and we are so very proud of you,’ or something to that effect.”
The famed journalist notes that while the encounter was a major source of inspiration, it also reinstated to her the importance of humility.
“You would see that kind of humility in people like Dr. King,” she said. “It wasn’t about them, but it was about our people.”
Hunter-Gault’s book, “My People: Five Decades of Writing About Black Lives,” is available now.
Lily Oppenheimer contributed to this report.
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