Eig, Jonathan

OUR SYNOPSIS: Jonathan Eig amplifies the humanity of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., telling his story as one of fundamentally human struggle for social betterment. Utilizing extensive new source material previously inaccessible to researchers, he seeks “to observe King’s life as it was lived—and through that life to better understand his times and our own.” (9) He emphasizes the impactful activists and religious leaders King was exposed to in his Atlanta community from a young age. This intellectually and culturally stimulating upbringing continued in his time at Morehouse College and he carried it into his work as a minister. Eig highlights how King came to understand “that his great passions—scholarship, religion, public speaking, and the pursuit of racial justice—could coalesce, even if he wasn’t sure how.” (72) These interconnections of character building and personal passion development empower Eig’s focus on King’s humanity. Eig convincingly argues that in the speech he gave on the first evening of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, King put these pieces together and found his true calling. Indeed, “On this night, King found a new voice. He discovered or sensed that his purpose was not to instruct or educate; his purpose was to prophesize. With a booming voice and strident words, he marked the path for himself and for a movement.” (170) Despite King’s commitment to nonviolence, his success as a civil rights leader led to his increased targeting by the federal government.