A review by _chelseawrites
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., by Martin Luther King Jr.

5.0

Phew. This book is long and in-depth, but so, so worth it. It does such a good job of explaining the intellectual and spiritual underpinnings of King's beliefs and actions. I think King often gets mythologized in our culture - and I get it. He did incredible work and had so much talent. I think also we like to put people who make change on a pedestal - we like to think that they're somehow special, gifted, different from us. Sure, Martin Luther King can do that, but we never could. It lets us off the hook to make King into something more than just a man. But reading this book...you can't ignore that he was only human. A super talented, determined, and brave human, absolutely. But reading about how he was scared for his family and his congregation, how he wrestled with decisions like where to accept a job after grad school, how he had to choose over and over again to fight for civil rights - you realize that he wasn't given some superhuman powers. He was a man who knew what he believed in, and decided it was worth risking everything for. Wow. It's inspirational, but also a bit of a gut punch. As a white woman, am I undoing King's work in anyway? Or devaluing it through my actions? How can I be an ally and continue to fight for racial justice, fifty years after King's death?

Anyways. This has become less of a book review and more of a reflection. But that's why this book is good - King was a fantastic writer and the editing of this book is well done. It makes you examine yourself and your life.