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Books by and about
Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Strength to Love /
The Measure of a Man /
Why We Can't Wait
A Testament of Hope /
A Knock at Midnight /
The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., 1948-1963
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community /
Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story
Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech that Transformed a
Nation
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BLACKS, UNIONS, & ORGANIZING in the South (1956-1996)
A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY
Compiled by Rudolph Lewis
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King Addresses
the AFL-CIO
Fourth
Constitutional Convention (1961)
President
Meany, distinguished platform associates, delegates of the
Fourth Constitutional Convention of the AFL-CIO, ladies and
gentlemen:
I
need not pause to say how very delighted I am to be with you
today. It is a privilege indeed to have the opportunity of
addressing such a significant gathering. I have looked forward
to being with you with great anticipation.
At
one time I thought the forces of nature wouldn't cooperate with
me enough in order to be here, for I left Los Angeles early this
morning. When I got to the airport, I discovered that the flight
that I was to take out of Los Angeles had been canceled because
of weather in Dallas and in Atlanta. But I was lucky enough to
get a flight through Chicago and certainly that was a joyous
moment when I heard that I could go another way and get here. Of
course the flight was rather bumpy all the way from Chicago to
Miami and I was very happy when we landed.
I
don't want to give you the impression that I don't have faith in
God in the air. It is just that I have more experience with him
on the ground.
But
it is a delightful privilege to be here and I want to express my
great pleasure to President Meany and the committee for
extending the invitation.
Labor's
History
Less
than a century ago the laborer had no rights, little or no
respect, and led a life which was socially submerged and barren.
He
was hired and fired by economic despots whose power over him
decreed his life or death. The children of workers had no
childhood and no future. They, too, worked for pennies and hour
and by the time they reached their teens they were worn-out old
men, devoid of spirit, devoid of hope and devoid of
self-respect. Jack London described a child worker in these
words: "He did not walk like a man. He did not look like a
man. He was a travesty of the human. It was a twisted and
stunted and nameless piece of life that shambled like a sickly
ape, arms loose-hanging, stoop-shouldered, narrow-chested,
grotesque and terrible." American industry organized misery
into sweat shops and proclaimed the right of capital to act
without restraints and without conscience.
Victor
Hugo, literary genius of that day, commented bitterly that there
was always more misery in the lower classes than there was
humanity in the upper classes. The inspiring answer to this
intolerable and dehumanizing existence was economic organization
through trade unions. The worker became determined not to wait
for charitable impulses to grow in his employer. He constructed
the means by which a fairer sharing of the fruits of his toil
had to be given to him or the wheels of industry, which he alone
turned, would halt and wealth for no one would be available.
This
revolution within industry was fought mercilessly by those who
blindly believed their right to uncontrolled profits was a law
of the universe, and that without the maintenance of the old
order catastrophe faced the nation.
History
is a great teacher. Now, every one knows that the labor movement
did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it. By
raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously
created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to
undreamed of levels of production. Those who today attack labor
forget these simple truths, but history remembers them.
Labor's
next monumental struggle emerged in the thirties when it wrote
into federal law the right freely to organize and bargain
collectively. It was now apparently emancipated. The days when
workers were jailed for organizing, and when in the English
Parliament Lord Macauley had to debate against a bill decreeing
the death penalty for anyone engaging in a strike, were grim but
almost forgotten memories. Yet, the Wagner Act, like any
other legislation, tended merely to declare rights but did not
deliver them. Labor had to bring the law to life by exercising
its rights in practice over stubborn, tenacious opposition. It
was warned to go slow, to be moderate, not to stir up strife.
But labor knew it was always the right time to do right, and it
spread its organization over the nation and achieved equality
organizationally with capital. The day of economic democracy was
born.
The
Negro & Labor
Negroes
in the United States read this history of labor and find it
mirrors their own experience. We are confronted by powerful
forces telling us to rely on the good will and understanding of
those who profit by exploiting us. They deplore our discontent,
they resent our will to organize, so that we may guarantee that
humanity will prevail and equality will be exacted. They are
shocked that action organizations, sit-ins, civil disobedience,
and protests are becoming our every day tools, just as strikes,
demonstrations and union organization became yours to insure
that bargaining power genuinely existed on both sides of the
table. We want to rely upon the goodwill of those who oppose
us.
Indeed,
we have brought forward the method of non-violence to give an
example of unilateral goodwill in an effort to evoke it in those
who have not yet felt it in their hearts. But we know that if we
are not simultaneously organizing our strength we will have no
means to move forward. If we do not advance, the crushing burden
of centuries of neglect and economic deprivation will destroy
our will, our spirits and our hopes. In this way labor's
historic tradition of moving forward to create vital people as
consumers and citizens has become our own tradition, and for the
same reasons.
This
unity of purpose is not an historical coincidence. Negroes are
almost entirely a working people. There are pitifully few Negro
millionaires and few Negro employers. Our needs are identical
with labor's needs, decent wages, fair working conditions,
livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures,
conditions in which families can grow, have education for their
children and respect in the community. That is why Negroes
support labor's demands and fight laws which curb labor. That is
why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin
headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and
anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth.
The
duality of interests of labor and Negroes makes any crisis which
lacerates you, a crisis from which we bleed. As we stand on the
threshold of the second half of the twentieth century, a crisis
confronts us both. Those who in the second half of the
nineteenth century could not tolerate organized labor have had a
rebirth of power and seek to regain the despotism of that era
while retaining the wealth and privileges of the twentieth
century. Whether it be the ultra right wing in the form of Birch
societies or the alliance which former President Eisenhower
denounced, the alliance between big military and big industry,
or the coalition of southern Dixiecrats and northern
reactionaries, whatever the form, these menaces now threaten
everything decent and fair in American life. Their target is
labor, liberals, and the Negro people, not scattered
"reds" or even Justice Warren, former Presidents
Eisenhower and Truman and President Kennedy, who are in truth
beyond the reach of their crude and vicious falsehoods.
Labor
today faces a grave crisis, perhaps the most calamitous since it
began its march from the shadows of want and insecurity. In the
next ten to twenty years automation will grind jobs into dust as
it grinds out unbelievable volumes of production. This period is
made to order for those who would seek to drive labor into
impotency by viciously attacking it at every point of weakness.
Hard core unemployment is now an ugly and unavoidable fact of
life. Like malignant cancer, it has grown year by year and
continues its spread. But automation can be used to generate an
abundance of wealth for people or an abundance of poverty for
millions as its human-like machines turn out human scrap along
with the machine scrap as a by-product of production. Our
society, with its ability to perform miracles with machinery has
the capacity to make some miracles for men--if it values men as
highly as it values machines.
To
find a great design to solve a grave problem labor will have to
intervene in the political life of the nation to chart a course
which distributes the abundance to all instead of concentrating
it among a few. The strength to carry through such a program
requires that labor know its friends and collaborate as a
friend. If all that I have said is sound, labor has no firmer
friend than the 20 million Negroes whose lives will be deeply
affected by the new patterns of production.
To
say that we are friends would be an empty platitude if we fail
to behave as friends and honestly look to weaknesses in our
relationship. Unfortunately there are weaknesses. Labor has not
adequately used its great power, its vision and resources to
advance Negro rights. Undeniably it has done more than other
forces in American society to this end. Aid from real friends in
labor has often come when the flames of struggle heighten. But
Negroes are a solid component within the labor movement and a
reliable bulwark for labor's whole program, and should expect
more from it exactly as a member of a family expects more from
his relatives than he expects from his neighbors.
Impatience
with Injustice
Labor,
which made impatience for long-delayed justice for itself a
vital motive force, cannot lack understanding of the Negro's
impatience. It cannot speak with the reactionaries calm
indifference, of progress around some obscure corner not yet
possible even to see. There is a maxim in the law -- justice too
long delayed is justice denied. When a Negro leader who has a
reputation of purity and honesty which has benefited the whole
labor movement criticizes it, his motives should not be reviled
nor his earnestness rebuked. Instead, the possibility that he is
revealing a weakness in the labor movement which it can ill
afford, should receive a thoughtful examination. A man who had
dedicated his long and faultless life to the labor movement
cannot be raising questions harmful to it any more than a
lifelong devoted parent can become the enemy of his child.
The
report of a committee may smother with legal constructions a
list of complaints and dispose of it for the day. But if it
buries a far larger truth it has disposed of nothing and made
justice more elusive. Discrimination does exist in the labor
movement. It is true that organized labor has taken significant
steps to remove the yoke of discrimination from its own body.
But in spite of this, some unions, governed by the racist ethos,
have contributed to the degraded economic status of the Negro.
Negroes have been barred from membership in certain unions, and
denied apprenticeship training and vocational education. In
every section of the country one can find local unions existing
as a serious and vicious obstacle when the Negro seeks jobs or
upgrading in employment. Labor must honestly admit these
shameful conditions, and design the battle plan which will
defeat and eliminate them. In this way, labor would be
unearthing the big truth and utilizing its strength against the
bleakness of injustice in the spirit of its finest traditions.
Cementing
Fraternal Bonds
How
can labor rise to the heights of its potential statesmanship and
cement its bonds with Negroes to their mutual advantage?
First:
labor should accept the logic of its special position with
respect to Negroes and the struggle for equality. Although
organized labor has taken actions to eliminate discrimination in
its ranks, the standard for the general community, your conduct
should and can set an example for others, as you have done in
other crusades for social justice. You should root out
vigorously every manifestation of discrimination so that some
internationals, central labor bodies or locals may not besmirch
the positive accomplishments of labor. I am aware this is not
easy nor popular--but the 8 hour day was not popular nor easy to
achieve. Nor was outlawing anti-labor injunctions. But you
accomplished all of these with a massive will and determination.
Out of such struggle for democratic rights you won both economic
gains and the respect of the country, and you will win both
again if you make Negro rights a great crusade.
Second:
The political strength you are going to need to prevent
automation from becoming a Moloch, consuming jobs and contract
gains, can be multiplied if you tap the vast reservoir of Negro
political power. Negroes given the vote, will vote liberal and
labor because they need the same liberal legislation labor
needs. To give just an example of the importance of the Negro
vote to labor, I might sight the arresting fact that the only
state in the South which repealed the "right to work"
law is Louisiana. This was achieved because the Negro vote in
that state grew large enough to wipe out anti-labor legislation.
Thus, support to assist us in securing the vote can make the
difference between success and defeat for us both. You have
organizing experience we need and you have an apparatus
unparalleled in the nation.
You
recognized five years ago a moral opportunity and responsibility
when several of your leaders, including Mr. Meany, Mr. Dubinsky,
Mr. Reuther and Mr. MacDonald and others, projected a
two-million dollar campaign to assist the struggling Negroes
fighting bitterly in handicapped circumstances in the South. A
$10,000 contribution was voted by the ILGWU to begin the drive,
but for reasons unknown to me, the drive was never begun. The
cost to us in lack of resources during these turbulent, violent
years, is hard to describe. We are mindful that many millions
thought of as immorally rich, in truth have problems in meeting
the budget to properly service their members. So we do not ask
that you tax your treasuries. Instead, we ask that you appeal to
your members for one dollar apiece to make democracy real for
millions of deprived American citizens. For this you have the
experience, the organization and most of all, the understanding.
If
you would do these two things now in this convention -- resolve
to deal effectively with discrimination and provide financial
aid for our struggle in the South, -- this convention will have
a glorious moral deed to add to an illustrious history.
The
two most dynamic and cohesive liberal forces in the country are
the labor movement and the Negro freedom movement. Together we
can be architects of democracy in a South now rapidly
industrializing. Together we can re-tool the political structure
of the South, sending to Congress steadfast liberals who,
joining with those from Northern industrial states, will extend
the frontiers of democracy for the whole nation. Together we can
bring about the day when there will be no separate
identification of Negroes and labor. There is no intrinsic
difference as I have tried to demonstrate. Differences have been
contrived by outsiders who seek to impose disunity by dividing
brothers because the color of their skin has a different shade.
I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a
living will be one with no thought to their separateness as
Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions.
Realizing
the American Dream
This
will be the day when we shall bring into full realization the
American dream -- a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality
of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a
dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the
many to give luxuries to the few, a dream of a land where men
will not argue that the color of a man's skin determined the
context of his character; a dream of a nation where all our
gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone but as
instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a
country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of
human personality -- that is the dream.
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And
as we struggle to make racial and economic justice a
reality, let us maintain faith in the future. We will
confront difficulties and frustrating moments in the
struggle to make justice a reality, but we must believe
somehow that these problems can be solved.
There
is a little song that we sing in the movement taking
place in the South. It goes something like this.
"We shall overcome. We shall overcome. Deep in my
heart I do believe we shall overcome." And somehow
all over America we must believe that we shall overcome
and that these problems can be solved. They will be
solved before the victory is won.
Some
of us will have to get scarred up, but we shall
overcome. Before the victory of justice is a reality,
some may even face physical death. |
But if a physical death is the price that some must pay to free
their children and their brothers from a permanent life of
psychological death, then nothing could be more moral. Before
the victory is won some more will have to go to jail. We must be
willing to go to jail and transform the jails from dungeons of
shame to havens of freedom and human dignity. Yes, before the
victory is won, some will be misunderstood. Some will be called
Reds and Communists merely because they believe in economic
justice and the brotherhood of man. But we shall overcome.
I
am convinced that we shall overcome because the arc of the
universe is long but it bends toward justice. We shall overcome
because Carlisle is right when he says, "No lie can live
forever." We shall overcome because William Cullen Bryant
is right when he says, "Truth crushed to earth will rise
again." We shall overcome because James Russell Lowell was
right when he proclaimed: "Truth forever on the scaffold,
wrong forever on the throne, yet the scaffold sways the
future."
And
so if we will go out with this faith and with this determination
to solve these problems, we will bring into being that new day
and that new America.
When that day comes, the fears of insecurity and the doubts
clouding our future will be transformed into radiant confidence,
into glowing excitement to reach creative goals and into an
abiding moral balance where the brotherhood of man will be
undergirded by a secure and expanding prosperity for all.
Yes,
this will be the day when all God's children, black men and
white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics will be
able to join hands all over the nation and sing in the words of
that old Negro spiritual: "Free at Last, Free at Last. Than
God Almighty We Are Free at Last."
Thank you.
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Behind the Dream
The Making of the Speech that Transformed a
Nation
By
Clarence B. Jones and Stuart Connelly
“I
Have a Dream.”
When those words were spoken on the steps of
the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, the
crowd stood, electrified, as Martin Luther
King, Jr. brought the plight of African
Americans to the public consciousness and
firmly established himself as one of the
greatest orators of all time.
Behind the Dream is a thrilling,
behind-the-scenes account of the weeks
leading up to the great event, as told by
Clarence Jones, co-writer of the speech and
close confidant to King. Jones was there, on
the road, collaborating with the great minds
of the time, and hammering out the ideas and
the speech that would shape the civil rights
movement and inspire Americans for years to
come.— Palgrave Macmillan |
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Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech that
Transformed a Nation is a smart, insightful,
enjoyable read about a momentous event in history. It is
the "story behind the story" straight from Clarence
Jones, the attorney, speechwriter, and close friend of
Martin Luther King, Jr. As I read the words on the page,
I felt as if I were having an intimate conversation with
the author. The book helped me to understand the
humanity of Dr. King and the other organizers of the
March on Washington. They were people who saw injustice
and called for change. Despite FBI wiretaps and other
adversity, together they undertook an enormous
logistical effort in hopes that the March would be a
success. Jones himself handwrote the first draft of the
renowned “I Have a Dream”
speech on a yellow legal pad, but it wasn't until King
was inspired to veer from the text that he struck a
chord with the audience, delivering the right words at
the right time. The “I Have a Dream” speech helped to
elevate King from a man to a hero; this book is a
reminder to all to make sure that his Dream lives on.—amazon
customer
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Malcolm X
A Life of Reinvention
By
Manning Marable
Years
in the making-the definitive biography of
the legendary black activist.
Of the great figure in twentieth-century
American history perhaps none is more
complex and controversial than Malcolm X.
Constantly rewriting his own story, he
became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and
an icon, all before being felled by
assassins' bullets at age thirty-nine.
Through his tireless work and countless
speeches he empowered hundreds of thousands
of black Americans to create better lives
and stronger communities while establishing
the template for the self-actualized,
independent African American man. In death
he became a broad symbol of both resistance
and reconciliation for millions around the
world. |
Manning Marable's
new biography of Malcolm is a stunning achievement.
Filled with new information and shocking revelations
that go beyond the Autobiography, Malcolm X unfolds a
sweeping story of race and class in America, from the
rise of Marcus Garvey and the Ku Klux Klan to the
struggles of the civil rights movement in the fifties
and sixties.
Reaching into
Malcolm's troubled youth, it traces a path from his
parents' activism through his own engagement with the
Nation of Islam, charting his astronomical rise in the
world of Black Nationalism and culminating in the
never-before-told true story of his assassination.
Malcolm X will stand as the definitive work on one of
the most singular forces for social change, capturing
with revelatory clarity a man who constantly strove, in
the great American tradition, to remake himself anew.
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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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Negro Digest /
Black World
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
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The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
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January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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update
13 January 2012
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