Ep. 10: Kathryn Johnson

When the whole world wanted the story, it was up to Kathryn Johnson to tell them. “How was Coretta?” “When is the funeral?” “Who has visited the family?” In the hours and days following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Johnson, a veteran reporter for the Associated Press, was the only journalist allowed in the home of Coretta Scott King to tell the family’s story. That was the bond and trust she had established with the King family through her coverage of the Civil Rights Movement and her relationship with Coretta Scott King. The legendary reporter, who died in 2019, talked to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2008 about those hours and days and the history that was unfolding before her. When she arrived at the King house, two reporters were chatting with a police officer on the porch. The front door opened, and Johnson could see Coretta Scott King in a pink nightgown, standing in the hall. “She spotted me and said, ‘Let Kathryn in,’” she recalled. Johnson was at the home every day, giving the AP several scoops. Part of a project marking the then 40th anniversary of King’s death, Johnson was one of 13 people that The AJC sat down with to record their stories and shed light on the life and death of the civil rights leader. We are re-releasing these interviews as a 13-part podcast hosted by Multimedia Journalist Ryon Horne. Along with Johnson, Tyrone Brooks, Earl Caldwell, Andrew Young, Martin Luther King III, Xernona Clayton and Bernice King, and those who have left us — including Billy Kyle, Juanita Abernathy, Ralph David Abernathy III, the Rev. Joseph Lowery and Congressman John Lewis — each gives us a glimpse, through their relationships with King, inside the making of history. Each episode will be made available through the Unapologetically ATL newsletter, but you can also subscribe to “The Voices of King” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices