Discussions of corruption, war and government liability wrapped up the Ball State University Truth Movement's exhibit on the untold story of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Atrium Thursday.
"MLK: The Untold Story - What You Were Never Taught in School" was held at 5:15 p.m. in Art and Journalism Building, Rm. 175, and was sponsored by the Ball State Truth Movement, Black Student Association and the Black Graduate Student Alliance.
Tony Farmer, president of the Ball State Truth Movement who led the presentation, said its purpose was to honor King's memory by discussing unknown details about his struggle and their relevance to the issues of today.
Farmer said he thought it was unfortunate that the only time we hear about King is within the context of the "I Have A Dream" speech and his work with desegregation. His work with labor rights, the anti-war movement and police brutality go unnoticed, he added.
The first half of the presentation focused on J. Edgar Hoover, the founding director of the FBI and COINTELPRO, a counterintelligence program that targeted organizations and individuals the bureau deemed a "threat" during the '60s.
King was among many targeted by the FBI.
Tactics implemented under the program included spying, wiretapping, infiltrating and plotting suspected groups against each other. Due to the limited number of FBI documents released to the public, the full extent of FBI activities under COINTELPRO is still unknown, Farmer said.
Copies of COINTELPRO documents labeling King as a "trouble-maker" and a "threat" who needed to be "neutralized" were on display in the Atrium Thursday.
Later in the presentation, Farmer played an audio clip of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech "Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam," which stated King's anti-war position.
Farmer said he thought this speech was the reason King was targeted by the FBI.
The presentation finished with a discussion on the relevance of King's struggle today. Farmer and members of the audience highlighted the parallels between Iraq and Vietnam, racial tensions that still persist, the questioning of government being deemed unpatriotic and the invasive policies in the Patriot Act.
"We aren't about ramming out opinions down peoples throat," Farmer said. "We just think it's healthy to speculate. Asking tough questions and demanding answers of our government is what patriots do."
Joe Clemons, a sophomore telecommunications major, said he thought the presentation was eye-opening for most people and hit on issues never discussed at the grade school level nor the college level.
"We need more events like these," Clemons said. "We need more than beauty pageants about black history. We need critical dialogue, we need critical thinkers if we are going to truly be free."
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