Somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean, I am writing these words on my way to Israel, thinking about a journey that was supposed to take place nearly 60 years ago.

In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. planned to lead thousands of black Americans on a historic pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The Six-Day War disrupted those plans, and King ultimately canceled the visit amid concerns about the conflict and its political implications. He considered traveling the following year, but in April 1968, he was assassinated. The journey he envisioned never took place.

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