Activism

Dr. King and the ‘Spirit of Selma’ Inspired Post Publisher Cobb

Cobb said the “Spirit of Selma” and the philosophies of applied Christian activism, service and voluntarism espoused by King will be the themes of his MLK speech Saturday at the Genesis Society of the Temple Hill Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Published

1 year ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Cobb marched for Black voting rights from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, and U.N. Ambassador Ralph Bunche, along with Oakland residents Milton Hare (a white gentleman at Cobb’s left and William Battles behind Cobb).

By Post Staff

Part 1

Post Publisher Paul Cobb is pictured above in 1965, with a pencil in his glasses, when he was a Post reporter and correspondent for the Afro-American Association’s weekly broadcast on radio station KDIA in 1965.

“The Post has partnered with Genesis to help educate African Americans and faith-based groups about the value of the discovery of family heritage roots.

“We will work with the family search organization, JustServe and prominent leaders like actor Blair Underwood to spread these messages about the potential bounties of the Freedman’s Bureau’s bank records to help repair our nation’s wealth gap,” said Cobb.

Cobb said his Civil Rights/Black activism began when he was a young member of the Afro-American Association at the same time as the parents of Vice President Kamala Harris attended the weekly meetings.

After forming the Oakland Black Caucus in 1968, Cobb and Gay Plair helped to protest Kaiser Permanente Hospital’s practice of performing unnecessary hysterectomies on Black women.

Noting that discriminatory health practices needed to be addressed, Cobb challenged presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy during his visit to Taylor Memorial Methodist Church that since he (RFK), Dr. King and his brother President John Kennedy (JFK) were pictured together on posters and tapestries that he should support the proliferation of community health centers.

RFK was killed in Los Angeles on June 6, 1968, the day after his Oakland visit, and two months after King’s assassination on April 4, 1968.

Cobb was selected to be a fellow at the RFK Memorial Foundation where he had an opportunity to help organize in communities nationally.

Next week in Part 2 -Cobb motivated by King moved to Atlanta in 2003.