Jr., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King

A wonderful account of MLK's life and historic work in the civil rights movement. The eloquence and passion of his speeches and conviction to a non-violent path to freedom will rivet you to each page. History unfolds revealing one of the most influential figure of our lifetime. Impressive and revealing.

This autobiography gave me an insight into the personal as well as the public sacrifices made by MLK. It represented the personal and public life of this great man in a very human and understandable language as he was a highly spiritual, but human being that martyred himself for his belief in worth and dignity of human life.

Outstanding book! Many so called black leaders of today would be surprised that to Dr King "ALL LIVES MATTER". In this book it becomes clear that he aspire to a colorless society on a level playing field. As he so eloquently put it, it's not the color of your skin but the content of your character! I'm still perplex that so many people don't get it. Folks, it applies TO ALL. He like Gandhi were simply too big and flew too high for mere mortals to understand. I guess we'll continue killing these great historic personalities (Jesus, Gandhi, King, etc.) until we ALL get it. Until we all can see colorless, raceless, with honor and respect towards each other. Yes, respect includes the golden rule. Do onto others as you want to be done on you. Which reminds me of all these people who would not grant in their countries of origin to others, what they DEMAND be given to them in the USA. We've advance a mere few steps from where we were in Jerusalem over 2,000 years ago. The characters change, the play remains the same.

I was overwhelmed by King's christian ethic and his brilliance. This was an outstanding page turner from cover to cover. King showed us what true christianity and commitment are. I recommend it to all.

The rating is 3 stars because the Kindle edition sucks. I was using my iPhone Kindle app. Whole lines of text are missing in the middle of sentences...I paid $9.99 for a version that is missing WHOLE LINES OF TEXT. Unacceptable.

On a side note, the book is quite good. I was lucky enough to get a paperback version of it to read. It's a lesson in history as well as a lesson in leadership. The leadership leads more to social/group leadership than business leadership. I think everyone should read it to understand how our country had created a system of racism and subjugation.

Not the book itself, but the condition. It was used, so I give it that. However it was tattery - a bit more than expected. There were no tears or rips, the pages were rather crumpled and you could see the cover of the book had been bent. I wish that was noted. That's all. It was worth my money, hands down.

Very interesting read, especially since I'm from the Dakotas. I wanted to get to know more about Dr. King, and this is an excellent resource. However, since I have the advantage of hindsight, I'm not so sure that Dr. King would be supportive of what has become the "nanny state" for African Americans in America. This book does seem to represent that he was favorable towards taking from the "haves" to give to the "have nots," but the end result of that philosophy is a lose/lose proposition. But in the final analysis, his efforts made an incredible impact on the civil rights movement, and I admire his absolute stand on non-violence. I would have liked to have read that he encouraged people to stand up for their "rights," but it's difficult to do that when one is concentrating on the past and bent over with a victim mentality.

At the time of his assassination on April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr. had written and accomplished a great deal, but he had not written an autobiography. About 20 years after King's death, his widow, Coretta Scott King, invited historian Clayborne Carson to become the director of the King Papers Project. In the course of this work Carson, already a noted historian of King and of the Civil Rights Movement, had access to a voluminous body of King's writings and interviews, both published and unpublished. Carson took King's writings and put them together to form this Autobiography from King's early years to his untimely death.

At the time of King's assassination, I was 19 years old and have memories of the event and of the tumultuous years of the 1950s and 1960s. Younger readers may not have memories of King and may not be fully aware of his achievements. This book will give readers an overview of King in thought and action. Autobiographies vary in the degree to which they cover the personal and the public aspects of the subject's life. King was notably reticent about the intimate details of his life. Thus this book, in Carson's words,is "largely a religious and political autobiography rather than an exploration of a private life." It gives, in King's own words, a view of his thought, religious views, and social and political activity.

Carson has drawn from King's writings to present a chronological account of King's life in King's own words. A variety of source material is used. Some of the material, lightly edited for continuity and readability, is presented in standard type. Other selections, in King's own words, are presented in italics. Still further material, usually short and taken from diaries, letters, or speeches, is included in blocks. The source materials used for each chapter are given at the end of the volume. At times, it is difficult to identify a specific text with its source.

The Autobiography includes 32 chapters beginning with King's childhood and concluding with his activities in Memphis at the time of his assassination. The first chapter covers King's early years. The three following chapters describe King's education and formative influences at Moorehouse College, Crozer Seminary, and Boston University, where King earned his PhD in Systematic Theology. A chapter describes King's courtship of and marriage to Coretta Scott. The remaining chapters of the book focus on King's adulthood and on the work for which he became remembered.

Up to 1965, King worked primarily to end segregation in the South. From 1965 to the end of his life, King's mission broadened to end discrimination in the North, to fight poverty, and to oppose militarism, particularly the Vietnam War. During his lifetime, King lost substantial support for these latter activities. Both parts of King's work are included in this Autobiography.

The Autobiography includes chapters devoted to King's key accomplishments including the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Birmingham Campaign, which led to the enactment of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1963 March on Washington, and the Selma Campaign, which led to the enactment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The book includes famous speeches and writings, including the "Letter from Birmingham Jail", the "I have a Dream" speech delivered on the Washington Mall, and King's 1967 speech breaking silence and opposing the Vietnam War, together with excerpts from many other speeches.

The Autobiography also includes chapters on other campaigns led by King and on other Civil Rights events in which he participated. Thus the book covers the Albany, Georgia campaign which at best achieved mixed results at the time. It covers King's jailing in Atlanta which resulted in intervention by presidential candidate John Kennedy which may have won Kennedy the presidency. It discusses campaigns in St Augustine, Florida and in Mississippi and the violence these campaigns provoked. The book shows King's activities in connection with the student sit- in movement at segregated lunch counters. The book shows King visiting Watts and other urban areas during the riots, shows his views on the Black Power Movement, and shows King receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. It includes a chapter describing King's trip to India. King was greatly influenced by Gandhi and his philosophy of nonviolence.

This book gives a moving portrayal of King and his achievement drawn from his own words. It is a worthy autobiography and a moving tribute to King. The book constitutes an excellent introduction to King's life and mission.

Robin Friedman

Not an auto biography. More than anything, the presentation of this book as an auto-biography should clue people into the fact that it misrepresents itself. No where is this more evident than in the first chapter, "Early Life".

There are a couple of glaring omissions in this first chapter. The first is Rev. King Sr's involvement in the Republican party. Reading the Georgia letter of secession which describes the Republican party as "an anti-slavery" party helps one to understand the strength of character that it took for a Black man to be an out spoken member of a regionally un-popular political party.

The second glaring omission from this chapter is the undeniable impact which attending the segregated premier of one of the most popular movies of all time had on a ten year old black child who was allowed to entertain the audience and yet could not sit among them. I have often wondered what this child must have felt, singing, on the stage. A Black face in a small group of black faces, looking out on a sea of white faces which refused to allow even the first Black Oscar winning actor to sit among them.

As the book progresses, a view of Dr. King emerges that is inconsistent with other documents I have read, written by him. Omissions and fabrications, a perspective more consistent with popular mythology rather than consistent with an incredibly strong leader who used political disobedience techniques advocated by Ghandi and who nominated Thich Nhat Hahn for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Make no mistake, within the omissions and fabrications there are many useful facts and even perspectives of the segregation which existed in the United States, yet, these are gems in an ocean of propaganda rather than being the fundamental content of the book.

Is it worth reading? I don't believe so. The problems with the presentation far outweigh the benefits. This book, falsely represented as it is, should be set aside for more accurate portrayals of a man who deserves truth and honesty more than, perhaps, any other political leader who ever lived within the United States.

Not truly an autobiography, of course.

This book covers from King's boyhood to the day he died. It includes quite a bit of how he would write about his actions - with some of his key speeches intertwined. Unusual approach. Trying to make it as if King actually wrote it vs. a biography.

I thought it was thorough in capturing a lot of King's thinking. My only knock is that it doesn't give enough of the context of the times as a true biography would. By that, I mean, one gets King's thoughts as he'd be speaking to a contemporary. Now that it is 50 years later; the context of these discussions gets confusing. For instance, the whole situation in Albany, GA - he explains King's thoughts, but very very little about what actually happened. I had to search Wikipedia and other online sources to even know what is being talked about.

I'd recommend a true biography for those not already acquainted with King's accomplishments.

I just finished listening to the audiobook version of The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., which includes rare recordings of speeches and sermons of Dr. King. The book was edited by Clayborne Carson, and read by Lavar Burton.

While I have admired Dr. King most of my life, and I have read various books and articles about him, I had never taken the time to devour this great autobiography. And while there would be advantages to reading the print version, such as being able to highlight and meditate on his many memorable quotes, the advantage of the audiobook is in hearing the voice, and feeling the spirit, of this great orator and leader of the civil rights movement, as well as one of the first leaders to speak out against the war in Vietnam.

Some of the many thoughts that ran through my mind as I listened were:

1. This young man, who won an oratorical contest in junior high, continued to follow his dream to be a public speaker. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to be a minister or an educator, but he continued to develop his craft from an early age.

2. He pursued an education, all the way through his PHD at Boston College, and he interacted with the great thinkers from throughout civilization. He became an articulate and well-read man, and continued to develop his mind throughout his life.

3. It was his commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ that caused him to pursue equality and freedom for all, not just black Americans, but poor whites, and eventually for the impoverished of other nations.

4. In spite of the fact that he was stabbed by a demented black woman early in his career, and that if he had sneezed his aorta might’ve been punctured and he might have died, he continued to press on.

5. In spite of the fact that he received many death threats, he continued to press on. In one of his final speeches, you can hear that he believed his end might be immanent, but that didn’t stop him from being a “drum major” for peace and righteousness.

6. He persisted in his belief in non-violence, even in the face of his fellow civil rights leaders who began moving toward “black power.”

7. He traveled to India to learn more about how to practice non-violence from Mahatma Gandhi, who led his nation to independence through non-violent means.

8. To this day there are people who distort the story of Martin Luther King, accusing him of things that simply are not true. Simply devouring this great autobiography, and coming to grips with his thoughts, his spirit, and his story, would do much to set the record straight.

Martin Luther King, Jr., is without a doubt one of the most influential and pivotal figures in twentieth-century history. In addition to his work as a Civil Rights leader, his role as a father and pastor, he also was an extensively published writer. However, he never had the chance to write an autobiography in the traditional sense. We as readers in the present day and the future have lost the private details that might have been fleshed out in a proper autobiography, but this skillfully crafted work by Clayborne Carson has given us a religious and political autobiography, revealed in King's almost countless papers (published and unpublished), interviews, letters, sermons and public statements.

Carson, author and editor of many books relating to the Civil Rights struggle, edited a collection of King's speeches entitled 'A Knock at Midnight', and was selected by the King estate to put together this in conjunction with (according to Carson) dozens of staff and student workers forming part of the King Papers Project. Carson used particular methodology consistently in his reconstruction - that of relying primarily on the words of King himself (utilising early drafts of later writings to discern the difference between authorial and editorial intentions) and developing them as if this overall narrative account was constructed near the end of King's life.

King's autobiography begins at the beginning, with is childhood as a preacher's kid (who was himself a preacher's kid, who was himself a preacher's kid, etc.). King said, 'of course I was religious.... I didn't have much choice.' King explains the different strands in his life, that of being both militant and moderate, idealistic and realistic, as beginning here. Here he developed questions ('how could I love a race of people who hated me?') and some answers (he learned that racial injustice was paralleled by economic injustice, and realised that poor white people were exploited also).

King's call to ministry and call to ethical and prophetic witness in the world developed through his schooling at Morehouse College, Crozer Seminary, and Boston University, where he developed interest in theology and social philosophy that would lead him to eventually to his ideas of civil rights activitsm. This would not take practical shape, however, until he was back in the South and working at churches and participating in actual events. He describes his involvement with Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Movement as a mountaintop experience, which also led to an awakening, both in King and in the community, of the power of nonviolent action a la Mahatma Gandhi.

It is almost incomprehensible to read this autobiography and realise that in a span of barely more than a dozen years (Rosa Parks was arrested for her action in December of 1955; King was assassinated in 1968) so much of what we consider to be the central history of the Civil Rights struggle occurred. Within the pages of text, King talks about the struggles of the common people and the dealings with the powerful, from the police in Alabama jurisdictions to dealing with federal government officials and organisations.

In the midst of all of this work, King managed to remain a family man, devoted to his wife and children, and a tireless worker in the church. Carson admits to not being able to develop too much of an interior autobiography in these kinds of sections (as even in King's private papers and writings, too much remains unrecorded), but his life in this regard still comes through many aspects of his writings, sermons and speeches.

This is an incredible book, and should be read as a required part of the education of an American, as it recounts a remarkable and astonishing part of history that continues to shape the direction of the nation to this day.

February is Black History Month, something which--to be totally honest--I'm usually completely unaware of. I'm not just unaware of when Black History Month occurs, but pretty ignorant about Black History in general.

Last week I began reading The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. I had purchased it a while back at the same time that I bought Gandhi's autobiography. I've been following the trail of non-violent thought from the Anabaptists to the Quakers to Leo Tolstoy to Gandhi to Martin Luther King (and points in-between). So MLK was the next stop on my journey. I only discovered last week after getting half-way into the book that February is Black History Month. I learned this by seeing a placard on the side of a bus.

Dr. King's autobiography was not intentionally written by it's subject, in the same way that Gandhi's autobiography was. King was assassinated before he could write this work himself. Instead, his autobiography was assembled by King scholar Clayborne Carson (at the request of Coretta Scott King) by carefully gathering and collating King's public and private writings into a cohesive narrative. Carson did a masterful job, as King's voice and personality consistently shines through. One really has the sense that this is the autobiography King would have written had his life not been cut short.

I had not expected to become so quickly engrossed in this book. Obviously I knew who Martin Luther King was, but this was my first opportunity to really see what an amazing man he was. King was an intellectual giant, yet also an extremely humble and honest man. He was a brilliant theologian and scholar, but consistently chose to identify himself with the lowest of the low in society. He was incredibly, well ... Christian ... in the true sense of the word.

Besides being impacted by the encounter with King as a person, this book is also teaching me about the events of the Civil Rights movement and the various personalities involved. A consternating thought keeps bubbling up in my mind: Why was I never taught about this in public school? The Civil Rights movement was an epic moment in American history and it's effects continue to reverberate--most recently and obviously in the election of Barack Obama. Yet I can't recall being taught about it in school. Perhaps because I grew up in a 99% white community in Colorado it was deemed irrelevant, just as I've typically viewed Black History Month as personally irrelevant.

Now I'm realizing that Black History, from slavery to emancipation to Jim Crow to the Civil Rights movement and beyond is not just "for black people". It is an integral component of American history. Ditto for Native American history. Looking back, I realize how narrow and anglo-centric my public school history education was. I was not given anything approximating a complete picture of American history. And, sadly, neither has my son. I'm going to try to get him to read this book.

I also find myself thinking as I read this book that if I had been an adult during the 1960's, I hope I would have been one of those whites who joined into the Civil Rights movement to offer solidarity and support. I self-flatteringly imagine that I might've trekked to the South and gotten onto the front lines, as so many people of good conscience from all over the country did. But that thought is immediately followed by a more uncomfortable one: Where are people being oppressed today and what am I doing about it?

I was excited to receive this book for my birthday, as I'd admired Martin Luther King Jr for a few years, but had to admit I didn't know much about him, or exactly what sacrifices he made. Although famous all over the world, he is probably not the first thing on the mind of most white Australian twenty-something females!

Basically, I knew of the 'I Have A Dream' speech and a few other wonderful quotes of his that I'd read on monuments dedicated to his journey that I photographed in Denver, Colorado. Other than this I felt a bit of a fraud for proclaiming to hero worship this man I knew so little about.

This book outlined the dedication that MLK had to the cause, along with the 'intellectual underpinnings of his wisdom' as one reviewer put it. This deeply intellectual angle made it a struggle at times for me to get through, but much like the uphill battle against racism, it was a journey well worth taking.

The last chapter was extremely sad and beautfully summed up the dedication to Christ and good that MLK worked tirelessly towards. This man was a true Christian in every sense of the word, tearing down at the cynicism I have built up towards Christianity over the years.

Martin Luther King Jr is a wonderful example to even intend to follow, one of God's most loyal children, and someone that I truly admire and respect.

Amen!

The book "The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr." is Stanford University historian Clayborne Carson's amazing account of one of the most impressive leaders to have ever lived.
This is an outstanding biography and it accounts for the full story of Dr. King, literally from cradle to grave. Martin Luther King Jr. at university, when he met his wife Coretta, their children being born, the movement begins, fights and struggles, getting arrested etc. etc. Carson does an absolutely amazing job transporting the reader into Dr. King's thoughts, ideas and feelings. I have only read a couple of other biographies that I rank as high as I rank this one. The other two are Che Guevara and Malcolm X's biographies.
Few people are given strength, means and opportunity to make a real and great impact in the world. Martin Luther King Jr. was not only given such opportunity; he seized upon his opportunity as well. His fights and sacrifices made life better not only for millions of black people in America - his fight made the world a better place to be for all of us.
The author uses Dr. King's letters, college papers, and speeches; such as the "I have a dream" speech from 1963, and the Nobel Peace Prize speech from 1964 when telling his story. I had never read the whole "I have a dream" speech, so I greatly enjoyed that.
Carson has done a great jobs combining his own research with Dr. King's own speeches and writings and this is all masterfully woven together into a unique biography. Dr. King had a huge impact on the Civil Right movement, and he made his way into American history as one of its greatest, most charismatic leaders ever.
My recommendation is given for two reasons. Firstly, Dr. King is an extraordinary interesting subject, but also because of Carson's excellent job writing this biography.
Great read - highly recommended!

Martin Luther King, Jr., is without a doubt one of the most influential and pivotal figures in twentieth-century history. In addition to his work as a Civil Rights leader, his role as a father and pastor, he also was an extensively published writer. However, he never had the chance to write an autobiography in the traditional sense. We as readers in the present day and the future have lost the private details that might have been fleshed out in a proper autobiography, but this skillfully crafted work by Clayborne Carson has given us a religious and political autobiography, revealed in King's almost countless papers (published and unpublished), interviews, letters, sermons and public statements.

Carson, author and editor of many books relating to the Civil Rights struggle, edited a collection of King's speeches entitled 'A Knock at Midnight', and was selected by the King estate to put together this in conjunction with (according to Carson) dozens of staff and student workers forming part of the King Papers Project. Carson used particular methodology consistently in his reconstruction - that of relying primarily on the words of King himself (utilising early drafts of later writings to discern the difference between authorial and editorial intentions) and developing them as if this overall narrative account was constructed near the end of King's life.

King's autobiography begins at the beginning, with is childhood as a preacher's kid (who was himself a preacher's kid, who was himself a preacher's kid, etc.). King said, 'of course I was religious.... I didn't have much choice.' King explains the different strands in his life, that of being both militant and moderate, idealistic and realistic, as beginning here. Here he developed questions ('how could I love a race of people who hated me?') and some answers (he learned that racial injustice was paralleled by economic injustice, and realised that poor white people were exploited also).

King's call to ministry and call to ethical and prophetic witness in the world developed through his schooling at Morehouse College, Crozer Seminary, and Boston University, where he developed interest in theology and social philosophy that would lead him to eventually to his ideas of civil rights activitsm. This would not take practical shape, however, until he was back in the South and working at churches and participating in actual events. He describes his involvement with Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Movement as a mountaintop experience, which also led to an awakening, both in King and in the community, of the power of nonviolent action a la Mahatma Gandhi.

It is almost incomprehensible to read this autobiography and realise that in a span of barely more than a dozen years (Rosa Parks was arrested for her action in December of 1955; King was assassinated in 1968) so much of what we consider to be the central history of the Civil Rights struggle occurred. Within the pages of text, King talks about the struggles of the common people and the dealings with the powerful, from the police in Alabama jurisdictions to dealing with federal government officials and organisations.

In the midst of all of this work, King managed to remain a family man, devoted to his wife and children, and a tireless worker in the church. Carson admits to not being able to develop too much of an interior autobiography in these kinds of sections (as even in King's private papers and writings, too much remains unrecorded), but his life in this regard still comes through many aspects of his writings, sermons and speeches.

This is an incredible book, and should be read as a required part of the education of an American, as it recounts a remarkable and astonishing part of history that continues to shape the direction of the nation to this day.

Heard MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. ON LEADERSHIP, written
and read by Donald T. Phillips.

The book effectively integrates a history of King with leadership
principles . . . along the way, there's much detail on the Civil
Rights movement of the late 1950s and the 1960s.

In particular, I liked how Phillips used the Montgomery bus boycott
to draw out these five leadership principles:

1. Set goals and create a plan of action.
2. Create a new formal alliance.
3. Involve the people.
4. Seek dialogue and negotiation.
5. Innovate.

In addition, ON LEADERSHIP got me to revisit this classic King quote:
" A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder
of consensus."

If you're interested in the subject of leadership, you'll find this
book by Phillips has much to offer . . . it will also serve as
an excellent introduction to King's life--particularly for any readers not old
enough to have known about his greatness.

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech was voted the most electrifying public address of the twentieth century. It takes some kind of a leader to give that kind of a speech. Donald T. Phillips presents the ideals of leadership that Martin Luther King Jr. followed in an overview of the history of the civil rights struggle. Phillips describes the techniques King used at various stages of the civil rights battle. He also shares King's comments on leadership. Many of the principles will be quite familiar: listen to learn, lead by being led, awaken direct action, encourage creativity and involve the people. However, the book is especially interesting when it demonstrates how King put these principles into practice. This well-organized, well-written book is clear, direct, and easy to read. While it is written for the general public (especially for African-Americans and those interested in civil rights), we [...] find this book interesting for all managers and executives, particularly those who like to learn the lessons of history.

Donald Phillips did a wonderful job of telling the story of Martin Luther King Jr. from his childhood to his death, and connecting it all to a marvelous leadership style. Being a student of leadership studies and a fan of Martin Luther King Jr., I chose this book as a study of both subjects. Having read it, I have to say I learned more about leadership from this book than any other I have read. However, I am no longer a fan of MLK......... he is now a hero of mine.
As Donald Phillips points out, for every major turning point in American history, creative leaders - right for the times and uniquely suited to the task - assume the mantle of leadership. Donald Phillips not only describes how MLK ended up at the mantle, but how and why he was the right person for the job.
MLK's movement is not the same civil rights movement being pushed by the self-serving, so-called, activists today. Read this book, you will learn about a true leader and what a true leader is. It is easy reading and inspiring. Highly recommended.

Selected by the Reverend King's heirs, Stanford University history professor Clayborne Carson archived the massive papers, videos, and recordings of one of the most influential twentieth century figures. The reader gets a feel for Dr. King as a person who lived the words he uttered. More important is that the audience sees a complete, compassionate, caring human being instead of a federal holiday.
Though authorized, this is a fascinating autobiography that provides insight to a time when support of Civil Rights proved deadly. Those readers who seek sensationalism would be better suited filing a freedom of information request to gain access to Hoover's files. Those individuals who want to better comprehend history or simply gain an understanding of one of the previous century's giants, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. is the right stuff.

Harriet Klausner

This is at one level an uplifting autobiography of an extraordinary man but at another level it is a guide to us a people living in a cynical (we call it "realistic") age in which we are bombarded by so many causes; all of them claiming to worthwhile, all of them claiming that they will uplift human dignity and freedom. How can we choose amongst these causes? How can we tell which cause is truly just and, having decided, how do we champion it effectively?
In his autobiography, Martin Luther King helps us do so. He explains that "constructive ends can never give absolute moral justification to destructive means, because in the final analysis the end is preexistent in the means" (20). Thus, if those whose cause we would champion are murdering babies to achieve justice, the end they and we will achieve will be child murderers whether we want it or not. But if those whose cause we would champion march peacefully to save a life, write countless letters on behalf of a starving child, collect money so that a woman who has been cast out by her society and is facing death might have a good legal defense, then we can be assured that the end we will achieve with our peaceful means will be a saved and happy life. Not least of all our own.
And how should we effectively champion our truly just cause; a cause we know is just because the means its proponents use to achieve their ends are right and noble? We should concentrate on one issue at a time, highlighting that one issue by non-violent means. And we must use nonviolence for today we do not face a choice between violence and non-violence but between "nonviolence and nonexistence" (360).
So let us choose, in our cause and in our methods existence over the nihilism of all too many movements that claim to be revolutionary and yet which "reject the one thing that keep the fire of revolutions burning: the ever-present flame of hope" (329). Let us choose those causes that would bring our fellow men and women life and that would bring us all hope. Let us follow in the footsteps of Dr Martin Luther King and, like him, not follow false causes that (like the Black Power Movement he gives as an example) promise much but deliver only death and despair.

Donald T. Phillips does an exceptional job at narrating the life of the late great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He does an incredible job in tying in the aspects of Dr. King's life as a man, and activist together with the principals of Leadership.
He breaks down the book into 4 sections, that each details the start and end of the American Civil Rights movement. Phillips does an amazing job at chronicling the events that most shaped the philosophy of Dr. King.
I truly enjoyed this book because it helped me realize that it is possible for me to achieve my goals using the same techniques that Dr. King used. The book does a great job at outlining how a normal person can create change the way Dr. King did. Whether you live in turbulent times like those in which the Civil Rights took place or not.
I recommend this book to anyone in a leadership position to those who aspire to be leaders, but mostly to those with a goal to succeed. The knowledge you will acquire with this book is invaluable to future successes.
The book targets all, but I think it specifically aims to inspire African- Americans especially those who wish to be in leadership positions. The book in general is a great read for businesses and for groups in general. It informs the audience about the dynamics of groups and how to work through the problems that groups face.
It helps inform leaders as to the advantages and disadvantages of being a leader. Overall the book is a great read. And you will truly enjoy it.

It was an excellent informative read, but I'm not sure if I would call it an "autobiography" per say. It didn't read like one, and at times, it was distracting with the integrated letters of the Civil Rights events and writings to his wife. Nonetheless, the book has pique my interest to learn and order more books of the legend, MLK. I would recommend to a friend.

Martin Luther King Jr is always listed as a person to admire and I always have but I did not truly understand the man until I read this book. Martin Luther King was a giant. It was so good to read in his own words his thoughts about nonviolence and the civil rights movement. It was also fascinating to read how he struggled with the decision to come out as against the Vietnam war. As a pastor who is also white I hope that I will have the wisdom to see when structures are racist and the courage to stand against them.

Bang! and just like that perhaps the greatest Civil rights leader was assonated, shot, and killed. Martin Luther King was born in Atlanta on January 15, 1929. He was raised in a Baptist church where his father was a pastor. Then after childhood King went to Morehouse University in 1944. After he received his masters degree Martin became a pastor like his father and married. Later Martin Luther King organized black leaders in the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference). After writing a book and making a trip to India King returned to be a pastor with his father in 1960. Then in 1963 King's way of peaceful protest was becoming difficult because of police brutality beating and arresting blacks. King is arrested and writes "A Letter from Birmingham Prison" to keep up black spirit. Towards the end of 63 and the beginning of 64 King won Person of the Year and the Nobel Peace Prize. Also soon after that he joined the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). It seemed things were leading to integration until April 4, 1968 when king was on the balcony of a black hotel with to other Black Leaders when he was hit in the neck with a rifle bullet. King died to soon to see integration but his dream would live on. I would recommend The biography of Martin Luther King Jr. because it is a good book about a man's dream to see blacks with whites.

One good thing about this book was that no matter the situation King always stayed calm and pushed on. Like he continued to fight segregation after he was sent to Birmingham jail and beaten at the protest. He kept the peace alive no violence alive. Also it had been over 5 years and King still continued peaceful movement through out southern states he got involved with many organizations. Also he continued to protest after threats of KKK. He had to see many crosses burned, but he still protested.

I like how it showed that things weren't always favorable situations. Like when the blacks marched on even when their leaders are in jail. Also when he was marching in Tennessee whites were throwing trash at him. Not just him but all the blacks were getting things thrown at them. Another problem to mention is the legal police brutality. Normally illegal, this brutality was against blacks was legal! Once again always a hardship Klu Klux Klan members threatening Martin's peace movement.

I liked the books conclusion how it said though King died he still fulfilled his dream of integration. It also summed up his most important speeches and documents like "I have a dream ...", Letter from Birmingham, and his Peace Speech. Also it says that his dream was continued by his wife who made the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change. It also explains his birthday was turned into a national holiday on Jan. 15.

The autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. edited by Clayborne Carson is an epic ended by a bullet. It has the full-life, that wasn't full, of Martin Luther King and I would recommend The autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. edited by Clayborne Carson.

Not very many great people get the chance to write their own Autobiography. I like hearing the stories directly from the man himself. I listened to the audio recording of the book which included the actual audio recordings from many of his speeches. I would recommend that to anyone. The book is well written and follows Martin Luther King, Jr on his journey of civil rights and peace. The theme of the book seemed to be non-violence. A great read for anyone who wants to learn about that movement or about why it was so successful.

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. is a must read, especially for the the youth of the 21st century. I have always appreciated the sacrfices Dr. King made to create a better America, as well as a better economical and social status for African Americans. But after reading this book I have a new respect for Dr. King. His strength through out the entire civil rights movement is without a doubt remarkable. His nonviolent strategy was truly a genious way to fight the hands of racism and evil during the times in which he lived in. He used the media to shame the racist who tried to keep all power for themselves and white America. Dr. King was a very intelligent man and I believe he had a deeper understanding of social behavior that was sharper than most.

I have read many autobiographies on extraordinary people in the world, and prior to reading this book Malcolm X's autobiograpghy was my favorite of many. But I now have to say I have two favorite books. Although Malcolm X and Dr. King had different approaches for fighting racism in America, I believe they were both effective because if nothing else they both brought media attention to the issue that was never there before. In this way they made it impossible for America to sit idlely by and do nothing.

I believe this book should be read be everyone because it truly leaves the reader with a deeper appreciation for the struggles of great leaders who shaped the core values of this country.

Martin Luther King, Jr., is without a doubt one of the most influential and pivotal figures in twentieth-century history. In addition to his work as a Civil Rights leader, his role as a father and pastor, he also was an extensively published writer. However, he never had the chance to write an autobiography in the traditional sense. We as readers in the present day and the future have lost the private details that might have been fleshed out in a proper autobiography, but this skillfully crafted work by Clayborne Carson has given us a religious and political autobiography, revealed in King's almost countless papers (published and unpublished), interviews, letters, sermons and public statements.

Carson, author and editor of many books relating to the Civil Rights struggle, edited a collection of King's speeches entitled 'A Knock at Midnight', and was selected by the King estate to put together this in conjunction with (according to Carson) dozens of staff and student workers forming part of the King Papers Project. Carson used particular methodology consistently in his reconstruction - that of relying primarily on the words of King himself (utilising early drafts of later writings to discern the difference between authorial and editorial intentions) and developing them as if this overall narrative account was constructed near the end of King's life.

King's autobiography begins at the beginning, with is childhood as a preacher's kid (who was himself a preacher's kid, who was himself a preacher's kid, etc.). King said, 'of course I was religious.... I didn't have much choice.' King explains the different strands in his life, that of being both militant and moderate, idealistic and realistic, as beginning here. Here he developed questions ('how could I love a race of people who hated me?') and some answers (he learned that racial injustice was paralleled by economic injustice, and realised that poor white people were exploited also).

King's call to ministry and call to ethical and prophetic witness in the world developed through his schooling at Morehouse College, Crozer Seminary, and Boston University, where he developed interest in theology and social philosophy that would lead him to eventually to his ideas of civil rights activitsm. This would not take practical shape, however, until he was back in the South and working at churches and participating in actual events. He describes his involvement with Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Movement as a mountaintop experience, which also led to an awakening, both in King and in the community, of the power of nonviolent action a la Mahatma Gandhi.

It is almost incomprehensible to read this autobiography and realise that in a span of barely more than a dozen years (Rosa Parks was arrested for her action in December of 1955; King was assassinated in 1968) so much of what we consider to be the central history of the Civil Rights struggle occurred. Within the pages of text, King talks about the struggles of the common people and the dealings with the powerful, from the police in Alabama jurisdictions to dealing with federal government officials and organisations.

In the midst of all of this work, King managed to remain a family man, devoted to his wife and children, and a tireless worker in the church. Carson admits to not being able to develop too much of an interior autobiography in these kinds of sections (as even in King's private papers and writings, too much remains unrecorded), but his life in this regard still comes through many aspects of his writings, sermons and speeches.

This is an incredible book, and should be read as a required part of the education of an American, as it recounts a remarkable and astonishing part of history that continues to shape the direction of the nation to this day.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The style of prose used by Dr. King is very easy to follow and flows very well. The book is also an inspiring example of how civil disobedience can change the world.

I also am glad that he did not sneeze. (If you read the book you will know the context of this statement).

The only reason that I did not give the book a 5 star rating is I thought that the editor could have added an addendum or chapter on the end of the book concerning the assassination of Dr King and how this affected the rest of the Civil Rights movement and the rest of the country as a whole.

But I would definetely recommend this book.