The civil rights movement was dead. Liberalism was dead, too. “There are few mourners,” Kopkind wrote. But King did not share the growing cynicism that captured many left-wing book critics, and he did mourn. He expressed his sadness in calls with his friends and supporters. He said he had seen up close the frustration among poor Black people, especially in the cities, and he was pained but not surprised by the explosion of their anger. “There were dark days before, but this is the darkest,”
