Let the Trumpet Sound - A life of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Stephen B. Oates

Summary

The introductory part of this book gives a clear view about Martin Luther King, Jr. and his ruling style. According to Oates, the most recognizable name associated with the civil-rights movement is that of Martin Luther King, Jr. Black (and most white) children know the name, if not much about the man; their parents even remember seeing him on television, hearing his powerful speeches, and reacting, either positively or negatively, to his actions. (Oates, 5-16)

Not only did he achieve national fame, but he also acquired international acclaim through his winning of the Nobel Peace Prize. His assassination, grouped with those of John and Robert Kennedy, marked one of the lowest points in American history. He was, above all, controversial. Yet beyond these simple outlines, how much does the general reader actually know about this most public of public figures? Was he a saint, or just another fallible citizen who temporarily caught the public's imagination and won over the mass media? Moreover, did he shape the emerging civil-rights movement, or was he shaped by it, was he simply an articulate spokesman for a cause whose time had come?

Stephen B. Oates's biography of King, the fullest to date, attempts to answer these and many other questions. Oates has long been at work on plumbing the lives of America's outstanding civil-rights leaders, including Nat Turner, John Brown, and Abraham Lincoln; the current biography is the fourth book in what he calls his “Civil War Quartet.” For Oates, the Civil War is still in progress, for it was a war to guarantee civil rights for all, and until that is accomplished, the war is not over. In Oates's view, King “did more than any other leader in his generation to help make emancipation a political and social fact in the racially troubled South.” Although Oates strongly admires the man and his accomplishments, he also understands that he was not perfect, and so his biography of King is a study of both the inner and the outer man—a man who made mistakes, both public and private, and who was deeply troubled about his life. That he was flawed does not lessen his greatness.

Martin Luther King, Jr., was born on January 15, 1929, the son of Alberta and Martin Luther (“Daddy”) King, the minister of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Reared in comfortable circumstances, King had a good education, not only in academic matters, but also in how segregation worked. He learned from his family to hate the situation. He entered Morehouse College at the age of fifteen, was graduated four years later, and, already an assistant pastor in his father's church, entered Crozer Seminary in Pennsylvania. A serious scholar, well read in theology, philosophy, and politics, he next began work on a doctorate at Boston University, intending eventually to teach. Believing that some practical experience was necessary, he decided to become the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in ...