Gordon Parks photographed Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral procession in Atlanta for Life Magazine in April 1968. The procession stretched beyond sight as it followed a wagon pulled by brown mules carrying King's casket. This document also includes an excerpt from a 1967 sermon King gave at Ebenezer Baptist Church where he expressed his opposition to the Vietnam War due to his love for America and disappointment in its failure to address racism, economic exploitation, and militarism.

1. Gordon Parks
for
Life Magazine
MLK funeral
procession
April 9, 1968

2. Gordon Parks
For Life Magazine

5. “Behind the brown mules and an old farm wagon that
creaked along the Atlanta streets, the procession of
mourners extended beyond sight.” — LIFE Magazine

6. Alfredo Jaar,
Life Magazine, April 19, 1968
1995, three chromogenic prints,
Smithsonian American Art Museum

10. “Why I Am Opposed to the
War in Vietnam”
Sermon at the Ebenezer Baptist Church
on April 30, 1967

11. “Let me say finally that I oppose the war in Vietnam
because I love America. I speak out against this
war, not in anger, but with anxiety and sorrow in
my heart, and, above all, with a passionate desire to
see our beloved country stand as the moral example
of the world. I speak out against this war because I
am disappointed with America. And there can be
no great disappointment where there is not
great love. I am disappointed with our failure to
deal positively and forthrightly with the triple evils
of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism.”