MLK/FBI: Who Knew? (Amazon Prime)

This is an excellent and informative documentary, directed by Sam Pollard, about the FBI's hyper-intrusive surveillance of MLK from1963-April 4, 1968 – the date of King's assassination.  After the March on Washington (August 28, 1963), J. Edgar Hoover said that MLK was "the most dangerous Negro in America."  This statement was probably correct from the perspective of systemic racism and white privilege, which was considerably worse then than it hopefully is now.  On November 3, 1983, President Reagan declared the third Monday in January to be a national holiday, Martin Luther King Day.  From essentially being public enemy #1 in 1963, King became a beloved national hero by 1983. In the 1960's, white America concurred with Hoover's fear of King.  Fifty percent agreed with him while only 17% admired King and thought he was a positive influence.  Hoover directed the FBI to spy on King in order to get dirt on him (wiretapping, bugging, filming his extra-curricular sexual activities etc.), with the intention to release it, probably causing King extreme emotional distress, embarrassment, and humiliation.  It was anticipated that this would then result in King's withdrawal from public life.  This probably would have occurred, but King's assassination made all this unnecessary.  Who would have imagined that Robert Kennedy Jr., then the Attorney General, gave the approval for the surveillance? King had a good relationship with President Johnson for a while, and even though King opposed the Vietnam War, he kept his mouth shut.  When his conscience wouldn't allow him to do so any longer, and he spoke out against the war, LBJ encouraged Hoover to re-double his efforts to take MLK down! The film consists primarily of live footage of King, especially parts of his best speeches.  He was a superb orator, preaching non-violence and the gospel of love as the best means for change.  There are also clips of Hoover, parts of films used as propaganda against King, and interviews with informed others, such as Beverly Gage (Hoover expert), and close friends of King, such as Andrew Young. Much of the footage and the information in the documentary was released to the National Archives in 1972 and will be available to the public in 2027.  I expect it will receive an AA nomination for best documentary and it may win it!  It's a MUST-SEE!