King: A Life

On his way to Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, King was weighed down by Hoover’s campaign of surveillance and intimidation, guilt-ridden at having given Hoover so much information to use against him. In Oslo, he said he accepted the award in order to validate the principles of nonviolence, not to declare victory in a struggle that was very much still ongoing. In another lecture the following day, he vowed to “build a movement that would work to end not only racial discrimination but poverty and warfare, too” (402). Returning to a hero’s welcome in New York City, he then had celebratory meetings in the White House and Atlanta. He donated the whole of his prize money, but kept the Rolex watch that was also awarded.

The FBI sent some of its own surveillance tapes to King and Coretta, and while King had no illusions about the FBI’s hostility toward him, he still did not realize that his home and office were bugged. In January 1965, he traveled to Selma, Alabama, a focus of efforts to register more Black voters. President Johnson was now supportive of another bill to address voting rights after some initial reluctance, and he sought King’s help with no regard for the information the FBI had provided him.