I was a little girl when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., assassinated, April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN. Most of the pictures I remember of him alive involved the marches he led as well as the those of him in a jail cell. Thinking back on the day of he was murdered, I can still recall sketchy black and white images of the television broadcasts and my mother's tearful response to the news of Dr. King's death. I also remember the stories of the fires and looting that took place around the country and being fearful for the safety of my mother who taught in a dangerous part of the city and also my teacher, a woman who happened to be very fair-skinned. We were afraid that someone might mistake her for a white woman and harm her. It's amazing the thoughts that go through a child's mind and what does or does not stay with us throughout our lives.
This month I have the wonderful opportunity to travel to a different city each week with The Teach Personal Freedom Tour to share the life and words of one of our greatest freedom fighter, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Each week, young people and their parents, many of whom weren't even born when Dr. King died, will have a chance to learn more about this great man who walked on this earth for such a short time. One of the sources used for the program will be "What Manner of Man" by the great Lerone Bennett, Jr. I remember "What Manner of Man" affecting me when I read it the first time during a college course, but today with all that is going on in our world, it has even greater impact. It provides the color and fullness of life that those sketchy black and white images lacked.
First published in 1976, Mr. Bennett writes like the great historian he is, but with the soul of a poet, giving the reader the fullest picture of Dr. King from his first breath of life to his last. As a fellow Morehouse alum and a journalist in Atlanta, Mr. Bennett knew Dr. King, but never loses his objectivity in bringing the full picture of the man he describes as the world's leading advocate of passive resistance, as well those in his world--family, co-workers in the struggle and friends.
"What Manner of Man" should be required reading in classrooms--and homes--around the world. For all I know, it is in many schools, but it should be on the bookshelves of our homes as well. There is an entire generation who only know Dr. King by the television specials or stories that surface during the celebration of his birthday each January or each February during Black History Month. Mr. Bennett's biography brings Dr. King to life for its reader--thanks to the powerful telling of this man's life through Mr. Bennett's stirring words.
I hope that those of you in the cities of Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia and Atlanta will be able to join me this month for a wonderful program. It's an outing in which the entire family can participate and will be inspired.
