http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/335066455

Wyatt Tee Walker, theologian, civil rights activist, and former chief of staff to Martin Luther King, Jr

This dissertation is a study of the life and work of Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker. Dr. Walker is best known as the former Chief of Staff for Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement. His tenure in the movement extended from 1960 to 1964. The basic contention in this thesis is that Walker's leadership and service in the community has principally been that of a religionist, civil rights activist, and a human rights activist. As a religionist and theologian, Walker, by his own words admits that his theology squared with that of Martin Luther King, Jr. Walker has contributed significantly to the history and scholarship of African American religious music. His contribution to the history of the Negro spiritual includes the publication of four titles and numerous articles and essays. In civil and human rights issues, Walker began his pilgrimage during his first pastorate at Gillfield Baptist Church, in Petersburg, Virginia in 1952. He contributed significantly throughout the civil rights movement. Despite early setbacks, he attained his most important success during the Birmingham campaign. This activist stance set the tone for the remainder of his working career. His whole life has been that of an activist. Walker has shown that he was an able combatant. Whether it is locally in his Harlem community providing for the less fortunate under the auspices of the Canaan Baptist Church of Christ or at the far flung corners of the globe, such as the Praetorian free election in 1994 in which Nelson Mandela was elected. His interest and ministry has been to provide for the less fortunate wherever they may be. Herein lies the basis for examining the life and work of a man who chose to use his life and ministry to address the critical and important issues of this period.

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