Martin Luther King, Jr – man, prophet, revolutionary

In honor of our upcoming MLK Day event, I have checked out from the library several books on and by the man himself.  Currently I am reading Martin Luther King, Jr.: Spirit-Led Prophet, A Biography, by Richard Deats.  The point of the book is to look at and learn about Dr King as a Christian leader – not just an amazing man who has moved millions with his speech “I Have a Dream.”  I’m about half-way through this short book, and I’m a little ashamed to say that I have learned tons.

What has impacted me most is the realization of how little I knew about and understood the nonviolent civil rights movement – basically headed by King.  Sure, I learned that events happend, like the Montgomery bus boycott, the Sit-Ins, and the Freedom Rides.  Sure, I knew that they were demonstrations of nonviolence.  Sure, I knew that racism used to be even more prevalent, and that it used to have many, many more occasions of disgusting violence and abuse… But I didn’t really know.

When the buses in Montgomery were finally integrated, there was violence against the blacks on the bus on the very first day.

Regarding the sit-ins, Jameson Jones wrote this:
“When called names, they keep quiet.  When hit, they do not strike back.  Even when hostile white youth pull hair and snuff out burning cigarettes on the backs of Negro girls, the girls do not retaliate.  They pray and take what comes, with dignity.”
(in motive, a campus magazine, as quoted in Deats’ book)

Burned with cigarettes?? I merely got cut off in traffic today, and I was ready to hit someone.

Reading this book has made me realize that I don’t truly understood the great difficulties that King not only faced – he stood up against them!  He not only learned about nonviolence – he taught other people to believe in it, too!  The struggles of this man and his community don’t quite fit into my nice little understanding of the world.  Which means that I am being stretched, taught, challenged, and thus growing – in my understanding of reality, of Christ’s love, of the people of the faith.

I am growing full with such a great awe and respect for this man among mans… and the fact that he found such comfort and inspiration in God and his religion.  Dr King took many great risks in his life, but he did it because of the motivation he got from knowing and loving Christ.  Dr King was a true revolutionary – his own church even stood against him, even though he knew what he was doing was right.

So, now I am looking forward to finishing this book, and also to move on to reading other texts written by King.  I am also getting more and more excited about the event in January!