Loving this bit of agitator history: In age of deception, Martin King's 'Grand Tour' seeking truth even more important:
Few realize there would not have been a King had it not been for the dismissal of Rev. Vernon Johns from his pastorship at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala.
Johns was a radical Baptist preacher who displayed a penchant for calling out members of his own congregation for cowardice in the face of Jim Crow. He criticized the congregation for prioritizing material things over the struggle for freedom, justice, and equality. The church board eventually fired Johns and went looking for a less militant and more conciliatory replacement.
Its members thought they found their man in King.