<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Another book on MLK? Yes -- and perhaps the best one yet
Review: I reviewed this volume for the Southern Communication Journal and found it to be one of the most comprehensive historical compilations to address the American Civil Rights movement. Kudos to Carson for undertaking such an ambitious project. In an age of sensationalism and revisionist histories, Carson and the rest of the King Papers Project have shown that accurate documentation, rather than speculation, yields priceless insight into King and the Montgomery bus protest, a key event in the American Civil Rights movement. This volume combines letters (to and from King), speeches, newspaper articles, and other texts to illustrate the King's depth. We see his religious upbringing, as evidenced in the influences of Ghandi and Christianity; his talent as a minister and an administrator, suggested by the National Baptist Convention's invitation to serve them as their president; and his intellectual aptitudes, shown in the strategy he employed in the Montgomery protest. His decision to move toward incremental change (with full equality as a long-term end) is a major reason why the Montgomery movement succeeded. Had he opted for an all-or-nothing, now-or-never approach, he would have encountered greater resistance, and the movement might have ended while achieving little or no progress. Instead, he lobbied for minor changes in an effort to gain momentum for the larger movement -- an approach dismissed by more radical members of the African-American community. For its insights into King the preacher, King the scholar, King the strategic activist, this text is a valuable addition to the legacy of arguably the most influential American of the last century -- and likely the most influential one never to serve as U.S. President.
Rating:
Summary: Another book on MLK? Yes -- and perhaps the best one yet
Review: I reviewed this volume for the Southern Communication Journal and found it to be one of the most comprehensive historical compilations to address the American Civil Rights movement. Kudos to Carson for undertaking such an ambitious project. In an age of sensationalism and revisionist histories, Carson and the rest of the King Papers Project have shown that accurate documentation, rather than speculation, yields priceless insight into King and the Montgomery bus protest, a key event in the American Civil Rights movement. This volume combines letters (to and from King), speeches, newspaper articles, and other texts to illustrate the King's depth. We see his religious upbringing, as evidenced in the influences of Ghandi and Christianity; his talent as a minister and an administrator, suggested by the National Baptist Convention's invitation to serve them as their president; and his intellectual aptitudes, shown in the strategy he employed in the Montgomery protest. His decision to move toward incremental change (with full equality as a long-term end) is a major reason why the Montgomery movement succeeded. Had he opted for an all-or-nothing, now-or-never approach, he would have encountered greater resistance, and the movement might have ended while achieving little or no progress. Instead, he lobbied for minor changes in an effort to gain momentum for the larger movement -- an approach dismissed by more radical members of the African-American community. For its insights into King the preacher, King the scholar, King the strategic activist, this text is a valuable addition to the legacy of arguably the most influential American of the last century -- and likely the most influential one never to serve as U.S. President.
<< 1 >>
| 
