In an era where people are often sorted into the categories of 'thinker' and 'doer', Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stands out - a rare mix of the deeply profound thinker and intellect who put the fruit of that reflection into the service of direct social action.In this helpful telling of King's life, Dr. Rufus Burrow knits together the story of King's family, his intellectual journey, and his experience of the pervasive racism of America in that era in a way that highlights the onnections between King's thought and his actions. The result is a renewed understanding of the roots of King's actions and a fresh appreciation for how intellectual activity can impact our world in surprisingly direct ways.
Rufus Burrow Jr. is Indiana Professor of Christian Thought and professor of theological social ethics at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Indiana. He has written extensively on King for more than twenty years in books published by Westminster / John Knox Press, Chalice Press, and University of Notre Dame Press.
"Rufus Burrow has shown that the roots of King's ideas, nonviolent social protest, and socio-ethical practice are grounded in a family deeply rooted in black southern culture and the black Baptist church. His book convincingly argues that many watered those roots along the way, but those who planted the seeds and did the early nurturing were members of King's family, educational, and faith communities. Burrow takes great care in helping us to see that the social gospel, Christian realist, and social protest influences on King provided the perfect soil for the formal influences of Rauschenbusch, Niebuhr, and Gandhi." Reginald C. Holmes New Covenant Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Denver, CO "Burrow does the painstaking work of delineating where King was at certain points in his life, without coming across as plodding, laborious, or tedious. Instead, he interweaves fabrics of King's heritage, thought, and action to create a tapestry of his ontological subject with such biographical accuracy and critical thoroughness that we enter into a fuller understanding of the real man scarcely found elsewhere. The poignancy and profundity of King's praxis that Burrow articulates augment the reader's ability to reach a new appreciation of King with matchless depth and insightfulness. It is a must-read for any student of the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.!" Michael D. Blackwell University of Northern Iowa
