January 16, 2015 BREAKING NEWS: UNKNOWN RECORDING OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DISCOVERED For information contact: Brian DeShazor, Pacifica Radio Archives / Pacificaradioarchives.org 818-506-1077 / [email protected] Pacifica Radio has revealed that its archives – the Pacifica Radio Archives – recently discovered a previously unknown recording of a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. The recording has been verified as the only known recording of the 62-minute speech, made in London on December 7, 1964. The entire speech will be first heard on Democracy Now! January 19, and on the Pacifica Radio stations and network affiliate radio stations. During the recording of the December 7 the speech, Martin Luther King Jr. amuses the audience with his sense of humor and speaks without written notes, as is verified by a 2:45 minute audio/video film clip that exists of the event. This recording is thought to be the only known record of a comprehensive public statement by King on apartheid in South Africa. The Speech was recorded at City Temple Hall in London where King Jr. had been invited to speak on South Africa. When King was given the Nobel Peace Prize, he went to London on the way to accepting that prize in Oslo, Norway. Speaking to an overflowing audience, he added the topics of the history of slavery, Supreme Court rulings, Greek philosophy, nonviolent resistance, misunderstandings about the doctrine of loving ones’ enemies, the legislative process of desegregation in America, registration of black voters, and ending bigotry throughout the planet. When speaking about South Africa, he read a prepared written statement that called for sanctions to end apartheid. The recording on tape was made by Saul Bernstein, identified as a “Pacifica European Correspondent.” In order to not lose any of the speech while changing tapes, he used a “half-track format” with half of the speech recorded in one direction on half of the tape and the rest of the speech recorded on the other half of the tape going the opposite direction. The entire speech was converted to digital format by the Pacifica Radio Archives staff, who corrected sound distortions. The recording was discovered in December by Pacifica Radio Archives’ director Brian DeShazor when he was working on an unrelated project and searched through some unopened boxes of tape reels, stored in the Archives’ climate-controlled vault in Los Angeles. He found a box with “Dr. MLK London “with the incorrect date “1965” written on its lid. DeShazor said “After 15 years of working at the Pacifica Radio Archives, the astonishing discovery of the lost Dr. King tape is truly a proud event in my career. It confirms the important, profound contribution to society and history being made by Pacifica’s independent archive.” The Pacifica Radio Archives brings together the recordings of Pacifica Network since 1949. It is considered by historians and scholars to be one of the oldest and most important audio collections in the world. Chronicling the political, cultural and artistic movements of the second half of the 20th century, Pacifica Network radio programs include documentaries, performances, discussions, debates, drama, poetry readings, commentaries and radio arts, including a large collection of speeches by Martin Luther King and other voices from the American Civil Rights era. Pacifica Foundation Radio is a nonprofit Radio Network that initiated the concept of listener-sponsored independent community radio in the United States. It owns five radio stations and has a network of 170 affiliates. A copy of this newly discovered speech is available for purchase from the Pacifica Radio Archives as part of a special audio collection of Martin Luther King’s speeches. All proceeds go to support the Pacifica Radio Archives. Contact the Pacifica Radio Archives at 818-326-7555 or 800-735-0230 or pacificaradioarchives.org
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 00:06:54 +0000