David Banter

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr on vacation in Jamaica, 1965. In June 1965, at the height of the American Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King spent time together in Jamaica. These photographs offer a rare glimpse of the couple away from the marches, speeches and constant demands of King's public life. King's visit to Jamaica was more than a holiday. He had been invited to deliver the valedictory sermon at the University of the West Indies in Mona. During his visit, he also addressed a huge crowd at Jamaica's National Stadium and was presented with the Key to the City of Kingston. He visited the shrine of Jamaican political leader Marcus Garvey as well, paying tribute to a man whose ideas about Black dignity and self-determination had influenced generations. The trip came only months after some of the most important events of the civil rights struggle. The Selma campaign had brought national attention to the fight for voting rights, and the Voting Rights Act would become law in August 1965. King was already one of the most recognized political and religious leaders in the world, yet photographs like these show another side of him, a husband spending time with Coretta and enjoying moments of ordinary life. King later spoke warmly about Jamaica, recalling how comfortable and welcomed he had felt there. His connection with the island continued beyond this visit. In 1967, he returned to Jamaica with Coretta and spent several weeks in Ocho Rios working on what became his final book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? For a man whose life was consumed by the struggle for justice, these quiet moments with Coretta are a reminder that history is also made up of the time people managed to find for themselves and the people they loved.