Uploaded September 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In this powerful Life Stories interview, civil rights leader C.T. Vivian reflects on his close relationship with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the conviction that shaped their joint fight for justice. Vivian shares his personal insights into Dr. King’s leadership, revealing how King’s philosophy of nonviolence, combined with his unshakable faith and moral courage, helped guide the movement through its most challenging times.
Reverend C.T. Vivian was born July 30, 1924, in Boonville, Missouri, and was one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s closest advisors. He has spent most of his life committed to nonviolent direct action beginning with one of the earliest and most successful non-violent protest sit-ins in Peoria, Illinois in 1947. In 1954 Vivian moved to Nashville to attend the American Baptist Theological Seminary where he became a leader in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He helped organize the student sit-ins in Nashville and rode on the first bus into Jackson, Mississippi as part of the Freedom Rides. In 1961 Dr. King appointed Vivian Director of Affiliates for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which coordinated activities of branches nationwide including the fight to desegregate Birmingham and organize voter registration in Selma. In 1966 Vivian returned to Chicago and spearheaded organizations to support Black children in their education such as the program that would later become Upward Bound. In 2013 President Barack Obama awarded Vivian the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He passed away July 17, 2020.
From the HBO / Kunhardt Film Foundation (KFF) Documentary “King in the Wilderness” that follows Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the last years of his life: from the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to his assassination in 1968, through personal stories of the people who were around him.
Subscribe for access to interviews, series, films, and educational materials that address issues of social justice, history, politics, the arts, and culture by spotlighting relatable human stories of purpose and meaning. Learn about our work and how to support our mission here: lifestories.org/. For extended versions of these interviews and more, visit: youtube.com/@lifestoriesinterviewarchive
Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/lifestoriesdotorg
Chapter Markers:
00:00:55 - Meeting Dr. King
00:05:16 - Dr. King as a minister
00:08:58 - Development of nonviolence in the movement
00:10:58 - Working for Dr. King
00:14:20 - Teaching nonviolence
00:15:49 - Dr. King’s struggles with nonviolence
00:19:25 - Last encounter with Dr. King
C.T. Vivian, Director of Affiliates, SCLC
Interviewed By: Taylor Branch
Interview Date: April 12, 2017
© Home Box Office and Kunhardt Film Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
#LifeStories #CTVivian #MartinLutherKingJr #CivilRightsMovement
In this powerful Life Stories interview, civil rights leader C.T. Vivian reflects on his close relationship with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the conviction that shaped their joint fight for justice. Vivian shares his personal insights into Dr. King’s leadership, revealing how King’s philosophy of nonviolence, combined with his unshakable faith and moral courage, helped guide the movement through its most challenging times.
Reverend C.T. Vivian was born July 30, 1924, in Boonville, Missouri, and was one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s closest advisors. He has spent most of his life committed to nonviolent direct action beginning with one of the earliest and most successful non-violent protest sit-ins in Peoria, Illinois in 1947. In 1954 Vivian moved to Nashville to attend the American Baptist Theological Seminary where he became a leader in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He helped organize the student sit-ins in Nashville and rode on the first bus into Jackson, Mississippi as part of the Freedom Rides. In 1961 Dr. King appointed Vivian Director of Affiliates for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which coordinated activities of branches nationwide including the fight to desegregate Birmingham and organize voter registration in Selma. In 1966 Vivian returned to Chicago and spearheaded organizations to support Black children in their education such as the program that would later become Upward Bound. In 2013 President Barack Obama awarded Vivian the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He passed away July 17, 2020.
From the HBO / Kunhardt Film Foundation (KFF) Documentary “King in the Wilderness” that follows Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the last years of his life: from the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to his assassination in 1968, through personal stories of the people who were around him.
Subscribe for access to interviews, series, films, and educational materials that address issues of social justice, history, politics, the arts, and culture by spotlighting relatable human stories of purpose and meaning. Learn about our work and how to support our mission here: lifestories.org/. For extended versions of these interviews and more, visit: youtube.com/@lifestoriesinterviewarchive
Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/lifestoriesdotorg
Chapter Markers:
00:00:55 - Meeting Dr. King
00:05:16 - Dr. King as a minister
00:08:58 - Development of nonviolence in the movement
00:10:58 - Working for Dr. King
00:14:20 - Teaching nonviolence
00:15:49 - Dr. King’s struggles with nonviolence
00:19:25 - Last encounter with Dr. King
C.T. Vivian, Director of Affiliates, SCLC
Interviewed By: Taylor Branch
Interview Date: April 12, 2017
© Home Box Office and Kunhardt Film Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
#LifeStories #CTVivian #MartinLutherKingJr #CivilRightsMovement
