An Incredible Man Of God

The Autobiography Of Martin Luther King jr by Clayborne Carson is an amazing read. Clayborne Carson has taken Martin Luther King’s notes, speeches etc and turned them in to a powerful read about Martin Luther King’s life from the cradle to the grave.

Martin Luther King was a fighter. He fought using love. Gandhi influenced him to take the path of non violence. Gandhi resisted with love not hate. “An eye for an eye just succeeds in making the whole world blind.” Martin Luther King inspired thousands of Negroes to take the same path. They had a hope that there would be change. They had a love for each other and for all mankind.

Martin Luther King was the son. grandson and great grandson of a preacher. He knew God and he knew that he must not take his focus off Him. “Keep Martin Luther King in the background and God in the foreground… You are a channel of the gospel and not the source.” Wise words from Martin Luther King.

Attitudes in America needed to change. Some thought change could come through education. Others thought it should come through legislation. Martin Luther King recognised the need for both. Laws needed to be passed outlawing segregation but people needed to be educated that we are all equal. There is no such thing as separate and equal. Segregation bought degradation for the Negro. Millions of white people thought that was acceptable. Their mindset needed changing. “The ultimate tragedy of Birmingham was not the brutality of bad people, but the silence of good people.” People everywhere needed to speak out against the evils perpetrated against the Negroes. The famous quote from Hitler’s Germany was true of 1950’s America, “For evil to flourish, it just takes good men to do nothing.”

In December 1955 Rosa Parks had just had enough and refused to give up her seat on the bus. A movement was born with Martin Luther King as its spokesman. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” A people who had had enough decided “It is more honourable to walk in dignity than to ride in humiliation.”

Martin Luther King knew that violence was not the answer. Gandhi had influenced change using non violence, Martin Luther King knew the Negroes could too. They suffered violence and humiliation at the hands of some very wicked White people. “Often the path to freedom will carry you through prison.” Martin Luther King, along with thousands of others endured prison for the sake of the movement. The jails were over flowing but still the arrests continued.

Martin Luther King spoke up for the Negro. He also spoke out against Vietnam. I found this quote incredibly powerful. “Cowardice asks ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks ‘Is it politic?’ Vanity asks ‘Is it popular?’ But Conscience asks ‘Is it Right?’ ” A question we should all ask ourselves.

Martin Luther King was a powerful speaker. He had the ear of presidents but he never lost sight of the people. He stood up for and alongside the Negro. He was the instrument of change. He inspired a people to rise up and protest non violently. He was an amazing man whose speeches were thought provoking and inspiring. His ‘I have a dream’ speech is incredibly powerful. He was taken too soon.

This autobiography of Martin Luther King is a very powerful read. You get to know the man behind the speeches. He was an incredible man of God. He changed a nation. He inspired a people. He is the hero of many… some of us never knew him but still we love  and admire the man who stood by the people and changed the world for better. God bless you Martin Luther King. And God bless your family. The world is a better place because you lived.

We stand and say “Free at last, free at last, Great God Almighty, free at last.”

JULIA WILSON