13 - John Collins, Martin Luther King, Jr, and transnational networks of protest and resistance in the Church of England during the 1960s

Summary

On 6 December 1964, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, preached to a crowded congregation in St Paul's Cathedral in London during a brief stop on his journey to Oslo to collect his Nobel Peace Prize. King's sermon was followed by a press conference in the cathedral's chapter house, where he responded to questions on race relations in the United Kingdom. His visit was organized by John Collins, a canon of the cathedral and a strong supporter of the American civil rights movement, South African anti-apartheid groups and African anti-colonial organizations. During his sermon, King declared that ‘[y]ou cannot separate economic, social and racial problems, you cannot separate religion and politics’. King did not relate this assertion about the interconnection of religion and politics in matters of race relations just to the American civil rights movement; in his sermon and during an accompanying press conference, he spoke deliberately to British and South African publics and activists. For King, the politics of race could not be separated from the politics of faith; church structures, networks and institutions could be strategically and helpfully used by activists and church leaders in the struggle for racial equality.

This essay has two main purposes. First, it will examine King's commentary on British race relations and the place of religion in arguments for social justice and racial equality, and more particularly the significance of his visit for anti-racist movements in the Church of England and in British politics. The visit provided a catalyst for the merger of various anti-racist campaign groups through the foundation of the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination. However, the solidarity forged in Britain's anti-racism campaigning movement in King’s name was undone by fractures and divisions which were foreshadowed during his 1964 visit, between emerging Black Power activists and those influenced by King's principles of integrationism. Nevertheless, King's visit had a substantial effect on the campaign to improve British race relations, and his association with Collins led to the establishment of the Martin Luther King Foundation, an organization committed to researching social issues connected to racial inequality. During his visit, King positioned the civil rights movement as part of a global struggle for black liberation, one that shared a common vision of racial justice and equality with anti-racism resistance in Britain and the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.