This book is an account of a few years that changed the life of a Southern community, told from the point of view of one of the participants. Although it attempts to interpret what happened it does not purport to be a detailed survey of the historical and sociological aspects of the Montgomery story. .
This is not a drama with only one actor. More precisely it is the chronicle of 50,000 Blacks who took to heart the principles of nonviolence, who learned to fight for their rights with the weapon of love, and who, in the process, acquired a new estimate of their own human worth. It is the story of Negro leaders of many faiths and divided allegiances, who came together in the bond of a cause they knew was right. And of the Negro followers, many of them beyond middle age, who walked to work and home again as much as 12 miles a day for over a year rather than submit to the discourtesies and humiliation of segregated buses. .
There is also another side to the picture: it is the white community of Montgomery, long led or intimidated by a few extremists, that finally turned in disgust on the perpetrators of crime in the name of segregation. The change should not be exaggerated...Yet by the end of the bus struggle it was clear that the vast majority of Montgomery whites preferred peace and law to the excesses performed in its name. And even though the many saw segregation as right because it was the tradition, there were always the courageous few who saw the injustice and fought against it side by side with Blacks.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Publisher
King's full account of the Montgomery bus strike--the classic story of nonviolent resistance in America.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A classic true story. Details the story of the Montgomery bus boycott organized by King. Discusses the fact that Rosa Parks was not the first black woman to refuse to give up her seat to a white person. Details the logistics of the boycott and the violence and threats committed against King, sometimes dozens of threats per day. Discusses his reading of Gandhi and discusses King's worldview, including, of course, the nonviolent philosophy. You must know this story if you want to know about Martin Luther King Jr. or the history of race relations in the USA.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Too much of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's writing has been long out of print. This new book will revisit the importance of the Montgomery bus boycott and Dr. King's lasting legacy in the struggle for equality in America. A must-read for anyone who cares about the history of our country.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
A Kid's Review
Format:Paperback
Stride Toward Freedom is an excellent book that should become a part of any school curriculum when learning about the Civil Rights Movement. Moving and deeply enlightening, the struggles and triumphs of a man so many of us see as super-human, makes this book one I would recommend to anyone. It is amazing to see how despite incredible odds, people still managed to emerge as remarkable leaders to be remembered for centuries to come.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By BAMM
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This historically important account of the Montgomery bus boycott, penned by Martin Luther King, Jr., is, for reasons beyond my comprehension, out-of-print. Well-written and easy to read, it provides a first-hand account of the personal, social, and political events leading up to and following the bus boycott as well as rich insights into the man who moved a nation filled with fear and hate through the power of love. His account covers not only what he did, but also why and how he chose to do it. It's a book worth having and keeping.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a well written, objective, honest, and exciting look into the civil rights struggle via the Montgomery bus 'boycott' or as MLK calls it, mass noncooperation in Montgomery.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an awesome autobiography of the charismatic, Bible-cadenced Doctor Martin Luther King Jr ,written at the young age of 29, as well as a gripping account of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in December, 1955. The first chapter is King's autobiograpy of growing up in a segregated Atlanta, but managing to get educated up to a full doctorate.
The second chapter is subtitled "Montgomery Before the Protest". King describes segregation and its effect on 50,000 second-class citizens - the offspring of uprooted African victims of slavery. Although the Supreme Court ruled 3 years prior that "in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place", six southern states including Alabama had not even one African-American child attending school with Anglos by 1956.
Then on December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat so an Anglo could sit in it. In response to her unAmerican, Nazi-like arrest by officials who were servants of hatred rather than justice, African-American community leaders met in a Baptist church and organized the Montgomery bus boycott. It worked in a wonderful show of solidarity, but the haters's hatred was not extinguished. King and his compatriot R. David Abernathy had their houses bombed by local KKK terrorists. So the Supreme Court stepped in like they did with the public schools and said "the separate but equal" buffalo pucky was incorrect, thereby giving Jim Crow a black eye. (Jim Crow is a metaphor for the anti-African American laws that got started in 1890 by Southern Anglos to deny the African-American his right to vote - this after Mississippi had already put 2 African-Americans into the Senate in our nation's capitol).
The last chapter is "Where Do We Go From Here?" Dr.... Read more ›
The second chapter is subtitled "Montgomery Before the Protest". King describes segregation and its effect on 50,000 second-class citizens - the offspring of uprooted African victims of slavery. Although the Supreme Court ruled 3 years prior that "in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place", six southern states including Alabama had not even one African-American child attending school with Anglos by 1956.
Then on December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat so an Anglo could sit in it. In response to her unAmerican, Nazi-like arrest by officials who were servants of hatred rather than justice, African-American community leaders met in a Baptist church and organized the Montgomery bus boycott. It worked in a wonderful show of solidarity, but the haters's hatred was not extinguished. King and his compatriot R. David Abernathy had their houses bombed by local KKK terrorists. So the Supreme Court stepped in like they did with the public schools and said "the separate but equal" buffalo pucky was incorrect, thereby giving Jim Crow a black eye. (Jim Crow is a metaphor for the anti-African American laws that got started in 1890 by Southern Anglos to deny the African-American his right to vote - this after Mississippi had already put 2 African-Americans into the Senate in our nation's capitol).
The last chapter is "Where Do We Go From Here?" Dr.... Read more ›
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is a must read, keep and own. Written by a genius(Martin Luther King Jr.)My family and I read this book over and over. It is Legacy. Just love it!!!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Thanks so much for the great book. It works wonderfully and I am very happy with my purchase. Thank you.
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