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Samuel L. Jackson's forgotten past as a student activist who held MLK Sr. hostage resurfaces

Before he was famous he was a student demanding better for Black education.

Samuel L. Jackson's forgotten activist past of holding MLK Sr. hostage

Samuel L. Jackson has become a household name over the last few decades. A person would have to work extraordinarily hard to avoid knowing who the award winning actor is after his long movie career. Whether you know him for his foul mouthed rants in Pulp Fiction, his skills with his purple light saber in Star Wars: Episode 1–The Phantom Menace or as the gnarled Nick Fury in various Marvel films, you likely don't know much about his earlier years.

Jackson was born in 1948, and while he was born in Washington, D.C., he was raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee with his mom and her parents. Given the year in which he was born, much of his education took place during segregation. Growing up in this environment understandably led to a lot of internal rage that Jackson found hard to articulate as a child. While his grandfather was there to help him navigate injustices, it was a lot for him to take on.

"I had anger in me. It came from growing up suppressed in a segregated society. All those childhood years of ‘whites only’ places and kids passing you on the bus, yelling, ‘Ni**er!’ There was nothing I could do about it then. I couldn’t even say some of the things that made me angry—it would have gotten me killed," Jackson explained to Parade Magazine in 2005.

black and white photo of a storefront that reads "WHITE ONLY. Maids in uniform accepted."File:New Orleans - Whites Only - Maids in Uniform Accepted.jpg ...commons.wikimedia.org

But it was the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that pushed Jackson into radicalization. At the time, he was a student at Morehouse College, a historically Black college (HBCU) in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. King laid in state at Spellman, the sister college and Jackson attended his funeral. He then flew to Memphis to protest, which further motivated his political radicalization at the time.

"I was angry about the assassination,” he shared with Parade in 2005, “but I wasn’t shocked by it. I knew that change was going to take something different—not sit-ins, not peaceful coexistence.”

large red-brick building with trees and green lawnFile:Graves Hall, Morehouse College 2016.jpg - Wikimedia Commonscommons.wikimedia.org

In 1969 while still a college student, Jackson and several of his classmates decided to hold the Morehouse College Board of Trustees hostage until they met their demands of changing the governing structure and including classes on Black studies. One of the members of the board was none other than Martin Luther King Sr.

When he took the board of trustees hostage, he had no interest in what Morehouse had to offer. "Morehouse was breeding politically correct negroes,” Jackson says in the book detailing his life, Bad Motherf*cker (2021). “They were creating the next Martin Luther Kings. They didn’t say that because, really, they didn’t want you to be that active politically, and they were more proud of the fact that he was a preacher than that he was a civil-rights leader. That was their trip: they was into making docile negroes."

gif of Samuel L. Jackson saying, "WHAT?!"Samuel L Jackson What GIF by Coming to AmericaGiphy

Yes, Samuel L. Jackson once held Martin Luther King Jr.'s father hostage before eventually lowering him down out of a window when he began experiencing chest pains. The rest of the board members remained hostages until they agreed to meet the students' demands, which they did. To absolutely no one's surprise, Jackson was expelled after pulling that stunt, but that didn't stop his streak of radicalization. He quickly became familiar with the more extreme faction of the Black Power Movement where he found himself purchasing guns and ending up on the FBI's radar.

"But then one day, my mom showed up and put me on a plane to L.A. She said, ‘Do not come back to Atlanta.’ The FBI had been to the house and told her that if I didn’t get out of Atlanta, there was a good possibility I’d be dead within a year. She freaked out," Jackson said.

gif of man wearing FBI shirt getting out of dark carCbs Police GIF by Wolf EntertainmentGiphy

Thanks to his mother's swift intervention, instead of being on America's Most Wanted, he honed his new found acting craft and became a sought after Hollywood star. After spending some time in Los Angeles, he was able to get re-enrolled in Morehouse which allowed him to graduate with a degree in drama to use his art for political commentary on a larger scale. Recently, he used his acting skills to play "Uncle Sam" at the Super Bowl Halftime show with Pulitzer Prize winning rapper Kendrick Lamar, a role reminiscent of his character in the 2012 film, Django Unchained

The halftime show itself was layered with meaning and Jackson's role was no exception. Throughout the performance Jackson, donning the infamous red, white and blue Uncle Sam costume, interrupts Lamar's performance attempting to correct his behavior. The idea is for "Uncle Sam" to reinforce respectability politics on Lamar and his dancers which is something Black American's have a long history dealing with.

The character is in stark contrast to Jackson's past behaviors and his personal politics in real life, which makes his role as Uncle Sam that much more nuanced. It could also be seen powerful critique of how some Black activists evolve into becoming the enforcer of rules they once fought against. Kahlil Greene, a Peabody Winner known for his concise breakdowns and analyses of US culture on his TikTok page 'Gen Z historian' shares his take on the significance of Jackson's role during the halftime performance.

@kahlilgreene Uncle Sam-uel was built different … How has it been discussing this performance online 👇. Also comment “newsletter” to get that article! 🛑I need your help to keep creating free educational content!🛑 In order of impact, you can support my work by: - Following this account - Subscribe to my Substack newsletter (link in bio) - Saving this post (it really is a boost) - Sharing this on your story - Commenting one thought that sparked in your head - Tipping me on Venmo (TheGenZHistorian) or Cashapp ($kahlilgreene00) - Of course, liking this post! Thank you so much, let’s continue to uncover Hidden History 🔍! #hiddenhistory #genzhistorian #kahlilgreene ♬ original sound - Gen Z Historian

"Now decades later the same man who fought against the establishment is now embodying it as Uncle Sam in the Super Bowl performance. That's a full circle moment, because on one hand we should know that Jackson does not represent the ideals of this character in his real life, but on the other hand it forces us to ask what happens when revolutionaries grow older and sometimes become representative of the same establishments that they once fought against, " Greene says. It's definitely interesting to know his past and see him play such a controversial symbol of American history, and viewers definitely got the point.

Jackson no longer practices his activism through taking hostages, but he is using his global platform as a Hollywood actor in revolutionary ways.

Steve Bannon said that Martin Luther King Jr. “would be proud” of Donald Trump. Umm, what?

In predictable, reality-bending fashion, Trump’s former strategist and adviser Steve Bannon made a bold claim about how King would feel about Trump’s performance thus far in his presidency. Speaking to BBC Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis, he said, “If you look at the policies of Donald Trump, anybody ... Martin Luther King would be proud of him, of what he’s done for the black and Hispanic community for jobs.”

Maitlis clarified — somehow with a straight face — “You think Martin Luther King would be proud of Donald Trump as president?”


Bafflingly, Bannon charged straight ahead:

“You don’t think Martin Luther King would be proud? Look at the unemployment we had in the black community five years ago. You don’t think Martin Luther King would sit there and go ‘Yes, you’re putting young black men and women to work. There’s the lowest unemployment we’ve had in history. And wages are starting to rise among the working class. And you’ve finally stopped the illegal alien labor forces coming in and competing with them every day, and destroying the schools and destroying the healthcare.’ Absolutely.”

Mmm 'kay.

Before we get to what King’s daughter had to say about that, let’s quickly review those unemployment numbers.

Indeed, the black unemployment rate is the lowest it’s ever been. But that rate has been dropping steadily since the middle of Obama’s term as president. Bannon specifies the change in the rate from five years ago, but neglects to acknowledge that the vast majority of that drop happened under Obama.

Here's the government's own Bureau of Labor Statistics chart for black unemployment since 2008:

[rebelmouse-image 19533368 dam="1" original_size="600x300" caption="Black unemployment rate in the U.S. Graph via Bureau of Labor Statistics." expand=1]Black unemployment rate in the U.S. Graph via Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The same goes for Hispanic unemployment. Yes, it's the lowest it's been in 25 years, but it's also been steadily dropping since 2011:

[rebelmouse-image 19533369 dam="1" original_size="600x300" caption="Hispanic or Latino unemployment rate in the U.S. Graph via Bureau of Labor Statistics." expand=1]Hispanic or Latino unemployment rate in the U.S. Graph via Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Trump’s policies have not created some kind of dramatic turnaround in unemployment — the trend is simply continuing. There have been no miracles performed here, unless you consider riding on someone’s economic coattails a miracle.

Now, on to King's response.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter Bernice shut Bannon down — real quick.

Bernice King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s youngest child, reacted to Bannon's interview, and let's just say she's not having it.

Bernice King shared this image on Twitter the morning after Bannon's interview. I imagine that's exactly the face she made when she saw it. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

"#SteveBannon has dangerously and erroneously co-opted my father's name, work and words," King wrote on Twitter. "Bannon's assertion that my father, #MLK would be proud of Donald Trump wholly ignores Daddy's commitment to people of all races, nationalities, etc. being treated with dignity and respect."

She then explained how her "father's concerns were not sectional, but global."

[rebelmouse-image 19533371 dam="1" original_size="792x470" caption="Screenshot via Bernice King/Twitter." expand=1]Screenshot via Bernice King/Twitter.

Setting the record straight on what her fatheractuallywould and wouldn't do, King wrote, "Further, he would not refer to people as 'illegal aliens.' The term is degrading and does not reflect his belief that we are all a part of the human family." She added that he'd never pit one group against another.

[rebelmouse-image 19533372 dam="1" original_size="782x356" caption="Screenshot via Bernice King/Twitter." expand=1]Screenshot via Bernice King/Twitter.

But she wasn't done. She called Bannon's comments "empty calories," and explained how her father would be "extremely disturbed" by the current political climate that emboldens people to "easily express and demonstrate cruelty, predominantly toward people of color and immigrants."

[rebelmouse-image 19533373 dam="1" original_size="790x374" caption="Screenshot via Bernice King/Twitter." expand=1]Screenshot via Bernice King/Twitter.

King capped off her commentary with how her father would actually view those unemployment numbers:

[rebelmouse-image 19533374 dam="1" original_size="782x156" caption="Screenshot via Bernice King/Twitter." expand=1]Screenshot via Bernice King/Twitter.

Well, there you have it, Mr. Bannon.

People of all political stripes try to mold Martin Luther King Jr. to fit their agenda. It's a problem.

While usually more subtle and less blatantly ridiculous than Bannon's assertions, people often choose small pieces of King's message to suit their narrative. But such simplification dishonors the man and his accomplishments. At the core, King was a radical humanitarian. He championed not only the black American, but the poor person, the immigrant, and every human being experiencing oppression and injustice.

Thank goodness for Bernice King's perspective in the age of cherry-picking MLK quotes and whitewashing his legacy. We need to keep defending truth and shut down those who try to bend reality to justify prejudice and fear-mongering.

Preacher. Activist. Martyr. Liberator. Genius. Organizer. Humanitarian. Father. Husband. Human. Martin Luther King Jr. was all of those and then some.

Photo by Reg Lancaster/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

The charismatic world-changer was assassinated at just 39 years old on April 4, 1968. Having survived a stabbing attack, death threats, time in prison, and brutal threats and unethical surveillance from the FBI, King died with a heart that was in the state of a 60-year-old's.    


But it's not King's death that should be remembered. It's the incredible life he led and how he shaped civil rights, activism, and what it's like to be black in modern America.

On the night before King's death, he gave what would be his last speech in Memphis, Tennessee. Clearly worn by years of fighting injustice at one of the most racist and violent times in American history, King gave a resounding speech to a crowd of more than 2,500 people about the burdensome but necessary fight toward quality and justice for all. The last two minutes of the 40-minute speech are utterly incredible.

In his last speech, King makes it clear that the journey to equality is still long but worth it. Below are some of the most memorable quotes from that April night that we can apply today.  

Photo by William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images.

1. "It means that we've got to stay together. We've got to stay together and maintain unity."

King spent his life preaching the benefit of working together instead of apart. He believed in the power of unity and peace in the face of injustice. King wanted black people to stick together and for humans to reach across the aisle to help one another.

2. "We aren't going to let any mace stop us. We are masters in our non-violent movement in disarming police forces; they don't know what to do."

Police brutality has been a disturbing issue that has plagued black communities for years. Using tactics, such as tear gas, hosing down women and children, and training dogs to attack black people in peaceful protests, the relationship between police and black people has long been fraught. One must only look to the Birmingham civil rights protest of 1963 or the 1965 march on Selma to find examples of brutal treatment from police.

Still, King believed we could live above that. Brutality, murders, and ignorance wouldn't stop freedom. Our society could do better.

3. "Maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges because they hadn't committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right. ... We aren't going to let any injunction turn us around. We are going on."

At one point in American history, African-Americans counted as three-fifths of a person. In spite of a Constitution that declared freedom for all men, Founding Fathers who claimed to believe in freedom for all men, and a country that framed itself as a place where anyone could catch their dreams, black people were exempt and often attacked for attempting to do so for years. King wasn't going to accept this.

The Declaration of Independence states,"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." Martin Luther King Jr. believed this statement should apply to black people, and he fought for that into his last days.  

Photo by Central Press/Getty Images.

4. "And when we have our march, you need to be there. If it means leaving work, if it means leaving school — be there. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together. Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness."

King was many things, but one of his most prominent qualities was his giving nature and determination to fight for all. As such, his point about unselfishness, especially when it's inconvenient, is extremely indicative of his character and representative of how humanity can succeed today.  

Activism isn't always clean, convenient, or comfortable. But it is necessary for true changes.

When we step into someone else's shoes or put someone's needs before our own, we create spaces that aren't just for us. We include and uplift everyone.

In the last few minutes of King's speech, it's almost as if King was aware of the inevitable death that awaited him.

"Like anybody, I would like to live a long life," King said. "Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!"

Photo by  William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images.

King didn't promise that he'd never leave, but he did promise that the "promised land" — his version of "freedom" — was possible for all black people.  But too often, King's words are misconstrued to only support peace and not radical protest (even if it made others uncomfortable) — an erasure of what he actually stood for.  

We can better remember and honor King's life by listening to what he had to say, his support for radical societal changes that would create equality and freedom for black Americans.

While King himself may be gone, his work and ideology are pervasive in American life and activism today. As attacks mount against black people, Muslims, immigrant communities, and LGBTQ communities across the nation, King's dedication to peace, belief in a world that is fair to everyone, and unwavering support of being better together than we are apart is more relevant to the American dream than ever.        

Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed on April 4, 1968. "I Have Been to the Mountaintop" was his final public speech. You can listen to the full speech below and read the transcript here.

Things got a little awkward during the Super Bowl when Ram Trucks aired an ad titled "Built to Serve," featuring the voice of  the late Martin Luther King Jr.

The minute-long commercial was intended to highlight the importance of service, and for that, King's "The Drum Major's Instinct" sermon seemed to make for an appropriate backing track. Unfortunately for Ram, the clip came off as a standard truck ad, and it was roundly mocked on social media.

"If you want to be important — wonderful," King's voice can be heard over clips of a fisherman loading his daily catch, a teacher scribbling on a chalkboard, and a rancher looking wistfully to the horizon. "If you want to be recognized —wonderful. If you want to be great — wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness."


A Ram truck splashes through the rain as King's voice bellows:

"By giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know the theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love."

It was a little odd. Some labeled it disrespectful, and others called it hypocritical in light of the ongoing controversy over players kneeling in silent protest. Whatever Ram's intentions, these likely weren't the reactions the company was hoping for.

The King Center, founded by his widow, Coretta Scott King, issued a statement distancing itself and CEO Bernice King from the ad. The group responsible for giving Ram the OK is called Intellectual Properties Management, run by Dexter Scott King, King's son.

If something good does come out of this ad, it'll be some increased familiarity with King's "The Drum Major Instinct" sermon.

No minute-long commercial can capture the message of the more than 38-minute-long speech. Yes — that sermon touched on the importance of serving others; it also contained a sharp rebuke of materialism. To add a bit of irony to its use here, the speech also includes an entire section about the dangers of advertising and capitalism — specifically mentioning auto companies. Yikes!

"Now the presence of this instinct explains why we are so often taken by advertisers. You know, those gentlemen of massive verbal persuasion. And they have a way of saying things to you that kind of gets you into buying. In order to be a man of distinction, you must drink this whiskey. In order to make your neighbors envious, you must drive this type of car. In order to be lovely to love you must wear this kind of lipstick or this kind of perfume. And you know, before you know it, you're just buying that stuff. That's the way the advertisers do it.
***
But very seriously, it goes through life; the drum major instinct is real. And you know what else it causes to happen? It often causes us to live above our means. It's nothing but the drum major instinct. Do you ever see people buy cars that they can't even begin to buy in terms of their income? You've seen people riding around in Cadillacs and Chryslers who don't earn enough to have a good T-Model Ford. But it feeds a repressed ego."

The sermon's core message is that we all have an instinct within us to be the "drum major" of our lives, to lead the parade. That instinct, left unchecked, can drive people to simply marinate in their own ego and seek attention without actually giving much back. King's message urges us to recognize that instinct, harness it for the power of good, and to allow ourselves to let go of materialism and our need to feel superior over others. In short, it's everything a car commercial is not.

Part of what makes "The Drum Major Instinct" one of King's most important works has to do how close it came to his death, just two months after the speech.

He described what he'd like his funeral to look like and how he'd like others to remember him. He asked that rather than draw attention to the many awards he earned during his lifetime that we focus on the message that he helped spread.

50 years after his death, it's a shame that so much of his work has become so sanitized that his message has been defanged and made palatable for members of society content with the status quo and whose knowledge of his fight started and ended with the "I Have a Dream" speech. There's so, so much more than that.

King in 1964. Photo by Keystone/Getty Images.

"Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize — that isn’t important," he asked his audience to remind future eulogists. "Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards — that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school."

He continued:

"I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry.  And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that's all I want to say."

Using "The Drum Major Instinct" might have been a big mistake for Ram, but it's a good reminder for the rest of us to actually listen to the words King preached.

You can listen to a recording of King's "The Drum Major Instinct" sermon here and read the transcript here.