Clara Ford Foundation

Today, January 18th is observed as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Martin Luther King Jr. was born the second child of Martin Luther King Sr., a pastor and Alberta ...Williams King, a former school teacher. A gifted student, at the age of 15 King attended Morehouse College where he studied medicine and law. During his tenure at Morehouse, King decided to pursue ministry. After his graduation in 1948, King attended Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity. Following this, King attended Boston University where he earned a doctorate in systematic theology in 1955. It was in Boston that he met Coretta Scott, a singer from Alabama who would later become his wife. The couple married in 1953 and eventually settled in Montgomery, Alabama. It was in Montgomery where King first became involved in the civil rights movement. In 1955, he was named the official spokesperson and protest leader for the Montgomery Bus Boycott. After the Supreme Court ruled segregation in busing was unconstitutional, King gained national attention for his activism. In 1957, he helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) with other civil rights activists and served as the organization's Presidenta role that would allow King to spread his message of nonviolence activism throughout the country and the world. In 1960, King moved his family to his native city of Atlanta, GA where he joined his father as co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. King continued his activism and on April 12, 1963 was arrested for his involvement in the Birmingham Campaign, where he and other civil rights activists used boycotts, sit-ins, and marches to protest segregation, unfair hiring practices and other injustices in Birmingham, Alabama. It was while in jail King wrote one of the most important documents from the civil rights era, Letter from Birmingham Jail. Later in 1963, King worked to organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It is estimated that around 200,000 to 300,000 people participated in the march designed to raise awareness for the many injustices facing Black Americans. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on the evening of April 4, 1968 by white supremacist James Earl Ray. In the years after his death, Coretta Scott King along with activists, members of Congress and others worked to create a federal holiday honoring the life and legacy of King. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill officially designating Martin Luther King Day as a federal holiday. #OnThisDayinHistory #RevealStories #FreedomHeroes #MLKDay21

Always good when African American quilters get recognition.

Check this out if you are in the area.

Please join if you can.

Weekend reading about an amazing African American quilter. https://www.nytimes.com//de/rosie-lee-tompkins-quilts.html

Quilters all over the world are stepping up to help during the corona virus pandemic. Here is one story.

Marquetta is passing on the African American quilting tradition to the next generation.

Proud to have been a member of the Brown SUgar Stitchers since the beginning. Not it is 20 years later! https://www.gpbnews.org//meet-brown-sugar-stitchers-quilt-

Another great quilter is gone.

Wishing the quilters of Gee’s Bend much success.

There will be a Project Grant training webinar today at 1:00 p.m. To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fy21-project-grant-workshop-ti

Airing on PBS tonight in Atlanta.

A quilter’s blessing.

An amazing African American quilt artist.