A review by ian_
Let the Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King Jr. by Stephen B. Oates

5.0

This is undoubtedly the best book I read in 2022. I'm convinced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the greatest American to live to date. His life, faith, and courageous hope are profoundly inspiring. While I am left feeling stirred and inspired, I am also left  disappointed at how dishonestly appropriated were Dr. King's life, message, and legacy by the system that educated me and my generarion and the generations before me. The King I read in this expertly written biography is in many ways so different from what I was taught in school. For example, I was unaware that Dr. King was one of the earliest prominent Americans to speak out and campaign against the war in Vietnam. His undying commitment to nonviolence was challenging to me. I was particularly shocked reading of the latter days of the civil rights movement and the response of the country following the civil rights legislations made in 1963-4. Many of the stories of racial and economic injustice throughout this biography will sound eerily familiar to anyone of our time. Read this book and you will see how obviously Dr. King's life and message are still needed today.