What others say

C.B.King was one of the country's most prominent and courageous civil rights lawyers. For over 30 years, C.B. practiced law in Albany, Georgia, where he was a major figure in the civil rights movement. He was a tireless and enormously talented lawyer. He earned the respect and admiration of the many people in the civil rights movement who depended on his advice, counsel and friendship.

He was also a great teacher. In his office, on the streets and in the courtroom, C.B. King taught several generations of law students and young lawyers how to practice law with a commitment to the poor, the disenfranchised and the oppressed. Each summer in the 1960s and early '70s, these students and lawyers worked with C.B. on the numerous cases generated by the civil rights struggle. For many of us, that experience was a decisive turning point in our lives. Working with him was an unqualified privilege: we had the opportunity to learn from a skilled advocate for racial justice.

I came to Albany and started my practice on South Jackson street in the back of a funeral home in 1954. I fixed the space to which I was assigned t look like a law office, but the funeral home was fittingly symbolic of the putrescent state of the law hereabouts. During those days I was the only Black lawyer southeast of Atlanta.