Read complete books and articles on: Martin Luther King, Jr.

King, Martin Luther, Jr. - 1929–68, American clergyman and civil-rights leader, b. Atlanta, Ga., grad. Morehouse College (B.A., 1948), Crozer Theological Seminary (B.D., 1951), Boston Univ. (Ph.D., 1955). The son of the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, King became (1954) minister of the Dexter Ave. Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala. He led the black boycott (1955–56) of segregated city bus lines and in 1956 gained a major victory and prestige as a civil-rights leader when Montgomery buses began to operate on a desegregated basis.

King organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which gave him a base to pursue further civil-rights activities, first in the South and later nationwide. His philosophy of nonviolent resistance led to his arrest on numerous occasions in the 1950s and 60s. His campaigns had mixed success, but the protest he led in Birmingham, Ala., in 1963 brought him worldwide attention. He spearheaded the Aug., 1963, March on Washington, which brought together more than 200,000 people. In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

King's leadership in the civil-rights movement was challenged in the mid-1960s as others grew more militant. His interests, however, widened from civil rights to include criticism of the Vietnam War and a deeper concern over poverty. His plans for a Poor People's March to Washington were interrupted (1968) for a trip to Memphis, Tenn., in support of striking sanitation workers. On Apr. 4, 1968, he was shot and killed as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel (since 1991 a civil-rights museum).

James Earl Ray, a career criminal, pleaded guilty to the murder and was convicted, but he soon recanted, claiming he was duped into his plea. Ray's conviction was subsequently upheld, but he eventually received support from members of King's family, who believed King to have been the victim of a conspiracy. Ray died in prison in 1998. In a jury trial in Memphis in 1999 the King family won a wrongful-death judgment against Loyd Jowers, who claimed (1993) that he had arranged the killing for a Mafia figure. Many experts, however, were unconvinced by the verdict, and in 2000, after an 18-month investigation, the Justice Dept. discredited Jowers and concluded that there was no evidence of an assassination plot.

King wrote Stride toward Freedom (1958), Why We Can't Wait (1964), and Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967). His birthday is a national holiday, celebrated on the third Monday in January. King's wife, Coretta Scott King, has carried on various aspects of his work. She also wrote My Life with Martin Luther King (1989).

See biographies by K. L. Smith and I. G. Zepp, Jr. (1974), S. Oates (1982), and M. Frady (2001); C. S. King, My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr. (1969); D. J. Garrow, Bearing the Cross (1986); T. Branch, Parting the Waters (1988) and Pillar of Fire (1997); M. E. Dyson, I May Not Get There with You (2000); S. Burns, To the Mountaintop (2004); F. Sunnemark, Ring Out Freedom! (2004).

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16 of the Best Books and Articles on: Martin Luther King, Jr.

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

The Preacher King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Word That Moved America » Read Now
by Richard Lischer. 318 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, History, Entire Library

Today it seems extraordinary that a nation the size of the United States could have been so profoundly affected by the minister of a little Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama. But at a turning point in American history, Martin Luther King, Jr., had an incalculable effect on the fabric of daily...
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Today it seems extraordinary that a nation the size of the United States could have been so profoundly affected by the minister of a little Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama. But at a turning point in American history, Martin Luther King, Jr., had an incalculable effect on the fabric of daily life and the laws of the nation. As no other preacher in living memory and no politician since Lincoln, he transposed the themes of love, suffering, deliverance, and justice from the sacred shelter of the pulpit into the arena of public policy. He was the last great religious reformer in America. How the man who always saw himself as "fundamentally a clergyman, a Baptist preacher" crafted his strategic vision and moved a nation to renewal is the subject of this remarkable new book. The Preacher King investigates Martin Luther King Jr.'s, religious development from a precocious "PK" ("preacher's kid") in segregated Atlanta to the most influential American preacher and orator of the twentieth century. To give the most accurate and intimate portrait possible, author Richard Lischer draws almost exclusively on King's unpublished sermons and speeches, as well as tape recordings, personal interviews, and even police surveillance reports. In King's published works, Lischer shows, King and his editors modified and polished his sermons in order to reach as wide an audience as possible. By returning to the raw sources, Lischer recaptures King's real, African-American, preaching voice and, consequently, something of the real King himself. He shows how as the son, the grandson, and the great-grandson of preachers, King early on absorbed the poetic cadences, the traditions, and the power of the pulpit. He traces King's coming of age from his rebellious teenage years (King once wrote that at thirteen he shocked his Sunday School class by "denying the bodily resurrection of Jesus") to his arrival in Montgomery, where he took on the role of "Brother Pastor" to his flock during the year of ministry before he burst into national prominence. Lischer shows that King was as profoundly influenced by his fellow African-American preachers as he was by Gandhi and the philosophers, and tracks King's themes of brotherhood and justice from the set pieces of his weekly sermons to his electrifying mass meeting speeches, demonstrations, and civil addresses. Lischer also reveals a later phase of King's development that few of his biographers or critics have addressed: the prophetic rage with which he condemned American religious and political hypocrisy. During the last three years of his life, Lischer shows, King accused his country of genocide, warned of long hot summers in the ghettos, and called for a radical redistribution of wealth. More than any other book, The Preacher King captures the crucial aspect of the identity of Martin Luther King, Jr. Human, complex, and passionate, here is a preacher who never gave up trying to shape a congregation of people that would be capable of redeeming the moral and political character of the nation.
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2.

Let Freedom Ring: A Documentary History of the Modern Civil Rights Movement ("I Have a Dream" begins on p. 122, "Stride toward Freedom" begins on p. 58, "Letter from Birmingham Jail" begins on p. 110, "Our God Is Marching On" begins on p. 162, "Beyond Vietnam" begins on p. 207, and "Where Do We Go from Here?" begins on p. 228) » Read Now
by Peter B. Levy. 276 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This book traces the story of the civil rights movement through the written and spoken words of those who participated in it. It includes both classic texts, such as Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and lesser-known gems, such as Robert Moses'...
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This book traces the story of the civil rights movement through the written and spoken words of those who participated in it. It includes both classic texts, such as Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and lesser-known gems, such as Robert Moses' "Letter from a Mississippi Jail Cell" and James Lawson's address to SNCC's 1960 founding meeting. "This is a documentary collection that has been needed for a long time. The burgeoning interest in the civil rights movement argues for such a work, and the need to have the experience of the movement in the participants' own words demands it. Words counted during the civil rights movement, and Levy's collection . . . is the best and most accessible." Randall M. Miller Professor of History Director of American Studies Saint Joseph's University
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3.

Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare » Read Now
by James H. Cone. 356 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Philosophy, History, Entire Library
4.

Northern Protest: Martin Luther King, Jr., Chicago, and the Civil Rights Movement » Read Now
by James R. Ralph Jr. 340 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

After the triumphs of Montgomery and Selma, the crusade for civil rights rapidly gathered momentum--until stalling in the heartland of America, Chicago. A vivid account of how the Chicago Freedom Movement of 1965-67 attempted to combat northern segregation.
5.

The Last Crusade: Martin Luther King, Jr., the FBI, and the Poor People's Campaign » Read Now
by Gerald D. McKnight. 192 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

In The Last Crusade, Gerald McKnight examines the Poor People's Campaign, the last large-scale demonstration of civil rights-era America, & the systematic efforts of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover & his executive officers to subvert King's ambitious effort to force the federal government to live up to...
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In The Last Crusade, Gerald McKnight examines the Poor People's Campaign, the last large-scale demonstration of civil rights-era America, & the systematic efforts of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover & his executive officers to subvert King's ambitious effort to force the federal government to live up to its promises of a Great Society. The book also looks at King's last days as he helped Memphis sanitation workers in their labor-cum-civil rights struggle with a recalcitrant & racist city government. Although there is no persuasive evidence that the FBI & the Memphis police conspired to assassinate King, McKnight marshals evidence to show that neither agency was blameless. Contents: Introduction. King, Vietnam, & the Transformation of the Civil Rights Movement. The Road to Washington Goes Through Memphis. Memphis: Days of Rage, Days of Sorrow. "The Poor People Are Coming! The Poor People Are Coming!" Resurrection City-Shantytown Among the Cherry Trees. Conclusion.
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6.

Civil Rights and the Idea of Freedom (Chap. 4 "Martin Luther King and the Meanings of Freedom" and Chap. 5 "Martin Luther King: Authorship and Ideas") » Read Now
by Richard H. King. 276 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, History, Entire Library

Focusing attention on the political ideas that were influential as well as those that were central to the civil rights movement, this pathbreaking book examines not only written texts but also oral history interviews to establish a rich tradition of freedom that emerged from the movement. He also...
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Focusing attention on the political ideas that were influential as well as those that were central to the civil rights movement, this pathbreaking book examines not only written texts but also oral history interviews to establish a rich tradition of freedom that emerged from the movement. He also makes clear that, though liberal notions of freedom involving the absence of restrictions and equal protections were crucial to movement goals, the movement was as much about individual and collective self-transformation and political participation as it was about removal of barriers to social and political equality. Along the way figures such as Martin Luther King and Ella Baker, Stokely Carmichael and James Forman, and political thinkers such as Hannah Arendt and Frantz Fanon are discussed and analyzed. Civil Rights and the Idea of Freedom concludes that the civil rights movement helped revitalize the meaning of citizenship and the political importance of self-respect in the contemporary world with implications reaching beyond its original setting.
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7.

Revelations: American History, American Myths (Chap. 8 "Martin Luther King, Jr.: Charisma and Leadership") » Read Now
by Nathan Irvin Huggins, Brenda Smith Huggins. 296 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

At the time of his death in 1989, Nathan Irvin Huggins ranked among the most influential and important historians in America, a scholar who was universally hailed as the leading chronicler and critic of the Harlem Renaissance. Now, in Revelations, readers will find a celebration of Huggins' many...
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At the time of his death in 1989, Nathan Irvin Huggins ranked among the most influential and important historians in America, a scholar who was universally hailed as the leading chronicler and critic of the Harlem Renaissance. Now, in Revelations, readers will find a celebration of Huggins' many contributions to American history. It offers a superb collection of his finest articles, reviews, and essays, works that span the entire spectrum of his thought on the African-American experience. Whether he is discussing the literary style of Langston Hughes, the leadership roles of W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, and Martin Luther King, Jr., or the African-American contribution to the "common culture" of America, Huggins is at his eloquent best, by turns passionate and poignant, witty and reflective. Among the many moving pieces, readers will find a tour of the slave castles of the West African coast in which Huggins describes places like Goree Island and Elmina as a collective and horrific Plymouth Rock of the African-American past. There is a powerful new introduction to his seminal book Black Odyssey, which assesses the major writings on slavery over the past two decades, and an illuminating look at the experience of free blacks in a slave society, whose rights were continually challenged or taken away. And, of course, Huggins' discussion of the Harlem Renaissance reveals the life of the city, the vibrancy that set the tempo and style for the decade that F. Scott Fitzgerald called "The Jazz Age." Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, "Jelly Roll" Morton, Duke Ellington--all were changing American culture in profound and permanent ways, transforming it into something fresh and new and forever different--something uniquely American. Prepared by his widow, Brenda Smith Huggins, Revelations also features an insightful appreciation by Lawrence Levine that appraises Huggins's unique contribution to American history, and an envoi by Leon Litwack that paints a moving portrait of Huggins the man. Framed between is the fruit of a lifetime of reflection on topics as diverse as the art of Alain Locke, jazz, Paul Robeson, the Civil Rights Era, and the nature of history itself.
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8.

Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership (Chap. 11 "Martin Luther King, Jr.: Leading in a Rapidly Changing Environment") » Read Now
by Howard Gardner, Emma Laskin. 400 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

The man who revolutionized our understanding of intelligence and creativity in such books as Frames of Mind and Creating Minds now does the same for leadership. Illustrations.
9.

Black Power Ideologies: An Essay in African-American Political Thought (Chap. VI "Martin Luther King and Moralism") » Read Now
by John T. McCartney. 248 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
10.

Vindicating Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Road to a Color-Blind Society, in The Journal of Negro History » Read Now
by Mary Frances Berry. 8 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...Vindicating Martin Luther King, Jr.: the road to a color-blind...society that we are inferior.(1) Martin Luther King, Jr. by example was a "race vindicator...blind society"...
11.

A "Triumph of Justice" in Alabama: The 1960 Perjury Trial of Martin Luther King, Jr., in The Journal of African American History » Read Now
by Edgar Dyer. 25 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
12.

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Doctrine of Human Dignity, in The Western Journal of Black Studies » Read Now
by Rufus Burrow Jr. 12 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library
13.

To Begin Where We Have Not Yet Reached: Affirmative Action in the Philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr., in NWSA Journal » Read Now
by Greg Moses. 19 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

...Action in the Philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. GREG MOSES Marist College...that were once advocated by Martin Luther King, Jr. On the contrary, this paper...appeal to...
14.

We Shall Overcome: Peter Ling Analyses Martin Luther King's Involvement with Non-violent Protest in the USA, in History Review » Read Now
by Peter Ling. 5 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...catapulted him to fame, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr was a major symbol of, and spokesman...McGraw-Hill, 1998) Peter Ling, Martin Luther King, Jr. (Routledge, 2002)...
15.

African-American Orators: A Bio-critical Sourcebook ("Martin Luther King, Jr." begins on p. 216) » Read Now
by Richard W. Leeman. 452 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Long-needed sourcebook assessing the unique styles and themes of notable African-American orators.
16.

Keeping the Dream Alive: A History of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference from King to the Nineteen-Eighties » Read Now
by Thomas R. Peake. 508 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, History, Entire Library

...CONFERENCE Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Founding President 1957...National Headquarters and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social...Joan Daves of the...