Published in 2008 this is somewhat dated now, but it's still an interesting look at King's life and death and how he brought about change - although from a 2020 view it's obvious that there is still a great deal to be achieved. Dyson includes lots of statistics that while providing a heap of information does not make for dynamic reading, especially in audio format. An imagined interview with King at the end was bizarre and pointless, effectively leaving the reader with a negative impact. ( )

When I read an incredibly well-written book, I am in awe of the ability to make sharp, creative images with words. Michael Dyson is such an author. I took time to read this fascinating book, not only because I am very interested in the civil rights movement, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s major contribution, but also because it was a joy to read the natural flow of words.

I've read many books which state that the murder of fourteen year old Emmet Till was the spark that lit the match to propel black Americans to take a stand. Martin Luther King, Jr, lead the people and the nation for justice, for equity, and for justifiably deserved equal treatment and retribution when a black person is murdered, demanding the same rights as others!

Dyson words and excellent framing of the horror of this murder at the hands of white red necks, was so well written that I went back and read this section again and again. It hit me hard, very hard, thinking of how this innocent, intelligent, confident young boy was savagely beaten to death, leaving him, as Dyson so eloquently said, with two empty eye sockets and a "Munch like scream" on his dead face!

There are so many subjects covered in this book, and it is hard to cover all of them, but a few stand out, mainly that Martin Luther King Jr. knew he would be assignated for the cause. His poetic, last speech the rainy evening in Memphis April 3rd, 1968 confirmed his intuitive feelings that he had gone to the mountaintop, and he knew he may not get there with others, and that "like anybody I would like to live", but he was not afraid and knew that longeeeevity had its place.

Fast on his heels, J. Edgar Hoover was quite slimy. Particularly when trying to paint MLK as a communist, sexual deviate. In fact, Hoover used communistic, big brother is watching means of taping and harassing King. And by the morals and ethics of society at that time in history, J. Edgar did not live up to his own rigid standards.

By the end of his life, King looked back and was depressed and very, very tired. Others were splintering off into anything but non violence. Stokley Carmichael and Malcolm X both grew tired of non violent means that did not bring about a quick result.

Exactly one year prior, King spoke at the historic Riverside Church in NYC. He spoke of the need to stop intervention in Viet Nam. He brazenly challenged the audience to look closely at the connections between poverty and war. Some believe this was the final blaze of glory, but he took a very hard hit for his comments and beliefs. Some in the civil rights movement avidly felt that King was loosing his ability to focus and was branching off in too many areas.

Before his death, he was planning a march on Washington to rally the poor and shine a bright light on the injustice of poverty. Unlike the prior, very successful march on Washington, where he is best known for his "I Have a Dream" speech, the rally for poverty was splintered, unorganized and did not have the backing that the first march did. This march died with him.

If you are at all interested in MLK, and the civil rights movement, I highly recommend this book.

This is an interesting look at the impact of Martin Luther King's assassination on American politics and racial discourses. April 4, 1968 was published just before Barack Obama won the Democratic presidential nomination, and so now feels very incomplete as an analysis of MLK's legacy. Still, Dyson's consideration of how various leaders have taken on the mantle of charismatic black leader in the years after MLK's assassination is mostly an incisive one, and while more commentary than empirical, well worth the read. The one thing which I was really iffy about was the rather hokey epilogue, in which Dyson conducts an imaginary interview with MLK on his 80th birthday. Not only does it read like poor MLK fanfiction, but it makes of the man just the kind of paragon which Dyson was trying to deconstruct throughout the rest of the book. ( )