Martin Luther King: Peaceful Warrior

Written by Ed Clayton
Illustrated by Donald Bermudez

On the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. King’s death, this short biography has been resurrected and re-worked. Originally published in 1964, the book was written by people who knew and worked with the Kings. Chapters were added about what happened after the March on Washington. Vivid illustrations, many of them based on photographs, help to tell the story.

With many anecdotes, the author ably demonstrates how Dr. King developed his ideas and attitudes and the great importance he played in the history of our country. This is a valuable resource for anyone seeking to learn about the civil rights movement, the 1960s, nonviolence, or what it means to be in the minority.

Dr. King was the grandson of a sharecropper, a man who refused to give in to the rules of the landowners. Dr. King’s father had a sharp mind and helped his father fight the system. Young Martin was always curious about the world, which sometimes caused him to learn painful lessons. Such as the white stranger who called him a n—– and slapped him for stepping on her foot. But, more often, his curiosity led him to learn about Thoreau and Gandhi. Unjust laws were made to be broken. As pastor at the Montgomery, Alabama Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, he helped lead the bus boycott that made Rosa Parks a household name. It was in support of the striking garbage workers in Memphis that he was shot and killed at his hotel.

Dr. King accomplished much, and his legacy lives on.

  • MLKTitle: Martin Luther King: Peaceful Warrior
  • Author: Ed Clayton
  • New Forward by: Xernona Clayton
  • Illustrator: Donald Bermudez
  • Published: Candlewick Press, 2017
  • Reviewer: Sue Poduska
  • Format: Hardcover, 128 pages
  • Grade Level: 3 to 7
  • Genre: Narrative Nonfiction, History, Biography
  • ISBN: 978-0-7636-7471-7
  • Extras: Afterword, “We Shall Overcome,” A Short Bibliography of Books on Black People and the Civil Rights Movement

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