V. P. Franklin, Biography: Martin Luther King, Jr.
(New York, 1998), ii, 186.
Author
V.P. Franklin is professor of history at Drexel University. He received his Ph.D. from the
University of Chicago, and has taught United States and African-American history at Yale University,
Arizona State, and the University of Illinois, and as a Fulbright professor at the Universidad de Barcelona
and the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona in Spain. Dr. Franklin is the co-editor of New Perspectives
on Black Educational History (1978), and the author of The Education of Black Philadelphia (1979), Black
Self-Determination: A Cultural History of African-American Resistance (1992), and numerous essays on
African-American history and education. His most recent book is Living Our Stories, Telling Our Truths:
Autobiography and the Making of the African-American Intellectual Tradition (1996).i Although Franklin
did not participate in any of the events partaken in this book, to my knowledge, I do believe he is well
qualified to summarize the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Subject, Aim, and Scope of the Book
The general subject of this book is to inform the reader of the life and struggles of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. This includes major events in his life, events that transpired during the Civil Rights
Movement, and the events that led up to the creation of his legacy. This book guides the reader through his
birth on January 15, 1929, to his cold-blooded assassination on April 4, 1968.
Special Nature
This literary selection is a series of Biography books, which includes novels of Muhammad Ali,
Al Capone, Katharine Hepburn, Mickey Mantle, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Pope John Paul II, and
Ronald Reagan.
Content (Chapter by Chapter)
Born to Mike and Alberta King on January 15, 1929, he was one of three King children. He
began his schooling in the fall of 1933 at the Yonge Street Elementary School, but was quickly expelled
due to an age limit. In September 1936, he transferred to another school, where he stayed until grade six.
He began excelling in academics, and was entered in Booker T. Washington High School in 1942, his 10th
grade year. His home life was deeply rooted in religion. When his grandmother passed away in 1941, he
committed suicide for the second time. King Jr. wrote about his first encounter with legal segregation
(the "race problem"), which led to a thorough explanation by his mother of slavery. In his junior year, he
was selected to represent Booker T. Washington High School in Valdosta, GA at the statewide Elks
oratorical contest; he won 2nd place with his speech, "The Negro and the Constitution"; this was marred by
an ugly racial incident involving white students on the bus. He was offered admission to Morehouse
College in September 1944, and during the next two summers, he and a group of Morehouse students
worked on a tobacco farm in Simsbury, Connecticut. At Morehouse, he made lots of friends, most notably
George D. Kelsey, head of the Department of Religion - this relationship resulted in King Jr. becoming a
minister; his first trial sermon was at Ebenezer Baptist Church , and he was accepted into Crozer
Theological Seminary in April 1948. During his stay at Crozer, he met a young woman and fell in love;
unfortunately, the girl's parents sent her off away from King Jr., which ended up being a good thing. In
1951, King Jr. was accepted into the Ph.D. program in Systematic Theology at Boston University.
While at the School of Theology,. he would meet Coretta Scott, his future wife; they are married
on June 18, 1953 in Marion, Alabama. In April 1954, he accepts a pastorate position at the Dexter Avenue
Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. 1955 would prove to be a busy year for Martin Luther King, Jr.
he receives his Doctorate degree from Boston University on June 5, joins the NAACP (National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Montgomery branch's executive committee in
August, and a daughter, Yolanda Denise, is born on November 17. It is also during this time period
when we see the emergence of a prominent African-American figure show up - Rosa Parks.
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white
passenger; this action resulted in a citywide boycott of the Montgomery city bus system. In January 1956,
King Jr. was arrested for going five miles over the speed limit, fined, and released. He was met with
threats of violence upon his release, and on January 30, his home was bombed. He was arrested for taking
part in the bus boycott, which King, Jr. gladly accepted - he was "proud to be arrested for the cause of
freedom." After his release, the Alabama bus segregation case went to trial, and after Browder v. Gayle
went before a three-judge panel, it was ruled, by a margin of 2-1, that the segregation law was
unconstitutional. Due to this, whites in powerful positions began to halt the bus boycott; the Ku Klux Klan
also got involved, marching through black neighborhoods as a result. More bombings in Montgomery took
place on the night of January 9, 1957, including three churches. Despite all this, a gathering of 60 people
congregated at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and sounded the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership
Conference) in Atlanta in August 1957; King Jr. was elected chairman. In July, King Jr. was the recipient
of the NAACP's highest award, the Springarn Award, due to his contributions of race relations. As the
Civil Rights Act of 1957 was passed, the SCLC made an effort to get the African-American race to go vote
in free elections and to encourage the formation of local-voter registration committees. On October 29, he
was blessed with the birth of a son, named Martin Luther King III. During a signing of his book Stride
Toward Freedom, he was stabbed by Isola Curry, a mentally unstable woman; by staying calm, King Jr.
suffered no fatal injuries. On November 29, 1959, King Jr. announces that he would be leaving Dexter
Avenue Church to serve as co-pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. More civil rights sit-ins
occurred, particualrly one in Greensboro, North Carolina, but students at North Carolina A&T College a
the local Woolworth's Department Store - King Jr. gave his moral support. At another sit-in on October 19,
1960, King Jr. was jailed.
Early in 1960, King Jr. was stopped for having no license in the state of Georgia; while in jail, it
was discovered that he had violated parole - he is released on $2,000 bond on October 28. On January 3,
1961, his second son, Dexter, is born. In May 1961, King Jr. and James Farmer started launching 'Freedom
Riders' throughout the South - they were met with white mobs, thus beginning the "Battle of Montgomery".
On April 3, 1963, King Jr. issued the "Birmingham Manifesto", calling for the desegregation of all places
within department and variety stores, which resulted in massive sit-ins. King Jr. staged a march on Good
Friday on Birmingham's City Hall, which he was jailed for. He wrote his "Letter From a Birmingham
Jail", which vindicated the non-violence approach he was taking.
On August 28, 1963, he gave his now famous "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C. - as a
result, he was honored as Time Magazine's Man of the Year. In June 1964 King's latest book, Why Can't
We Wait, was published; it showed his perspective on the Birmingham campaign. In September 1964, he
and Coretta took a trip to Europe, visiting such places as West Berlin, Rome, London, and Madrid. On
December 10, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.
King received a package containing a crudely written letter and a tape, containing threats and
sounds of love making - they concluded that it had to be the work of the FBI, and that indeed they had
been tapping his phone. King led marchers in Selma, Alabama - King decided to go to Jail to promote
national interest in the rally on February 1. While incarcerated, King wrote his "Letter From a Selma,
Alabama Jail", which was published in the New York Times on February 5. He made it clear that even
though the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had passed, much more was still needed to be done. An arrest of an
SCLC member led to a mass rally at a nearby church - an attack by the local police and state troopers
ensued, which led to King calling for a "Motorcade to Montgomery"; despite numerous warnings to halt the
proceedings, the march was a success. After previous travels into the Northern states, it was concluded that
the same problems afflicted the North as well as the South. On Friday, July 23, King went to Chicago for
a marathon of speaking arrangements, rallies, and meetings; his visit was a huge success to African
American causes in the North.
By the end of March 1967, he had made the decision to speak out against the Vietnam War and on
April 4 he addressed a large audience at New York City's Riverside Church, calling for an end to the war.
His speech went unheralded, as almost everyone opposed it. His final book, Where Do We Go From Here?
Chaos of Community, was written; it emphasized his belief that "it is morally right to insist that every
person has a decent house, and adequate education and enough money to provide basic necessities for one's
family." In March 1968, King had planned to give a speech in Memphis and promised to lead a march to
support the city's sanitation workers. On Thursday, April 4, 1968 - four days before the march was to occur
several shots rang out and hit King while he was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel; King had
been assassinated. King's funeral took place on April 9 at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta; an
estimated 80,000 people attended the ceremonies, including Thurgood Marshall, Robert and Jacqueline
Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, and Richard Nixon. On the day of King's burial, a House committee agreed to
the Senate's version of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, outlawing discriminatory practices that prevented
African Americans and other minorities from obtaining housing in neighborhoods of their own choosing.
Thesis
Franklin's treatment reveals the public and the personal lives behind the man. Martin Luther
King, Jr., dedicated his life to the cause of racial and economic justice and sought the creation of the
Beloved Community. His message and vision for American society, given its long history of slavery,
oppression, racism, and economic inequality, provides essential information for present and future
generations who understand the need "to redeem the soul of America."ii This thesis is thoroughly presented
in major events and times of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sources
The author has used many books to base his findings upon, by such authors as Martin Luther
King, Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King. The author also used
documentation from the historical events themselves.
Opinion and Bias
I thought this book was interesting, mostly because I did not know much about Martin Luther
King, Jr. to begin with. I had no idea the harassment and struggles he went through just to express his point
and he fought in such a way that proved what he believed in was right - he did what he did in a nonviolent
manner. The African-American community had indeed been through many hardships - I believe King had
a mission to change the way African Americans were treated - as free, equal men.
Conclusion
V. P. Franklin, the distinguished historian, gives us possibly the most succinct profile of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., to date. Concise, factually rich, and incisive, Martin Luther King Jr. reveals the
roots of King's dream for the future of race relations in America.iii I believe that this book is very
informative. It gave many instances of civil rights violations, and the struggles that the African American
community went through just to live as free, equal citizens. Dr. King personified this culture, as he was
jailed numerous times for expressing his opinion. Although I cannot give a conclusion one way or the
other, I attribute this to not being directly affected by this movement. I do, however, have a greater
understanding of what Dr. King wanted to do - fight for something he believed in, and to succeed in an
equal, free chance for all African Americans. Therefore, I consider this book a must read for anyone who
does not understand anything that occurred during the Civil Rights Movement, or is not informed of Martin
Luther King, Jr. himself.
i Page 186, Martin Luther King, Jr.
ii Page 168, Martin Luther king, Jr.
iii Front Cover, Martin Luther King, Jr.
