‘Heaven was the word for Canada,’ Martin Luther King said. Yet a year after his death we offered unwitting asylum to his killer
In a 1967 Massey lecture — his only address to a Canadian audience — Martin Luther King had praised Canada as “not merely a neighbour to negroes.”
The civil rights leader explained that in 19th century negro spirituals, American slaves had often sung of journeying to “heaven.” But the slaves were not singing about the hereafter; they were relaying coded instructions for an escape to freedom.
“Heaven,” said King, “was the word for Canada.”
Less than a year later, King was dead, and the country he had praised so highly as a haven for escaped slaves was serving as an unwitting asylum for his killer.
source: ‘Heaven was the word for Canada,’ Martin Luther King said. Yet a year after his death we offered unwitting asylum to his killer | National Post (VIDEO)
In a 1967 Massey lecture — his only address to a Canadian audience — Martin Luther King had praised Canada as “not merely a neighbour to negroes.”
The civil rights leader explained that in 19th century negro spirituals, American slaves had often sung of journeying to “heaven.” But the slaves were not singing about the hereafter; they were relaying coded instructions for an escape to freedom.
“Heaven,” said King, “was the word for Canada.”
Less than a year later, King was dead, and the country he had praised so highly as a haven for escaped slaves was serving as an unwitting asylum for his killer.
source: ‘Heaven was the word for Canada,’ Martin Luther King said. Yet a year after his death we offered unwitting asylum to his killer | National Post (VIDEO)
