Iconic NBA star, entrepreneur and advocate Earvin “Magic” Johnson spoke on the importance of remembering Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, reflecting on his own struggles with equality, at Arizona State University on June 3.
King made his first and only Arizona appearance on June 3, 1964, just months before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed by Congress. This event garnered an audience of 8,000 people after King was invited to speak by local civil rights leaders Lincoln Ragsdale Sr. and George Brooks Sr., a university release explained.
ASU’s president at the time, G. Homer Durham, was willing and supportive of providing King with a venue large enough for the crowd, despite pressure to deny the request to hold the event on campus.
