A World of Wonder Press

A Black Man With a Bible and a Dream of Equality

Two men in their 30s. The government feared the Black man with the Bible more than the white madman behind bars.

By Noelle Dodge | October 10, 2026 | A World of Wonder Press

The Dream

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is celebrated today but do present generations understand the deeper story? During a time when Black people were still drinking out of separate water fountains in the deep south. Someone from Illinois would be shocked to see drinking fountains in Florida labeled “Colored” in the mid-1960’s.

This wasn’t our great-great-grandparents’ generation. This was during the time of the of boomers and early Gen X.

A black faith-based man speaking on the importance of family principles, marriage and parenting. Encouraging stable, loving families as the foundation cornerstone of human development. He believed the values of empathy, dignity and nonviolence and that those must cultivate in the home first in an effort to reform society. He emphasized on the importance of a mother and father in the home as the main educational agency of mankind. He taught on the importance of forgiveness with emphasis on mutual respect in a marriage and the role both parents play in raising grounded and socially conscious children through humility and connection to their heritage.

The Messiah Memo

MLK was targeted by the FBI not because he was a criminal; because he was a unifier. The CIA and FBI kept a close eye on him. The CIA feared he had a communist influence because his civil rights movement could destabilize the United States. The government feared the Soviets and Chinese could influence the peaceful protest into violent and anti-capitalist revolution. One of their own memos called him a potential messiah and someone who could unify Black America and yet they watched him like a dangerous criminal. A black man with a Bible grounded in family values and a dream of equality was a threat to the US government.

The Shot that Shook Memphis

At 39 years old on April 4, 1968, 6:01 p.m. CT, while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, he was assassinated by James Earl Ray — a man driven by deep-seated racial hatred and personal notoriety, with a history of small-time criminal petty thefts. Three days after pleading guilty, he recanted his plea, claiming conspiracy — but that is not the story here.

March 21, 1967

Just a year earlier, March 21, 1967, armed with a guitar and $35 in his pocket, a white man headed to San Francisco after being released from a federal prison. Charles Manson was completing a 10-year sentence at Terminal Island in California for forging a government check. He was released after pleading with prison authorities that prison was his only home and begged to stay. The then-32-year-old had spent more than half of his life in an institutional setting, including reform schools and penitentiaries. He was quoted saying prior to that release: “Oh, no. I can’t go outside… I know I can’t make it out there. I’ve been in here too long. My mind is institutionalized. Let me stay.” The prison had no legal right to keep him and he had nowhere to go. He headed toward San Francisco where he began recruiting people who ultimately formed the “Manson Family” and carried out the notorious Tate-LaBianca murders two years later. A year and four months after the death of MLK.

Manson was released during the peak of the counterculture movement. For those of you who don’t know what that movement was about, it was the Hippie lifestyle. Anti-war, sexual revolution, drug culture, art, music — marriage didn’t matter. The Civil Rights and Counterculture movements allied in anti-war efforts and social services but heavily clashed over protest tactics, lifestyle philosophies, racial inclusivity, family structure and drug use. The very reason the CIA and FBI said they were watching MLK for was actually the foundation of the counterculture movement, not the Civil Rights Movement.

The Watch Went Quiet

The FBI had watched Manson in the late 1950s, hoping for a Mann Act charge that never materialized. But after his March 1967 release, the watch went quiet where it mattered. He was on federal parole, and the violations piled up: grand theft auto, statutory rape arrests, weapons, and stolen cars. His parole was never revoked. When the Tate murders happened and Spahn Ranch was raided that August, his parole officer was on vacation. No parole hold was placed, and Manson walked free on a misdated warrant (Bugliosi’s Helter Skelter). This allowed him to be free to order subsequent killings, including the murder of musician Shorty Shea.

The Bill Comes Due

A 39-year-old minister preaching nonviolence had wiretaps, hotel bugs, and a written order to “neutralize” while a violent white felon on federal parole had violation after violation waved through. They said they feared King’s peaceful protests because it could become a violent revolution.

Yet, they kept releasing the man who was actually doing that very thing.

That seems deliberate by the government, especially when you see what has transpired in our society since then and how it impacts our foster care system and first responders today.

The story continues in part 2 of this series. Keep watch for our next article.

References

Stanford King Institute — Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/

federal-bureau-investigation-fbi

ACLU — “The FBI’s War against Dr. King Revisited,” Jan 16, 2012. https://www.aclu.org/news/national-

security/fbis-war-against-dr-king-revisited

NPR Fresh Air — “Documentary Exposes How the FBI Tried to Destroy MLK With Wiretaps,

Blackmail,” Jan 18, 2021. https://www.npr.org/2021/01/18/956741992/documentary-exposes-how-the-

fbi-tried-to-destroy-mlk-with-wiretaps-blackmail

Haley D. North — “Intelligence Operations Conducted on Martin Luther King Jr. and His Loose Morals,”

Madison Historical Review, Spring 2023.

Today in Civil Liberties History — “FBI Director Hoover Calls Martin Luther King the ‘Most Notorious

Liar,’” Nov 18, 1964. https://todayinclh.com/?event=fbi-director-hoover-calls-martin-luther-king-the-

most-notorious-liar

A&E — “What Was Charles Manson’s Early Life Like?” (excerpt from Tom O’Neill’s Chaos). https://

http://www.aetv.com/articles/charles-manson-early-life-before-the-family-cult

Doug Linder, Famous Trials (UMKC) — “The Charles Manson Trial: A Chronology.” https://famous-

trials.com/manson/246-chronology

Brad McElhinny, WV MetroNews — “Charles Manson’s West Virginia Childhood Hinted of Violence,”

Nov 20, 2017. https://wvmetronews.com/2017/11/20/charles-mansons-west-virginia-childhood-hinted-of-

violence/

Rodney Coates, Ohio Capital Journal (via The Conversation) — “Separate Water Fountains for Black

People Still Stand in the South,” Feb 22, 2024. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/02/22/separate-water-

fountains-for-black-people-still-stand-in-the-south/

New Yorker — “Charles Manson’s Musical Ambitions.” https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-

comment/charles-mansons-musical-ambitions

Vincent Bugliosi & Curt Gentry — Helter Skelter (1974).

People v. Manson, 61 Cal.App.3d 102 (1976). https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/3d/

61/102.html

Fox News — “Manson Murders Allegedly Tied to CIA Mind Control Experiments: Congressional

Testimony.” https://foxnews.com/us/manson-murders-allegedly-tied-cia-mind-control-experiments-

congressional-testimony

Bill Barrow, AP via PBS NewsHour — “Trump Administration Releases FBI Records on MLK Jr.

Despite His Family’s Opposition,” Jul 21, 2025. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-

administration-releases-fbi-records-on-mlk-jr-despite-his-familys-opposition

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/02/22/separate-water-fountains-for-black-people-still-stand-in-the-south/