MLK: "I'm not interested in pressing charges."

Last edited Mon Jan 19, 2015, 08:48 AM - Edit history (1)

from TIME: Rare Photos of Martin Luther King at Home


"I'm interested in changing the kind of system that produces such men."



In this photograph, Coretta is upset with her husband, who had been attacked the night before by a disturbed white racist but had not defended himself. Though the police urged King to press charges, he refused. "The system we live under creates people such as this youth," he said. "I'm not interested in pressing charges. I'm interested in changing the kind of system that produces such men."




In 1964, shortly after King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, he invited photographer Flip Schulke to take pictures of himself and his family at home. Schulke, who first met King in 1958, formed a close bond with the civil rights leader, photographing him many times in the years that followed.




Martin Luther King Jr. and his family eat their Sunday dinner after church on Nov. 8, 1964. (Flip Schulke / CORBIS)




Born in Atlanta, Martin Luther King Jr. moved to Montgomery, Ala., with his new wife Coretta in 1955 after King accepted a position as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. King met Coretta while he was studying for his Ph.D. at Boston University and they were married in June 1953. Yolanda, their first child, above, was born in November 1955. (Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)




Martin Luther King Jr. feeds his infant daughter Bernice at Sunday dinner Nov 8, 1964 in Atlanta, Ga. ((Flip Schulke / CORBIS))





Martin Luther King Jr. throws a baseball to his son Marty in their backyard on Nov 8, 1964 in Atlanta. (Flip Schulke / CORBIS)





Martin Luther King Jr. pushes his youngest daughter Bernice on a glider swing in their backyard on Nov. 8, 1964. (Flip Schulke / CORBIS)





Civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. relaxes at home with his family in May 1956 in Montgomery, Ala. (Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)





On April 25, 1960, Atlanta Ku Klux Klansmen burned crosses in front of several black homes in the city. The King residence was one of the houses that were targeted. (Bettmann / CORBIS)



RARE PHOTOGRAPHS OF MLK AT HOME:
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1952031_2021391,00.html