Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference by David Garrow

A Book Review

I read this many years ago, it touched my heart! My thoughts are still the same.

There is a way in which you see the world, that way, that philosophy affects everything else that you do. For Martin Luther King Jnr, his love for God poured out to become his love for humanity and it was evident in how he lived his life, fighting for the rights of black people. Luther’s whole life was inspired by love, it was the reason he couldn’t hate the whites who were discriminating against blacks. He insisted that his fight was not against a person, it was against a system. Luther believed that all men were capable of doing good. This position was important, by it he mobilized both blacks and whites for a movement that will become a pivot point in the history of America.

Although MLK was just 39 years when he was assassinated, his life has made a profound impact on American history.

Luther never planned to join the Civil Rights, and he certainly didn’t plan to become its spokesman or leader. However, when church leaders gathered on that night to appoint a spokesman after the saga of Rosa Parks not rising from the bus, he was appointed simply because he was thought of to be neutral and new to the job.

His life was threatened, he was stabbed, he was jeered, he was jailed, and ultimately he was killed. Tara Westover wrote in her book EDUCATED, that she became angry in a history class when she realized that 30 minutes after being introduced to the life of this great man, he was dead already. On May 22, 1967, MLK wrote “When I took up the cross, I recognized its meaning. The cross is something that you bear, and ultimately that you die on.”

Luther was an imperfect man. He had his shortcomings. No one will defend that.
Yet, none of this reduces the life he tried to live. Luther’s life was a great life. An important theme in this book is how Luther worked together with several people, both older and younger than him to reach the goals of the Civil Rights.

The most impressionable topic for me is how Luther faced the tough times, there were times he was disturbed about results, the government was not conceding any results to him and his people were demanding more. These were the tumultuous times of MLK’s life. At such times, there was nothing to do. He couldn’t change anything. His last resort were often prayer and the words of God.

This is the part of the book that resonated with me the most. I can’t put these in words but I surely understand what it means to be concerned about a specific and to not have the power to change anything.

More than anything else, this book crystallized me. MLK is the man whose thoughts, words, and life has influenced me the most. It is not surprising that when the darkness would not lift, I look back at his life.

This is a highly recommended read.