Condoleeza Rice, the Birmingham church bombing, and Martin Luther King

Jonathan Tilove in the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

In September 1963, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the eulogy for three of the four girls killed in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. What King could not know was that, within earshot of the blast, just blocks away at her father's church, was another little black girl, a friend of the youngest victim, who 42 years later would be on the verge of becoming America's foremost diplomat.

This year, the Martin Luther King holiday, marking what would have been his 76th birthday, falls on Jan. 17. The next day, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee opens hearings on the nomination of Condoleezza Rice to succeed Colin Powell as secretary of state.

Judging from what very little I have heard from his later speeches, he was by then rather anti-capitalist, but so were many, and he didn't leave his mark on economic theory but on civil rights. Perhaps from limited familiarity I misgudge his sentiments on captialism. In any case, it is a bit astonishing that 42 years could make such a difference. He could surely be proud of that.

Thanks to Glenn Reynolds/Instapundit.com for the lead.

http://www.nola.com/national/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1105860359107000.xml