Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.65 AVERAGE
4.65 AVERAGE
This is a great book, carefully exploring the complexities and flaws of MLK as well as the civil rights movement in the 1960s. It carefully places King in the context of the politics of the time, the relationships with other members of the civil rights movement, and the black community more broadly. The author ends with a challenge to learn about King’s writing and to go beyond the simplified version we tend to learn and hear about. Highly recommend.
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5 stars – “A man didn’t have to be perfect to be the perfect leader at a moment of opportunity.”
this well-researched Pulitzer-winning biography goes beyond MLK Jr’s iconic "I Have A Dream" speech to reveal the complex man behind the civil rights movement. i especially enjoyed how it humanized him, exploring his personal flaws including plagiarism and infidelity, while also giving due credit to his wife Coretta’s role in the movement. it is veryyyy long but a must-read for anyone remotely interested. ✊
this well-researched Pulitzer-winning biography goes beyond MLK Jr’s iconic "I Have A Dream" speech to reveal the complex man behind the civil rights movement. i especially enjoyed how it humanized him, exploring his personal flaws including plagiarism and infidelity, while also giving due credit to his wife Coretta’s role in the movement. it is veryyyy long but a must-read for anyone remotely interested. ✊
If you have an opportunity to listen to the audiobook, I highly recommend. The narrator is amazing and brings King's voice to life as well as many other key players in the book. This biography showed the layers of MLK and portrayed him holistically (the good, the bad, and the ugly). It also shared a lot about the newly released FBI tapes and transcripts regarding MLK. It shows how voracious the government, media, and FBI apparatus were actively going after him.
The final epilogue reminded readers of how watered down MLK's message and how far we have to go as a country when addressing racism. This was a doozy of a book but I'm so glad I read it.
The final epilogue reminded readers of how watered down MLK's message and how far we have to go as a country when addressing racism. This was a doozy of a book but I'm so glad I read it.
I don’t always read 800 page biographies, but when I do, it’s gotta be one like this. The combination of newly released FBI documents with newly released interviews with Coretta Scott King gave this book a fresh perspective on MLK.
MLK is now basically a cultural legend and so to read a book that fully humanizes him also served to elevate and create awe around the sheer volume and scale of what he made possible. The author interviewed dozens (hundreds?) of people who encountered MLK in their lifetimes from his closest friends to people who happened to see him give a speech from amidst a crowd of thousands and the effect that this one person had on them. I was very inspired to fully realize yes, he was just a regular guy, and also, yes, a regular person can listen and learn and grow and try and sometimes fail and ultimately impact the entire world for the better.
The book also highlighted the burden of leadership and I am going to be thinking for a long time about how heavy a burden MLK carried in that regard and how much he carried forward despite that.
But also the book did not shy away from his imperfections, particularly his romantic infidelity and patriarchal stances toward women as members of society. It was disappointing, to say the least, to see how clearly he thought women were second class citizens to men, while Black women carried his own organization and movement in so many ways.
I am very glad I read this book!
MLK is now basically a cultural legend and so to read a book that fully humanizes him also served to elevate and create awe around the sheer volume and scale of what he made possible. The author interviewed dozens (hundreds?) of people who encountered MLK in their lifetimes from his closest friends to people who happened to see him give a speech from amidst a crowd of thousands and the effect that this one person had on them. I was very inspired to fully realize yes, he was just a regular guy, and also, yes, a regular person can listen and learn and grow and try and sometimes fail and ultimately impact the entire world for the better.
The book also highlighted the burden of leadership and I am going to be thinking for a long time about how heavy a burden MLK carried in that regard and how much he carried forward despite that.
But also the book did not shy away from his imperfections, particularly his romantic infidelity and patriarchal stances toward women as members of society. It was disappointing, to say the least, to see how clearly he thought women were second class citizens to men, while Black women carried his own organization and movement in so many ways.
I am very glad I read this book!
emotional
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
I learned so much from this book. A lot of completely new information, and a lot of details about situations that history class barely scratched the surface on. It really humanized Dr. King, which included moments when I felt sorry and grateful for the weight he had to carry, as well as moments when I saw him through a lens I didn’t like. Also pretty surreal to read in post election 2024 and see that so much of what MLK was fighting against is still an ongoing fight.
Was very well researched and written. Kept me engaged, but it is a biography, so I wouldn’t say a page turner.
Was very well researched and written. Kept me engaged, but it is a biography, so I wouldn’t say a page turner.
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism
Book contains many quotes that include language that is outdated and offensive
informative
medium-paced
Filled in some of the gaps in my knowledge about the Civil Rights movement. King emerges as a complicated, multifaceted, and very human character. A lot of it made me think about how in our social media age, King would very likely not be allowed near the leadership of a movement, which makes me think about the decline of boots on the ground activism in our digital age and all of the discourse that happened then about him and how if King were active today the discourse would be overwhelming. Also the role of the U.S. government and how everything is always so much more complicated than anyone wants it to be and that’s what makes everything, including and especially positive change, so hard.
Listen to the audiobook narration by Dion Graham: it elevates what is possibly one of the most engaging stories in American history, into something even better. When it comes to the speeches, the narrator NAILS the inflection and tone of MLK. Especially the "I Have a Dream Speech" where I found myself nearly in tears in hearing how it was described and how it impacted every single person in the audience. The book is not afraid of dramatizing events, but does it tastefully using primary sources and quotes that makes it as authentic as it is emotional. It reads like a novel. The narrator makes it even better.
King is an easy figure to deify; his place in history is shrouded in tragedy and reverence. He boasts the claim of being the only civilian to have a federal holiday named after him and for being the reason several civil rights legislation were able to be accomplished. But it is wrong to say that this man was perfect. Even as a man of God who was thrust into the nation's spotlight that demanded a spotless record to represent the Civil Rights Movement - he was a serial adulterer, often egotistical, and made mistakes that history has washed away in favor of not tarnishing his legacy. This book uses new evidence and interviews to show the side of King that is not shown to the public. While he is far from a bad man, he does succumb to temptation and the pressures that are oft born in the crucible of unexpected fame. Sometimes, someone has to make decisions that are bound to upset people who do not deserve to be wronged for the greater good.
King is an easy figure to deify; his place in history is shrouded in tragedy and reverence. He boasts the claim of being the only civilian to have a federal holiday named after him and for being the reason several civil rights legislation were able to be accomplished. But it is wrong to say that this man was perfect. Even as a man of God who was thrust into the nation's spotlight that demanded a spotless record to represent the Civil Rights Movement - he was a serial adulterer, often egotistical, and made mistakes that history has washed away in favor of not tarnishing his legacy. This book uses new evidence and interviews to show the side of King that is not shown to the public. While he is far from a bad man, he does succumb to temptation and the pressures that are oft born in the crucible of unexpected fame. Sometimes, someone has to make decisions that are bound to upset people who do not deserve to be wronged for the greater good.