Preston King (academic)
Preston Theodore King (born March 3, 1936) is an American academic and African-American civil rights activist. He taught extensively in universities in the United Kingdom, nations of Africa, Australia and, finally, the United States. In 1961 King moved to exile in the United Kingdom after having done graduate work there. He was resisting racism by the local draft board in his hometown of Albany, Georgia, during the Jim Crow years. He did not return to the United States until receiving a presidential pardon from Bill Clinton in 2000. Biography King was born in Albany, Georgia, the youngest of seven sons of Margaret (née Slater) and Clennon Washington King Sr., both of whom graduated from Tuskegee Institute. Preston's elder brothers included Chevene Bowers King, Clennon Washington King Jr., and Slater King. After attending local schools, King studied at the London School of Economics in the late 1950s, and at the University of Maryland in 1961. After his draft board learned that he was African American, it addressed him as "Preston" rather than using "Mr." He refused to respond. Accused of draft evasion, King went into exile in the United Kingdom to avoid imprisonment and because he thought the charges unjust. He