Author and Political Candidates Makes History Come Alive

Parker parent, author and candidate for Illinois State Representative Paul Kendrick was a special guest in an Upper School Civil Rights Movement course.

History teacher Andy Bigelow developed his Civil Rights Movement course to help students analyze the legacy of Reconstruction following the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1964. Students review pivotal events and heroic leaders of the movement on their quest to end legalized segregation. Bigelow strives to make this topic come alive for his students, so he invited Kendrick to share more about his most recent book and current efforts as a candidate for state office.

In Nine Days: The Race to Save Martin Luther King Jr.'s Life and Win the 1960 Election, Kendrick and his father use interviews, newspaper accounts and extensive archival research to tell the story of a pivotal time in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, which influenced the outcome of one of the closest elections in American history.

Kendrick noted that on October 19, 1960, King and about 50 student activists were arrested during a sit-in protesting segregation at Rich's Department Store in Atlanta. King was sentenced to four months of hard labor at Reidsville, a Georgia prison notorious for terrible treatment of Black inmates at the time. Beginning with a sympathetic phone call to Corretta Scott King during her husband’s imprisonment, John F. Kennedy's intervention to secure his release significantly influenced the 1960 presidential election and helped change the composition of the Democratic Party.

Kendrick spoke about the process he and his father used to develop this and their other books and the countless hours they spend researching and interviewing people who played major roles in enacting change. He shared his personal interactions with Black journalist Louis Martin, Pennsylvania Senator Harris Wofford and Peace Corps Founder Sargent Shriver, all of whom were instrumental in helping make this change happen. Kendrick emphasized that everyone has a story and the importance of hearing these stories firsthand from those who lived them while it’s still possible.

Bigelow encouraged Kendrick to describe more about his current work as a candidate for State Representative in Illinois’ 12th District, the district Parker calls home. Kendrick talked about his prior experience as a political organizer and his desire to grow beyond his current work with his local Indivisible chapter to protect democracy and be an agent of change. He commented on the massive amounts of phone-banking and canvassing necessary to garner name recognition at the polls as well as the power of personal endorsements versus general solicitations in convincing people to vote for a candidate. When students asked what they should do to get involved in local politics, Kendrick encouraged them to simply show up and do the work, indicating that current candidates benefit from the energy and expertise of young people on their campaigns.