MLK

Reading Baldwin's account of his acquaintance with King was interesting and reminded me of Holmes' writing on Kerouac. Baldwin truly admired King, and his memory of meeting MLK is illustrated as a cherished moment. All of the readings in this section support King's efforts and ideals. I read the Autobiography of Malcolm X recently, which helped me understand the extent of King's argument that fighting for the same cause in different ways can produce a lot of negativity. He and Malcolm both wanted the African American race to have true freedom, but they disagreed upon the method of reaching their shared goal. King's nonviolent approach clashed with Malcolm's nationalism. I definitely understand King's viewpoint more than Malcolm's, but in particular points of these readings, I found King's nonviolence approach to be surprisingly extreme. Parks recounts watching King suffer physical harm without making an effort toward defending himself. He publicly asked onlookers to pray for the man who struck him, in order to save him from hatred. While King relayed a beautiful and inspiring message during his life, I find it hard to imagine watching something like this happen. His dedication is admirable and his writing is eloquent, although I'm sure it nothing compared to how he spoke.