MARTIN LUTHER KING, Jr. 1967 FUNDRAISING LETTER and SCLC BROCHURE

8.5" x 11" form letter on Martin Luther King, Jr. stationary, with a facsimile signature of King, dated November, 1967. It come with a pamphlet from the Southern Christian Law Center.

Five months before the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the Southern Christian Law Center under his tutelage sent out a fundraising letter. On Martin Luther King Jr. letterhead, it begins: "Dear Friend, America was bewildered and frightened this summer by the bizarre spectacle of American troops fighting simultaneously in Asia and in American cities." The letter goes on to place blame of "urban outbursts" within underfunded, unemployed masses of the wretched life within ghettos. This was the moment of origin of the Poor People's Campaign, which has had a recent organizational resurgence.
The letter makes a plea for funds to combat poverty in these stricken slums, to promote nonviolence and democracy instep. Underlined for emphasis: "SCLC cannot support riots for moral and pragmatic reasons. But it cannot condemn them and simply walk away coldly from the unforgivable conditions that cause them."
Further, the pithiest part of the letter promotes: "Government indifference and insensitivity require us to raise nonviolent activity to wholly new levels. We must involve greater masses in our active resistance than ever before. We must be strongly assertive and persistent. Nonviolence can be adapted to militant forms of protest that embody creative disruption while avoiding physical or moral destruction. These methods can sustain protest - as riots cannot - until evils are corrected. Our new application of nonviolence can make democracy real..."
This appeal is substantiated by the careful, constructive work deployed in Cleveland, Ohio to reach the "angriest and make them disciplined legions". This is likely in regard to the arson and looting which took place during the Hough Riots in the summer of 1966. The SCLC makes clear that their fundraising will be paid forward in interventions to combat poverty and systemic racism, such as creating job programs, citizenship schools, voting campaigns, and self-help programs. The signature on the letter is a facsimile of Martin Luther King Jr. penmanship.
Along with the fundraising letter is a news bulletin from the SCLC in the form of a pamphlet. First on the agenda, is the successful campaign to curb riots at the root in Cleveland. Its second measure is to address "Anti-semitism, Israel and SCLC: A Statement on Press Distortions". In this section they state their reason for removal of all reference to Zionism while calling out the contestable state of Israel, with mention of the underlying oil interests fueling the "Middle East issue". The final point made in this pamphlet are highlights of the SCLC successes, including those mentioned in the Annual Report of the President, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (August 16, 1967).
Some light creasing as seen in scan.