Stupendous!
Tavis Smiley's Death Of A King brings one of the heavyweights of the Civil Rights movement back to life. The man, Martin Luther King, proved himself a hero over and over again. This book takes us into the heart of a movement and a man. Often there is a focus on his To Have A Dream speech which can still move the heart to cry out for the civil rights of mankind. However, there is more to know. He faced
great obstacles from all sides. Many times it seemed as though the movement would fall apart or give away to the violence hawked by the militants of the sixties. Still, Martin Luther King held to his values while chasing away depression, nervous exhaustion and sometimes fear. Mr. Tavis Smiley introduces us to a man who continued standing through the worst of times. He continued fighting for nonviolence while men were dying in Vietnam. He never gave up. "We shall overcome" always remained his motto. While he faced persecution, he spoke of poverty and unequal rights to a wider range of people: The Latino, The Native American and the people in Appalachia. He left no race outside of the walls of justice.
Death Of A King is about needing to breakdown. Instead, Martin Luther King stood up. At thirty-nine years old, he was assassinated. Led like a Lamb to the slaughter, he spoke positively of death a few times before that dreadful night when an assassin blew his life away. Thank God, throughout that day he had been happy. He fought a playful pillow fight with with Rev. Ralph Abernathy. Ate a fine soul food dinner at a colleague's home. Toward the end of the day, he asked a saxophonist to play
Precious Lord, Take My Hand at the evening meeting. Martin Luther King said, "
Play it real pretty." Then, it happened.
Ironically, Rev. Martin Luther King's philosophy of life lives on beyond the grave. There is never a reason for violence. Injustice must never be ignored. In the end, these words of Martin Luther King are very special.
"I'd rather be dead than afraid."tavistalks
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