Book reviews biography martin luther king

Not long ago, a Tennessee state representative named Justin J. Pearson delivered a familiar-sounding speech at a meeting of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners. Pearson had recently taken part in a gun-control protest on the floor of the state’s House, in violation of legislative rules. He and a fellow-representative were expelled, but the commissioners in Shelby voted to reinstate him. Pearson is only twenty-eight, but his Afro evokes the Black Power era of the late nineteen-sixties, and the preacherly cadence he sometimes uses reaches back even further than that. “We look forward to continuing to kamp, continuing to advocate, until justice rolls down like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream,” he said at the meeting, thrusting his index finger for emphasis. He was quoting the Old Testament (Amos 5:24: “Let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream”), but really he was quoting Martin Luther King, Jr., who put a version of that phrase

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Books by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Complete Book Reviews

Letter From Birmingham Jail

Martin Luther King, Jr., read by Dion Graham. uppdrag Audio, unabridged, one CD, 1 hr., $5.98 ISBN 978-1-61045-748-4

“But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.” This simple, yet utterly powerful intro to what is...

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“In a Single Garment of Destiny”: A Global Vision of Justice

Martin Luther King Jr., edited and intro. by Lewis V. Baldwin. Beacon, $26.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-8070-8605-6

Baldwin (The Voice of Conscience), a Vanderbilt University religious studies professor and prolific King scholar, offers a slender, focused selection of King’s “positions on global liberation struggles through the prism of his own words and...

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My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King III, illus. by AG Ford

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senshin's review against another edition

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5.0

Not being from US I had of course heard of King but had no idea what a true and beautiful Bodhisattva he was.

I hope everyone will read this book and have their children read it as well.

rainydaypenguin's review against another edition

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informativeinspiringreflectivemedium-paced

4.5

Listened to the audiobook and it was fantastic. This should be required reading for everyone as it goes into the depths of Dr King’s thoughts and deliberations on how to lead the civil rights movement, but also his internal battle on morality and how to be a better person in the face of hatred and discrimination. 

I find his later speeches about The Vietnam War incredibly compelling. Him siding with his morals and not with what was politically or socially acceptable at that point in time is a lesson we could all learn in the present day. Hindsight is easy, but doing what’s right in the moment