"Let Us March on Ballot Boxes"

Front: On May 8, 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited Kingstree. King’s speech, which came after passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, urged an audience of 5,000 who had gathered on the grounds of Tomlinson High School to “march on ballot boxes” and use the vote as a means to pursue social and economic justice. King also called for grassroots mobilization and challenged each attendee to help register new voters. Reverse: King referred to the current moment as a “second Reconstruction” and reminded the audience that during the first Reconstruction S.C. had elected African American representatives to serve in the State House and U.S. Congress. If they had done so before, then they could do so again. His message ranged beyond political and civil rights, to a vision of a day when all would enjoy adequate jobs, food, and security.