Draft:Assassination attempt on Martin Luther King Jr. by Izola Curry (1958)

On September 20th, 1958 prominent civil rights movement activist, Martin Luther King Jr. (29) was singing copies of his first book, Stride Toward Freedom, when Izola Curry (42) after asking him if he was King then attempted to kill him by stabbing a 7 inch steel letter opener into the upper left side of his chest, the tip of the blade touching his aorta, almost resulting in his death.

King would survive the near death experience and make a full recovery and continue his work in the civil rights movement.

Motivations
Martin Luther King Jr. was continuing to grow in public recognition for his position in the civil rights movement. After this time he had been a leader in the 1955–1956 Montgomery bus boycott and published his first book, Stride Toward Freedom that he was signing copies of when the assignation attempt took place. King had before received threats from others.

At the scene Izola Curry would say she had been after him for 6 years, and "I'm glad I done it"

Attempt
King would reflect on the event in his speech, I've Been to the Mountaintop, his last speech before his assassination in 1968, like this:

"And while sitting there autographing books, a demented black woman came up. The only question I heard from her was, "Are you Martin Luther King?" And I was looking down writing and I said, "Yes." The next minute I felt something beating on my chest. Before I knew it I had been stabbed by this demented woman. I was rushed to Harlem Hospital. It was a dark Saturday afternoon. And that blade had gone through, and the X-rays revealed that the tip of the blade was on the edge of my aorta, the main artery. And once that's punctured you're drowned in your own blood, that's the end of you. It came out in the New York Times the next morning that if I had merely sneezed, I would have died." -Martin Luther King Jr. (1968)

Letters of support
King explained in I've Been to the Mountaintop that he resaved letters after the events including from the governor of New Your, the President and Vice President, and from a young girl about being grateful that he survived which was the most memorable to him.