In Honor of Dr. King

In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. King, I thought I'd share two books:

A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. (ed. James M. Washington) is a 700-page compendium of King's speeches, essays, books, interviews and sermons. It is a comprehensive collection, a great reference, and source of inspiration.

Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare (James H. Cone)
I first read this book in a college class on the religious thought of MLK and Malcolm X, and I loved the way that Cone organized the book. The chapters alternately focus on King and then X, contrasting and comparing concepts that are core to each man's philosophy.

I think I'll close this posting with an excerpt from King's Christmas Sermon on Peace:
"Did you ever stop to think that you can't leave for your job in the morning without being dependent on most of the world? You get up in the morning and go to the bathroom and reach over for the sponge, and that's handed to you by a Pacific islander. You reach for a bar of soap, and that's given to you at the hands of a Frenchman. And then you go into the kitchen to drink your coffee...and that's poured into your cup by a South American. And maybe you want tea: that's poured into your cup by a Chinese. Or maybe you're desirous of having cocoa for breakfast, and that's poured into your cup by a West African. And then you reach over for your toast, and that's given to you at the hands of English-speaking farmer, not to mention the baker. And before you've finished eating breakfast in the morning, you've depended on more than half the world."
And then we get into our cars, fueled by gasoline that comes from...and then we hear on the radio that one of the presidential front runners is a...What a world.