BOOK REVIEWI HAVE A DREAMMARTIN LUTHER KING, JR
...l consideration he believed that if he were to be called an extremist for love, it could only be taken as a compliment. He believed that the world was in dire need for more extremists like him. King did not want to be remembered after his death by the Nobel Peace Prize or his many other awards. He wanted people to say “...that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody. …And I want you to say that I tried to love and save humanity”. Even when his own life and the life of his family were threatened, King did not react with hatred or violence, he found more strength and courage. He told his fellow men, “I want you to love your enemies. Be good to them. Love them and let them know you love them.” Therefore, King’s love for the human race led him to focus his ministry and speeches in obedience to Jesus Christ, who loved his enemies so fully that he died for them. King’s ability to speak the truth is another value that made him such an influential leader. This ability is one reason why King was asked to be the leader of so many important protest marches and sit-ins. His mother was aware of King’s ability to speak the truth very early in his life. King’s followers believed that he would speak nothing but the truth. But, in King’s famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, he could only hope that what he had written will be seen as the truth: “If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates me having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.” King also believed that all people should be treated with equality and fairness. This became the basis for the Civil Rights Movement. This fairness is one value that allowed King’s followers to have so much respect for him. For some, he was even more than a man. He was the black Jesus to many. King’s followers felt this way about him because they had never before been treated with such fairness. He lifted them so high that they could not help but think that he was an act sent to them from God. It is obvious that King’s character was strongly influenced by his caring and compassion for all human beings, regardless of skin color. King’s ability to show how he cared for his fellow man was evident in the way he was able to strike deep into the hearts of people during his speeches. It is through his caring and inner strength that King has made himself the supreme voice of the black race. King’s persistent fight for justice was perhaps the most significant value that made him one of the most influential leaders of all time. He believed that one-day justice would prevail for blacks. This is seen in one of his most famous speeches of all time, “I Have a Dream”: “I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.” More than anything, King wanted to see justice prevail. King and many of his followers felt that real progress had been made at the signing of the 1964 and 1968 Civil Rights Acts. Blacks now had many rights that they were previously refused, they now had the right to vote, access to public accommodations, and racial discrimination was prohibited in the sale or rental of housing. With these two acts, King’s dream was one step closer to reality. King believed in his fight for justice so strongly that he described himself as follows: “If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace; I was a drum major for righteousness.” The active practice of the philosophy of non-violence is a very important moral value that shaped the character of King’s leadership. King was an advocate of non-violent means of achieving civil rights reform. Non-violence was the major driving force behind his plans of social change. King was very much aware of the power of non-violent tactics. President Kennedy gave truth to the philosophy when he reacted to the protests in Birmingham by agreeing to submit civil rights legislation to Congress. This legislation was to...