H OnOring D r . M ArTin L uTHer K ing , J r .
A List of Must-Read Works About MLK
By Patricia Welch,
north Portland Library
A
t this time of year, everyone starts searching for
materials by and about Dr. Martin Luther King. Of
course, there is much from which to choose. But,
what many of your readers might not know is information
on Dr. King is available in many formats: not just print but
audio, video and digital.
All are available at your local library.
Audio – Books on tape, Cd
and downloadable audio.
Monument, available on audio cassette.
3) “April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death and
the Transformation of America”
By Michael Eric Dyson (downloadable audio)
On April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m., while he was standing on
a balcony at a Memphis hotel, Martin Luther King Jr. was
shot and fatally wounded. Only hours earlier had Dr. King
ended his final public speech by saying, “I may not get
there with you, but I want you to know tonight, that we as
a people will get to the Promised Land.” Author Michael
Eric Dyson investigates the ways in which we as a people
have made it to the Promised Land that King spoke of and
shines a bright light on the many areas that we still have a
long way to go.
1) “Parting the Waters : America in the King years,
1954-63”
By Taylor Branch.
Available in print, CD and audio cassette.
First in a 3-volume history of American race, violence,
and democracy that includes “Pillar of Fire: America in the
King Years, 1963-1965” (print and CD), and “At Canaan’s
edge: America in the King years, 1965-68.” (print and CD.)
Moving from the fiery political baptism of Martin Luther
King, Jr., to the corridors of “Camelot” where the Kennedy
brothers weighed demands for justice against the decep-
tions of J. Edgar Hoover, this book provides a portrait of
courage and conflict, the deals, maneuvers, betrayals, and
rivalries that determined history behind closed doors, at
boycotts and sit-ins, on bloody freedom rides and through
siege and murder.
4) “Eyes On the Prize, ii.: America at the Racial
Crossroads, 1965 to 1985, and Two Societies, 1965-1968
Video Recording
Blackside Inc.
Produced, directed and written by Sheila Bernard, Sam
Pollard.
In these two episodes of the classic PBS series on the
Civil Rights Movement, Dr King and the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference aid in the non-violent
struggle against segregated housing, and the Kerner
Commission concludes that America is becoming “two
societies -one Black, one white - separate and unequal.”
2) “i Have a dream” (audio cassette)
By Martin Luther King, Jr.
American Audio Prose Library,
This is the actual speech delivered at the Washington
5) “in Remembrance of Martin”
Downloadable video
PBS
Personal comments from family, friends, and advisors fill
Visual - Videos, dVds and downloadable video
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with his family.
this remarkable documentary honoring Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. Coretta Scott King joins the Rev. Ralph Abernathy,
Julian Bond, Jimmy Carter, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sen.
See BOOKS page 8
January 11, 2012 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Martin Luther King Edition Page 7