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A review by vibeke_hiatt
Why We Can't Wait by Martin Luther King Jr.
4.0
The week before Martin Luther King Jr Day, I read a tweet by Derwin Gray pointing out that many people who quote Dr. King have never read "Letter from Birmingham Jail." I realized that I've never read any of Dr. King's writings, and I wanted to remedy that.
Jesse Jackson says in the Afterword that everyone should read this book before they graduate high school and I agree. I learned things about civil rights history that opened my eyes. We learned so little in school. Dr. King writes in a very clear way, explaining his ideas and methods and their importance not just to the Black community, but to all communities. In the years since this book was written we have come so far, and yet not far enough.
My main problem with the book was more the fault of the publisher than Dr. King. He sometimes mentions events briefly without elaborating on them. I assume they were well known at the time and no explanation was needed. All these years later, though, it would be nice for the publisher to add footnotes so there reader doesn't have to put the book down to search the internet. There were also acronyms used that I'm unfamiliar with and had to look up.
I recommend this book to everyone, no matter where you stand on the issues of race.
Jesse Jackson says in the Afterword that everyone should read this book before they graduate high school and I agree. I learned things about civil rights history that opened my eyes. We learned so little in school. Dr. King writes in a very clear way, explaining his ideas and methods and their importance not just to the Black community, but to all communities. In the years since this book was written we have come so far, and yet not far enough.
My main problem with the book was more the fault of the publisher than Dr. King. He sometimes mentions events briefly without elaborating on them. I assume they were well known at the time and no explanation was needed. All these years later, though, it would be nice for the publisher to add footnotes so there reader doesn't have to put the book down to search the internet. There were also acronyms used that I'm unfamiliar with and had to look up.
I recommend this book to everyone, no matter where you stand on the issues of race.