The nation honors Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior today. APR listeners heard from the Reverend Jesse Jackson about his days working for the civil rights leader. The APR news team’s international award-winning documentary “The King of Alabama” focused on MLK’s work in the state. The 1956 Montgomery bus boycott helped make King into an international figure. Jackson talked with APR back in 2018. He recalled MLK’s impact…
“What Dr King had done in 13 years, he had done a lot to bring America into a more civilized state. We ended the public accommodations ban. We achieved the right to vote Fair Housing use a moral light and darkness, and so his work lives on,” Jackson said in 2018.
APR’s documentary “King of Alabama” featured the comments of people from the West African nation of Mali, courtesy of APR’s international exchange journalist Ousmane Sagara. The program went on to win gold from New York Festivals International Radio Festival. Actor Danny Glover, who films include “The Color Purple” and the “Lethal Weapon” action movies recalled hearing of King’s death, as well as Tuskegee attorney Fred Gray who once represented King as well as Rosa Parks. Jesse Jackson also spoke with APR about the assassination. He was with King when it happened.
“He was shot instantly. And I remember just the trauma at the instantaneous death. It blew his tie off. It blew his heart out. I remember getting up, calling Mrs. King about what had happened,” Jackson recalled in 2018.
The NFL honored King by displaying “Choose Love” in the end zones and on helmet decals for all divisional round playoff games over the weekend.
“Choose Love” and “It Takes All of Us” will appear on opposite end zones at the Super Bowl next month. Host teams will select the end zone stencils for the conference championship games.
“Dr. King’s message continues to guide how we show up in meaningful moments across the league,” said Anna Isaacson, SVP of social responsibility for the NFL. "'Choose Love’ has become an important and widely embraced message for our teams because it reflects the values Dr. King championed — dignity, empathy, and a commitment to our shared humanity. Bringing it forward in the Divisional Round and again at Super Bowl LX reflects that continued relevance.”
“Choose Love” was first introduced in 2022 when the Bills adopted it as a unifying message for their community after a shooting in Buffalo. NFL teams have widely embraced the stencil, and it was featured at the Super Bowl last year following an attack in New Orleans.
The NFL has used on-field social justice messaging for the past six seasons. Teams featured an end zone message of their choice at each home game throughout the season, selecting from four options: “End Racism,” “Stop Hate,” “Choose Love” or “Inspire Change.” “It Takes All of Us” was stenciled in the opposite end zone for all games.
