There has been recent controversy in the African American community
about youth and their lack of appreciation for the gains of the civil
rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. This stellar biography is a
superb introduction to the foremost leader of the civil rights
movement. The story and historical context will be eye-opening for
students and a good refresher for others who are too young to have
remembered the events. In a gripping narrative style, the biography
traces the young Martin, the son and grandson of formidable preachers,
to his calling as a minister too, but one who would take on the
entrenched racism of the South, and North, through a nonviolent
movement that changed the course of American history. King's story is
compelling, starting from his early nurtured family life in an insular
community of blacks in Atlanta. His education at Morehouse College,
Crozer Theological Seminary, and Boston University and courtship of
Coretta Scott lead into the early days of the civil rights movement and
King's leadership role in the major marches, demonstrations, boycotts,
and sit-ins that took place, mainly in the South. Critical insight into
the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations is given as King negotiates
with the presidents for equal rights for blacks. The violent reactions
against and hatred of many whites for those seeking racial justice are
still shocking today. Against the backdrop of beatings, killings,
bombings, threats, and imprisoning, King is portrayed as driven to lift
up all Americans, even if it meant martyrdom.