alisarae's review against another edition
5.0
I listened to the audio version, which I highly recommend, because it has original recordings of Dr. King's speeches and introductions recorded by their original writers (for the most part). We read snippets from these speeches, but of course they are much more powerful in context. Dr. King's commitment to peaceful action and love for your enemies is still so necessary to hear today. Super encouraging.
worldlibraries's review against another edition
5.0
It's obvious this man had a touch of the divine. Each sermon is on a great moral question that needed attention - on issues that haunt America to this day: racism, inequality, dignity for citizens, excessive militarism.
During our current absence of moral leadership at the presidential level, I suggest my fellow citizens substitute these addresses for our current leadership vacuum.
The optimum way to experience this set of sermons is to listen to the audio while you read along. His voice reaches right down to your soul. It's fascinating to listen to his cadence, resonance, and crescendos.
An added bonus is various civil rights leaders give great context in introductions to each speech.
This man is America at her finest.
During our current absence of moral leadership at the presidential level, I suggest my fellow citizens substitute these addresses for our current leadership vacuum.
The optimum way to experience this set of sermons is to listen to the audio while you read along. His voice reaches right down to your soul. It's fascinating to listen to his cadence, resonance, and crescendos.
An added bonus is various civil rights leaders give great context in introductions to each speech.
This man is America at her finest.
oliviastormyeadon's review against another edition
4.0
five stars for dr. king's speeches, but four stars overall for the editors. first of all...why would you add your thoughts on his speeches in there? should've been half the pages without your thoughts and opinions. and second of all...why would you keep [applause] in the book every time people applauded dr. king? no need to transcribe that. anyway, i've been to the mountaintop was my favorite.
stillanunfinishedperson's review against another edition
5.0
Read for the history, but oh so relevant to today. The struggle is real, yall, and continues.
avid_read's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
myc_w's review against another edition
5.0
A Call to Conscience is a near perfect collection of the transcripts from some of MLK’s most important and influential speeches. It functions both as a literary text and historical record (complete with audience responses and interjections). Highly recommended. I would encourage literally anyone to consider picking this up. The introductions to each speech offer insights and contextualizations that are valuable and the speeches are mostly as relevant today as they were when first spoken.
jmarryott23's review against another edition
4.0
These collections of speeches say a lot about MLK as the masterful orator he was as well as the types of messages he spread. Non-violence is a main theme of every speech he gave. He spoke at great personal risk and ultimately lost his life way too young.
FYI - I read the book like a transcript of the speeches. I can imagine the audiobook gives a totally different vibe and looking up the speeches on YouTube as a companion might be a good idea. I could have done without the frequent audience additions (“yes sir”) but minor quibble.
FYI - I read the book like a transcript of the speeches. I can imagine the audiobook gives a totally different vibe and looking up the speeches on YouTube as a companion might be a good idea. I could have done without the frequent audience additions (“yes sir”) but minor quibble.
lukenotjohn's review against another edition
4.0
Aside from "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," this is the first work from King that I've read all the way through. For reasons still beyond me (perhaps because his words already feel so etched into our national consciousness, regardless of how they go ignored), I had never thought of seeking out books written by King. In fact, even this one is only in my possession because it was a required text for a rhetoric class I signed up for and soon after dropped in college. After all but forgetting about it, I found it while looking for another book back at my mom's house over Christmas and decided it'd be the perfect start to my annual February tradition of reading books written by black authors. I was correct.
It is such a disservice to digest King only in soundbites and quotes, rather than reading his material all the way through. In fact, one of the most meaningful parts of reading this collection was that it offered an evaluation not just of his progression of thought through one piece, but the development of his thoughts and theology over time from one piece to another. You can really follow the increasing radicalism and boldness that King accelerates towards in the later speeches, particularly as he moves from focusing solely on race relations in America to critique our unjust participation in the Vietnam War and the capitalist systems set up to crush those struggling with poverty in America. There is no question that, as he became more prophetic, he became more threatening to the powers that be, ultimately leading to the tragic nature of his end.
The other thing that most struck me when reading through these speeches was the centrality of non-violence and the call to cultivate compassion and love for one's enemies. I think, rightfully so, I have been bombarded with warnings not to accept a domesticated, watered-down King that's been stripped of the heat and fire that ultimately got him killed. But, with a perception of him based largely on those notions rather than his own words, I actually found myself surprised at how frequently he does talk about those notions, and how deeply he believed in them. In so many ways, I'm left challenged and convicted by how seriously he took Jesus and the implications that that has on our engagement with those we're so inclined to "other" as our opponents and enemies. However, it's also clear when reading his words all the way through that King's not speaking of a fluffy, spineless kind of love and compassion, but one that maintains the innocence of the dove while embodying the serpent's wisdom. He articulates in a number of places the ways that nonviolent resistance and enemy love are not only the most compelling strategic choices, but also the ones that allow for the sustenance of one's integrity and moral fiber.
The only drawback to this collection of speeches for me was, well, the nature of it being a collection of speeches rather than a book in its own right. There's an inevitable level of redundancy as King repeats some of the recurring motifs, at time word for word, and I personally found the inclusion of audience responses (e.g. "Yeah", "That's right," "Well," etc.) to be distracting and clunky. The words themselves, though, especially when taken for their own right, are so consistently inspiring, galvanizing, moving, and devastatingly wise that I frequently found myself needing to re-read paragraphs three or four times just to allow the words to sink in. He was such an unbelievably incredible man and figure in history, and I'm incredibly thankful to have this newfound intimacy with his words and ideas thanks to this compilation.
It is such a disservice to digest King only in soundbites and quotes, rather than reading his material all the way through. In fact, one of the most meaningful parts of reading this collection was that it offered an evaluation not just of his progression of thought through one piece, but the development of his thoughts and theology over time from one piece to another. You can really follow the increasing radicalism and boldness that King accelerates towards in the later speeches, particularly as he moves from focusing solely on race relations in America to critique our unjust participation in the Vietnam War and the capitalist systems set up to crush those struggling with poverty in America. There is no question that, as he became more prophetic, he became more threatening to the powers that be, ultimately leading to the tragic nature of his end.
The other thing that most struck me when reading through these speeches was the centrality of non-violence and the call to cultivate compassion and love for one's enemies. I think, rightfully so, I have been bombarded with warnings not to accept a domesticated, watered-down King that's been stripped of the heat and fire that ultimately got him killed. But, with a perception of him based largely on those notions rather than his own words, I actually found myself surprised at how frequently he does talk about those notions, and how deeply he believed in them. In so many ways, I'm left challenged and convicted by how seriously he took Jesus and the implications that that has on our engagement with those we're so inclined to "other" as our opponents and enemies. However, it's also clear when reading his words all the way through that King's not speaking of a fluffy, spineless kind of love and compassion, but one that maintains the innocence of the dove while embodying the serpent's wisdom. He articulates in a number of places the ways that nonviolent resistance and enemy love are not only the most compelling strategic choices, but also the ones that allow for the sustenance of one's integrity and moral fiber.
The only drawback to this collection of speeches for me was, well, the nature of it being a collection of speeches rather than a book in its own right. There's an inevitable level of redundancy as King repeats some of the recurring motifs, at time word for word, and I personally found the inclusion of audience responses (e.g. "Yeah", "That's right," "Well," etc.) to be distracting and clunky. The words themselves, though, especially when taken for their own right, are so consistently inspiring, galvanizing, moving, and devastatingly wise that I frequently found myself needing to re-read paragraphs three or four times just to allow the words to sink in. He was such an unbelievably incredible man and figure in history, and I'm incredibly thankful to have this newfound intimacy with his words and ideas thanks to this compilation.