In 1978, when I was in my Senior Year at Murray State, NBC ran a TV mini-series on the 10 year anniversary of King’s assasination, entitled simply “King”. It was to be a formative theological experience for me, to add into my increasing move to what was to be called “left” in the years ahead, already set in motion by influences such as the lay renewal movement, Church of the Saviour, and Clarence Jordan. I did a paper for Law and Society later that semester on King and Civil Disobedience, and
I was to enter seminary in the fall (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville), and did my Church history paper on the Southern Baptist response to Martin Luther King. Jr.

Paul Winfield looks nothing like the real King, and sounds even less like him (almnost the comlete oppostite; a somewhat high-pitched voice alongside that of the real King, but I was impressed with the delivery Winfield had…it inspired me, having rarely heard the actual King. I hope I might find this on DVD someday. (update: I just looked, and it was just released on 1/11/05)

This miniseries (which I do have on VHS) had a deep effect on me and my theology, as did later reading of King’s writings, and listening to tapes of his speeches.