1929-1968

Looks at the life of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

A biography of the civil right leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Historical overview of the struggle for racial equality in America. Focuses on the extraordinary life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Discusses the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, including the causes for the march, how the march was organized and its leaders, the important speeches, and the impact it had on the Civil Rights Movement.

Explains why we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.

Describes the origins and creation of Martin Luther King Day, discussing Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life and achievements for civil rights, and presents related poetry and suggestions for celebrating the holiday.

Discusses Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter From Birmingham Jail" and how it changed the African American civil rights movement.

In "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Martin Luther King Jr. explains why blacks can no longer be victims of inequality. Also features King's "I Have a Dream" speech, which was delivered to 250,000 civil rights marchers in 1963.

April, 1967: a prison escape. James Earl Ray, nondescript thief and con man, drifts through the South, into Mexico, and then Los Angeles, where he is galvanized by George Wallace's racist presidential campaign. February, 1968: a Memphis garbage strike. Martin Luther King joins the sanitation workers' cause, but their march turns violent. King vows to return to Memphis in April. Historian Sides follows Ray and King as they crisscross the country, one stalking the other, until the drifter catches up with his prey. Against the backdrop of the resulting nationwide riots and the pathos of King's funeral, Sides gives us a cross-cut narrative of the assassin's flight and the 65-day search that led investigators to Canada, Portugal, and England--a massive manhunt ironically led by Hoover's FBI. Drawing on previously unpublished material, this nonfiction thriller illuminates how history is so often a matter of the petty bringing down the great--From publisher description.

Reexamines the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., looking at some of the puzzles that have sprung up during the thirty years in which convicted shooter James Earl Ray has been in prison, and discussing the life of Ray, a chronic troublemaker who grew up to be a career criminal.