MLK/FBI is a documentary film released in 2020, directed by Sam Pollard. The film is based on newly released and declassified files, which highlight the US government's surveillance and harassment of Martin Luther King Jr, a civil rights activist and Baptist minister who played a significant role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until he was assassinated in 1968.
The movie shows how the FBI, under its director, J. Edgar Hoover, sought to discredit King and his advocacy for racial equality and justice. The FBI used electronic surveillance, wiretapping, and other covert techniques to spy on King and his associates, hoping to find evidence of his alleged communist ties or sexual indiscretions. The agency's actions led to the publication of a report in 1963 that threatened to publicly expose King's private life unless he committed suicide.
The documentary also explores the political and historical context of the FBI's campaign against King, including his opposition to the Vietnam War and his plan for a Poor People's Campaign, which aimed to unite people across racial and economic lines to demand an end to poverty in America. The film argues that the US government's efforts to undermine King's leadership and demonize him as a subversive figure ultimately contributed to his assassination in 1968.
MLK/FBI provides a powerful reflection on the ongoing legacy of institutional racism and state violence against people of color, and the importance of defending civil liberties and democratic values in the face of government abuses of power.