James Forman, recently bailed out of jail, spoke against the idea of inviting King to Albany, saying they already had a strong “people’s movement” that could only be weakened by a preacher of such renown. People would look to King as a messiah, and less to themselves. Charles Jones remained silent, knowing that such objections to King would sound petty and arcane to this group of fervent admirers. He also sensed a sharp edge of competitiveness against King glinting through Forman’s speech. C. B. King chided Forman for exactly that reason, saying that the real question was not King’s alleged
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