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4.43 AVERAGE
4.43 AVERAGE
Powerful "autobiography", with the audiobook narrated by Lavar Burton. I knew pieces of his story, but hearing the whole story told and listening to countless speeches in MLKs voice was incredibly educational. This book should be required reading in high school. The Montgomery Movement, the Birmingham Campaign, inspiration from Gandhi, March to Washington, Selma were some of my favorite chapters.
inspiring
medium-paced
It definitely took a while to get through this, but I appreciated the chance to read about MLK's life start to finish in one book. I'd read Stride Toward Freedom, and Letter from a Birmingham Jail, and his March on Washington speech, and I knew other bits and pieces of his life, but having them all laid out end to end really underscored just how many years he was active in the civil rights movement and in how many different places, not to mention how many times he was arrested.
It's trendy nowadays to say that calls for nonviolent protests are naïve because King was killed for his efforts, but that ignores how much was actually accomplished through the protests in Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma. The chapter on the Watts Riots was also valuable, because although King does say some things about why he's against violence and doesn't think it's ultimately effective, he has a deep understanding of why the riots happened and why it's not fair to judge people who have reached their breaking point. King's views aren't uniformly flawless, obviously — he almost entirely ignores the role of women in the civil rights movement — but this story of his life, interspersed with excerpts from his speeches and letters, has much to teach us today.
Because this wasn't an autobiography in the traditional sense but a carefully constructed narrative Clayborne Carson stitched together from King's thousands of papers, certain phrases and metaphors are reused throughout. King clearly had certain themes that he liked to return to in his different speeches. It wasn't repetitive enough to get irritating, but it did underscore that this was not written as a coherent whole. Still, in some ways that was a benefit to this work — if King had written the story of his life start to finish, he probably would not have worked in whole passages from his speeches and letters the way Carson did. I liked how Carson used italics to set off those passages (such as those from speeches) where the perspective was immediate, often using present tense, in contrast to the retrospective, past-tense passages King wrote looking back on an event.
This is an investment of time, for sure, but it's a worthwhile one if you want to get a thorough account of King's life and legacy.
It's trendy nowadays to say that calls for nonviolent protests are naïve because King was killed for his efforts, but that ignores how much was actually accomplished through the protests in Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma. The chapter on the Watts Riots was also valuable, because although King does say some things about why he's against violence and doesn't think it's ultimately effective, he has a deep understanding of why the riots happened and why it's not fair to judge people who have reached their breaking point. King's views aren't uniformly flawless, obviously — he almost entirely ignores the role of women in the civil rights movement — but this story of his life, interspersed with excerpts from his speeches and letters, has much to teach us today.
Because this wasn't an autobiography in the traditional sense but a carefully constructed narrative Clayborne Carson stitched together from King's thousands of papers, certain phrases and metaphors are reused throughout. King clearly had certain themes that he liked to return to in his different speeches. It wasn't repetitive enough to get irritating, but it did underscore that this was not written as a coherent whole. Still, in some ways that was a benefit to this work — if King had written the story of his life start to finish, he probably would not have worked in whole passages from his speeches and letters the way Carson did. I liked how Carson used italics to set off those passages (such as those from speeches) where the perspective was immediate, often using present tense, in contrast to the retrospective, past-tense passages King wrote looking back on an event.
This is an investment of time, for sure, but it's a worthwhile one if you want to get a thorough account of King's life and legacy.
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I decided to write reviews on all the books I read this year but I’m struggling with this one. MLK was such an amazing human, he lived at such a crazy, tumultuous time in history and did so much for so many people. His message is almost saintly. I loved reading his own words, his own thoughts. I feel awful saying it, but I did start to get tired of the metaphors, which he uses all the time. But most of the text is compilation of speeches which require a different style of writing so I let it go. Also, I would have liked more clarification within the book of where each passage was sourced. The passages in italics were direct transcriptions of speeches I think, but what about the rest? And those speech transcriptions should have had a date and location. It was a bit disjointed because of that. All in all, if you want to know anything about the Civil Rights movement, it seems like the words of MLK are a must.
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Unfortunately not on the same level as Malcolm X's autobiography. I learned a bit but not much it seems. Malcolm X's autobiography was more personal (as to be expected seeing as MLK Jr. was a private person) which I preferred.
I started this audiobook bc I wanted something to listen to on my way home from Jean's house (I think). Actually I think it was on my way home from Tower 5040 (definitely now that I think about it). It filled the time and I finished it while working on my internship (I've been writing functions to access Perplexity responses), but I don't think I will remember anything by tomorrow.
It just doesn't stand up to the other incredible autobiographies/memoirs I've read as of late. It is a good thing I listened to it as an audiobook as I guarantee I would have DNFed it had I been reading a physical copy.
I started this audiobook bc I wanted something to listen to on my way home from Jean's house (I think). Actually I think it was on my way home from Tower 5040 (definitely now that I think about it). It filled the time and I finished it while working on my internship (I've been writing functions to access Perplexity responses), but I don't think I will remember anything by tomorrow.
It just doesn't stand up to the other incredible autobiographies/memoirs I've read as of late. It is a good thing I listened to it as an audiobook as I guarantee I would have DNFed it had I been reading a physical copy.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
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.
I hope everyone will read this book and have their children read it as well.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
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 rarely is.
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 rarely is.