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A review by kevin_shepherd
Let the Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Stephen B. Oates
4.0
Nonviolent, Integrated and Dignified
“Any religion that professes to be concerned with the souls of men and is not concerned with the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them, is a spiritually moribund religion.”
A philosopher as well as a minister, Martin Luther King Jr. questioned whether or not man was intrinsically good and whether or not divine grace could lift him from the contradictions of history. In such queries King showed himself to be a present tense realist and a future tense optimist. He took on Jim Crow on the buses of Montgomery, in the streets of Selma, and in the jail cells of Birmingham. He didn’t always win but the reverberations of his achievements are still being felt half a century after his passing.
"If a man has not found something that is worth giving his life for he is not fit to live”
I admire that rare biographer that can be both objective and enthusiastic; Stephen Oates is about 95% there. Aside from his tangent apologetics (we get it, Dr. King wasn’t a beacon of fidelity, let’s move on) and his referral to the U.S. as a “christian nation” (it’s not—don’t get me started), Oates has penned a doozy. Highly recommended. 4 stars.
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On the morning of April 4, 1968 when an assassin’s bullet found the good Dr. on that Memphis motel balcony, I was five years old and 335 miles away. I have no specific memories of the event but I can say, without any doubt or reservation, there were no tears shed in my father’s house. Years later, whenever the name Martin Luther King Jr. would surface in passing conversation, both my mom and dad would refer to him as a “troublemaker.” Trust me on this one, if you ever find yourself on the wrong side of racist bigots (i.e. my parents) you can bet your ass you are on the right side of history.
“Any religion that professes to be concerned with the souls of men and is not concerned with the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them, is a spiritually moribund religion.”
A philosopher as well as a minister, Martin Luther King Jr. questioned whether or not man was intrinsically good and whether or not divine grace could lift him from the contradictions of history. In such queries King showed himself to be a present tense realist and a future tense optimist. He took on Jim Crow on the buses of Montgomery, in the streets of Selma, and in the jail cells of Birmingham. He didn’t always win but the reverberations of his achievements are still being felt half a century after his passing.
"If a man has not found something that is worth giving his life for he is not fit to live”
I admire that rare biographer that can be both objective and enthusiastic; Stephen Oates is about 95% there. Aside from his tangent apologetics (we get it, Dr. King wasn’t a beacon of fidelity, let’s move on) and his referral to the U.S. as a “christian nation” (it’s not—don’t get me started), Oates has penned a doozy. Highly recommended. 4 stars.
_________________________________________
On the morning of April 4, 1968 when an assassin’s bullet found the good Dr. on that Memphis motel balcony, I was five years old and 335 miles away. I have no specific memories of the event but I can say, without any doubt or reservation, there were no tears shed in my father’s house. Years later, whenever the name Martin Luther King Jr. would surface in passing conversation, both my mom and dad would refer to him as a “troublemaker.” Trust me on this one, if you ever find yourself on the wrong side of racist bigots (i.e. my parents) you can bet your ass you are on the right side of history.