Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 1968
Number 1 on my book list to read in 2014. (may or may not be read as numbered)
Each year between January 15th, Dr. King's birthday and April 4th, the date of his death, I read a book by or about King. My reading of this book was interrupted by Ali’s Greatest Fight.
I finished reading Ali’s book and now I’m back to Dr. King’s book. I’m about a quarter through. His words ring as if he were writing about today. King’s voice is frustrated and on the edge of anger. He is very militant and radical in his description and prescription of the socioeconomic disparities between Black and White people in particular, but the rich and poor on whole. His prophetic voice and understanding of American society and politics is evident throughout the book. This statement for example, “Until the disproportionate political power of the reactionary South in Congress is ended, progress in the United States will always be fitful and uncertain,” brings to mind the current struggle for voting rights, healthcare and the oversize influence of the T-Party. He critiques the failures of the Civil Rights and the Black Power movements, as well as calling for White liberals and middle class Blacks to take responsibility for creating economic opportunity with a path towards social and economic equality for Black people.
More after I finish reading it.
1.
Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 1968
2. Ali’s Greatest Fight - Finished last week of February
Bingham, Howard L., Wallace, Max and Ali, Muhammad, 2012
3.
The Sixth Extinction
Elizabeth Kolbert, 2014
4.
My Ishmael: A Sequel
Daniel Quinn, 1998
5.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston, 1937
6.
Blues People: Negro Music in White America
Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones), 1963
7.
12 Years a Slave
Solomon Northup
8.
The Art of Waging Peace: A Strategic Approach to Improving Our Lives and the World
Paul K. Chappell, 2014
