Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA succinct eighty-one-page reminder that Americans currently experience collective amnesia when it comes to Martin Luther King Jr.
* H-Net *
Yanco's important book is a reminder that when we raise a transformative figure to a pedestal, we mustn't overlook their most challenging beliefs, even (or especially) if those beliefs force us to realize how far we still have to go.
* Biographile *
Dr. King is one of the most celebrated great leaders the world has ever known. In his short life, he rose to become the main icon in the fight for justice, equality and non-violence. Yet, many of us, especially the younger generations, do not know who he was or what he really stood for. In this well written and evidence-based book, Jennifer Yanco takes us through the life and legacy of Dr. King. The book is a clear and eloquent analysis of Dr. King's work. It brings back the truth about Dr. King's messages and compels us to seriously consider how we should go forward. It sets off by reminding us of what we collectively now remember. Then what is forgotten, chiefly Dr. King's Warning about the 'Giant Triplets' - militarism, materialism, and racism. To close, she discusses why all of this matters and why we are all challenged to decide and work on 'where do we go from here: chaos or community'. This comes at a crucial time when fallacies, biased records and information, disseminated via traditional and social media, dominate. History is distorted and the future towards a 'Beloved community' made more and more hopeless. Despite changes in the US administration like the election and two terms of President Obama, we still live in a world where hopes are repeatedly shattered. The challenge then is whether to become jaded and totally give in or are we '... willing to reclaim the memory of Dr. King as fierce advocate for justice who spoke truth to power and had the courage to resist the lure of easy violence...' In the words of Vincent Harding, will we really see King?
Table of ContentsPreface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Memory and Forgetting
The Misappropriation of Memory
1. What We Remember
Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement
Dr. King and Nonviolence
2. What We Forget: Dr. King's Warning about the "Giant Triplets"
Militarism
Materialism
Racism
3. Why It Matters
Whose Problem? White America's Special Responsibility
A Challenge for All of Us
Notes
