Leader Of A Negro Revolution

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31071, 28 May 1966, Page 4

Leader Of A Negro Revolution

What Manner of Man. A biography of Martin Luther King. By Lerone Bennett. George Allen and Unwin. 245 pp.

Although Martin Luther King is still only 37 years old, and. it is to be hoped, only half-way through his life cycle, it is by no means too early for him to be the subject of a biography such as this. Doubtless after his death pother biographies will be written, more comprehensive and definitive, but already Martin Luther King Jr, is acknowledged as a leader of such stature that many people will be grateful for this account of his background •nd his growth. The author is Lerone Bennett, Jr, senior editor of *'Ebony" magazine, and a graduate of Mr King’s own university, Morehouse College, whose president supplies an introduction to the book. Mr Bennett has some irritating writing habits, such as an irrepressible affection for italics, which ruin the balance of many of his sentences without adding to our comprehension at all. Thus his prose does not always do justice to his lucidity of thought and his exhaustive research. The book is nonetheless thoroughly readable, well-organised and with a helpful index. It holds the reader's interest throughout largely by the sheer fascination of the subject matter. The soil from which Martin Luther King sprang may be found surprising: he was born in comfortable, conventional circumstances in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of a respected Baptist minister. In his childhood he knew no, hunger or deprivation, and' only a minimum of pain: from the ugly ostracism given; to Negroes in a Southern: city. From his earliest youth.) he was fascinated by the power of speech, and at the) age of six vowed that he was; going to get himself “some) big words.” He was a leader already in his childhood, dominating his friends both with his physical strength—which was considerable—and) his eloquence. In his high-school years: Martin Luther King became deeply aware of the humiliation of segregation. Trips Northward to take part in oratorical contests taught him the difference between life as it was for him and life as it could be for a Negro treated as an equal. He decided to be a lawyer, at that stage, seeing himself as a champion in the Negroes' legal battles. He put great emphasis on his rhetorical gifts, practising speeches con-

stantly to prepare himself for! the future. But while at Morehouse College, he changed his mind.' deciding to give himself to: the Ministry—a position in! which his talents as an orator and a thinker would be even) more valuable. It was while) he was at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, that Martin Luther King’s philosophy was first hammered out. He was impressed by Hegel’s writings and the concept of progress through pain, growth through struggle and tension. At the same time, he became interested in Ghandi’s ideas of non-violence and soul force. Although it would be pre- 1 sumptuous to try to summarise the philosophy of this

great man in a few words, it is true that the thoughts of bo'h Hegel and Ghandi seem to have contributed much to : King's beliefs. After three years in the seminary, Dr. 'King completed his Ph.D. at Boston University, and with his new wife, Coretta, took up his duties at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Lerone Bennett sees these first 25 years of his life as a broad preparation for Martin Luther King’s role as a leader of the Negro revolution. He was not consciously preparing himself to lead his people—he was simply acquiring the education and the maturity suitable for a clergyman. When the moment of truth arrived, he stepped I forward into the limelight—)the right man in the right place at the right time. In ) December, 1955, the American Negroes were ready to revolt, Bennett believes. They

awaited only a suitable event to serve as the focus of their revolution, and a man who would inspire them and support them. In organising the bus boycott of Montgomery, King established himself as a major figure in the Civil Rights battle Since his first emergence as a leader. Dr. King has been the subject of criticism from all sides. White extremists hate him, quite naturally, as one who has given the civil rights movement impetus and power. To this group, Martin Luther King is anathema, and he has been physically attacked on a number of occasions. On the other hand. Black Nationalists despise him even more venomously, decrying him as a complacent hypocrite, an educated “Uncle Tom.” Their contention is that nonviolence is inappropriate and ineffectual, and that the white man is a devil to be fought with every available weapon. Another group of Negroes is constantly dismayed by the speed at which Martin Luther I King has worked, insisting that the revolution should i proceed slowly, cautiously, ) through the accepted legal I channels. Dr. King’s methods provide an acceptable alternative to the potentially explosive Black Nationalism and the excessive prudence of certain other groups. As time has passed, Martin I Luther King has become ) more exclusively a figure- ) head, a symbol for the emerg- | ing Negroes. His life was so | fully occupied in pleading his cause, exhorting, expounding. and encouraging, that he had to give up his church and return to Atlanta, where he joined his father in the family church. He has taken part in many campaigns to enforce integration in many communities. It is of course impossible for him to carry out all of the organisation of sit-ins, freedom rides, boycotts, and so on, but he readily takes part in them to draw attention to a chosen field of injustice. He supplies his presence and authority not haphazardly, but at selected moments, for maximum effectiveness. He works chiefly through the organisation of which he is the president, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The tenets of the organisation are King’s own. It upholds nonviolence as a creed of courage and strength, not as a sign of weakness. It has proved eminently suitable as a weapon in the battle for civil rights, and where they have followed King’s methods the Negroes have not only won I legal rights, but have grown iin tolerance and dignity.