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The Radical King cover art

The Radical King

By: Cornel West - editor, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Narrated by: LeVar Burton, Gabourey Sidibe, Cornel West, Mike Colter, Danny Glover, Wanda Sykes, Leslie Odom Jr., Michael K. Williams
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Summary

A revealing collection that restores Dr. King as being every bit as radical as Malcolm X. 

Much of America did not know the radical King - and too few know today - but the FBI and US government did. They called him "the most dangerous man in America". 

"The radical King was a democratic socialist who sided with poor and working people. The response of the radical King to our catastrophic moment can be put in one word: revolution - a revolution in our priorities, a reevaluation of our values, a reinvigoration of our public life, and a fundamental transformation of our way of thinking and living that promotes a transfer of power from oligarchs and plutocrats to everyday people and ordinary citizens." (From the introduction) 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is celebrated as one of the greatest orators in US history, an ambassador for nonviolence who became the most recognizable leader of the civil rights movement. But after more than 40 years, few people appreciate how truly radical he was. 

The Radical King includes 23 selections, curated and introduced by Dr. Cornel West, including essays and speeches that were never recorded for posterity - a revelation for King's legacy. 

The Martin Luther King Estate has allowed, for the first time, a dramatic interpretation of King's words by some of the most charismatic and activist actors working today: LeVar Burton, Mike Colter, Colman Domingo, Danny Glover, Gabourey Sidibe, Wanda Sykes, Leslie Odom, Jr., and Michael Kenneth Williams. 

In addition to the above, the full cast of narrators includes Bahni Turpin, Robin Miles, and Kevin Free. 

©2015 Coretta Scott King and the Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr.; Cornel West (Introductions) (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"By handing over the lauded words of one of modern history's greatest writers and orators, Audible and Dr. West have made an object lesson of both the universality and the specificity of the human experience. From the mouths of all these performers, Dr. King's words gain a visceral clarity, a sharpness that makes it possible to understand that these speeches and sermons and essays are not historical record but living documents." (Paste Magazine)

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11-hour biblical battering-ram to the head

Martin Luther King was such a wonderful man, and his labour strikes are what enamoured me to him. But this book, my goodness, really was an ordeal to get through. It was like having a bible repeatedly, and painfully rammed down my throat relentlessly. For long stretches of time, you realise just how poorly the bible and Christianity has served the African American communities so affected by racism - it lumbers people who have an absolute right to justice with absolutely addling garbage that tells people to submit to a god and pray their way to justice. Love your enemy but stand your ground and gain equality through action! All power, to all the people.

So much of this book is just an excuse to inject biblical babble into simple concepts. Racism is bad because we're all human, and skin colour, just like class, is abstract and meaningless. Labour rights are important because everyone deserves fairness. Quite easy to express no?

This book expresses those two simple concepts with the word "JESUS" so many times, you want to take Cornel West and ram a bible up his behind sideways. You want my support and solidarity against class, racism, capitalism, inequality, injustice - you will always have it and I will never tire of your eloquence. You want my ear when you're talking about racism and class, inequality and greed? You have it, you're wonderful. You want to wax lyrical about JHAYYYSUUSSS for hours on end? Take a hike!

Honestly, I love Cornel West and the rest, but after hearing 11 hours of absolute biblical rubbish I put this book down, deleted it off my phone, and I will never, ever, read it again. What a bunch of complete drivel.

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