Edited by Claiborne Carson

There is a lot about Martin Luther King, Jr. I didn’t know.

From the early days of my life, I knew he had some sort of significance in the lives of the American people—and even the world, but I didn’t really know why.

I mean, his birthday is a holiday.

It is also the same day as my sister’s birthday.

Beyond that, I always knew that there was something interesting about this man that intrigued me. I could envision him giving these amazing speeches and moving thousands of people to stand for the rights of the African American, and changing culture. My own synopsis of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life would be insufficient.

That’s why there’s a book. 

I found myself a number of years ago truly asking the question, what was really happening in the 50’s and 60’s. You see, I wasn’t alive, and so I’m subject to the stories and lives of those who lived at that time to help me understand. My parents were born in the last 50’s and so were in their early teens at the end of the 60’s. Even their stories would be different through the lens of child than those of an adult. 

But to read through the lens of a man wrestling with the policies and culture of the day, striving to do what was right for African Americans, standing in the face of atrocious racism, engrained in the lives of America, leaving a scar—I knew I could learn and catch a glimpse of a time so far beyond my understanding.

And this compilation did not disappoint. 

Reading a biography, and especially an autobiography, you get a glimpse into the thoughts and life of the men and women who write it. It’s like having a coffee with this person and listening to their thoughts. It’s a coffee conversation you can’t interrupt with your own perspectives, you get to listen and hear and learn.

I never would be able to have coffee with Martin Luther King, Jr. But over the last two weeks I was able to drink in his thoughts and actions that caused me to laugh, cry, ask questions, celebrate, and challenge my own thoughts and actions. I was inspired, convicted, and informed. Like meeting with a mentor.

I knew last year I wanted to read this book, but I never invested in the process to get the book. You know, go to Amazon, click, buy. It’s a simple step that for whatever reason I never took. And now, I’m so glad I did. I’ve learned so much more about the man and the group of people he led and worked with—who he stood beside and challenged during those tumultuous years.

And if you’ve got questions about this man, about his life, about that season in American history. You’d enjoy it as well.

“Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” -Winston Churchill, (paraphrasing writer and philosopher George Santayana)