MLK Autobiography

For a rare treat, here's an entire post about just one book that I've read recently: The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. You may recall that three years ago, I tried to read a biography of Dr. King, and it didn't go so well. But despite how terrible that other book was, I still wanted to read more about Dr. King, so this was attempt number 2.

As is fairly obvious, this was written by Dr. King (autobiography, duh!) but kinda-sorta not, too. Dr. King never sat down to write an autobiography, so this is more of a collection of his writings that have been compiled to tell his life story. This has both positive and negative effects. On the one hand, there's no author to get annoyed by beyond Dr. King himself, and you get everything from the horses mouth, so to speak. On the other hand, there's no outside analysis of anything going on. No real discussion of greater impacts of his work, no dissenting opinion, and no real closure at the end, obviously. For me, this wasn't too important though.

This was very interesting to read, particularly in the current political climate, and made me think about some of the differences between his work, and what is going on today.

First off, Dr. King was a staunch believer in non-violence. No, that doesn't go far enough. He believed in non-violence not just as the best means to an end for civil rights, but as a moral imperative. He preached constantly that no amount of provocation warranted retaliation - and he remained steadfast in this conviction even as he was insulted, jailed, defamed and has his home repeatedly bombed. He refused to work with other groups that would not agree to his non-violent methods.

Second, the civil rights actions lead by Dr. King had a goal and had a plan. These days there seems to be a march every week or two. A women's march, a march for science or global warming, or something else. And then, having marched . . . . who knows? The famous Montgomery bus boycott spurred by the arrest of Rosa Parks went on for 380 days before their demands were met. For more than a year, people walked, biked and carpooled rather than be further subjected to racism. They didn't have a "March for Civil Rights," they had a focused boycott of a single industry with specific goals and they refused to give up until they achieved those. Other campaigns were focused on voter registration laws, or housing in Chicago.

Finally, it was impossible to read the book without thinking about thinking about what I would have done in that era. He was always quick to point out the many whites that participated in their actions, but was also fearless in calling out those who stood by and did nothing. Millions of people were being systematically kept from voting, from employment, from education, from housing and they were often told that they shouldn't be expecting so much change so fast. They were told that they should be more patient. What would I have done if I were there?