On January 15, when we celebrate the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.— this year on his actual birthday — we will undoubtedly also recall that it has been 50 years since his death.
He was killed on April 4, 1968. Nearly everyone who was alive then remembers where and how he or she heard the news. (I was listening to the radio in our kitchen near Charleston, W.Va., while my brother was at a Temptations concert in town.)
If King were alive today, he would probably rejoice at the progress made in civil rights, not just for African Americans, but also for other racial and ethnic groups, for women, the disabled and LGBTQ citizens. He would probably also be saddened by the persistent -isms in many corners of society. On the heels of the passing of the new tax bill benefitting corporate America, he would probably be heading up the same kind of occupation of Washington, D.C., that he envisioned for the Poor People’s Campaign he was planning when he died. To honor his legacy, we can reflect on the contributions he and others made on behalf of freedom and justice.
DiverseBooks.net offers discount prices on a variety of titles to enhance your knowledge of these topics and to provide resources for course work. Here are some selections from our publishers (previously reviewed on this site):
The Civil Rights Movement in America, edited by Charles W. Eagles, $22.50 (List Price: $25), University of Mississippi Press, ISBN: 9780878052981, pp. 144.
This is a collection of papers by scholars analyzing the Civil Rights Movement, including its reason for being, its leaders, tactics, successes and failures. An assessment from another scholar follows each paper. With 120 color photographs, this is a limited, signed, hand-numbered edition in a clamshell box.
http://diversebooks.net/the-civil-rights-movement-in-america.html
The Unfinished Agenda of the Selma-Montgomery Voting Rights March, edited by William E. Cox, $13. 24, (List price: $24.95), Wiley, February 2005, ISBN: 9780471710370. pp. 240.
Published in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Selma-Montgomery march that changed the history of voting in the United States, this is a collection of original essays and narratives reflecting on the progress and lack thereof in civil rights since 1965. Contributors include: Joseph E. Lowery, John Lewis, Clayborne Carson, Andrew Young, Bill Clinton, Lani Guinier, Ella Baker, Theodore M. Shaw, Manning Marable and many others.
http://diversebooks.net/the-unfinished-agenda-of-the-selma-montgomery-voting-rights-march.html
