From 1962 to 1966, Willie Pearl Mackey King worked for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference under the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a member of his executive staff. Mrs. Mackey King played a critical role in creating Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which Dr. King wrote while imprisoned in solitary confinement for peacefully protesting against segregation. King’s letter, in response to a tome by eight White southern ministers, who called the actions of civil rights activists “unwise and untimely,” contains some of the most quoted statements by the civil rights leader. He warned the nation and the world that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and “justice too long delayed is justice denied.” In a conversation with NFHA’s President and CEO, Lisa Rice, Mrs. King will take the audience on a journey following the famous letter on its unlikely and difficult path from Dr. King’s erudite thoughts to an engaging concrete document that has played a central role in advancing justice and equity throughout the world. Hear first-hand from this icon and leader of the civil rights movement who helped set the example for the work we do today to advance fair housing, justice, and racial equity.