Why We Can't Wait (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

by Jr., Dr. Martin Luther King (Author), Jesse Jackson (Afterword) "copies of Stride Toward Freedom, my book about the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-56. As I signed my name to a page, I felt something..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
In 1963, Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. launched the Civil Rights movement and demonstrated to the world the power of nonviolent direct action. Why We Can't Wait recounts not only the Birmingham campaign, but also examines the history of the civil rights struggle and the tasks that future generations must accomplish to bring about full equality for African Americans. Dr. King's eloquent analysis of these events propelled the Civil Rights movement from lunch counter sit-ins and prayer marches to the forefront of the American consciousness.

With a special new afterword by The Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Signet Classics (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451527534
• ISBN-13: 978-0451527530
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #38,677 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An eye-opener for my generation, October 20, 1999

By	N. Long (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Why We Can't Wait (Mentor) (Mass Market Paperback)

I chose to read this book originally as part of a high school assignment, and am very glad that I did so. As a white male born in 1980 who grew up in a predominately white area, I had a hard time understanding why race seems to be such a big issue in this country. As I saw it, slavery happened a long time ago and bigots were idiots to be ignored until they all died off. Why all this talk of discrimination and affirmative action? Why all the pleas for acceptance and peace?

This book came as a slap to the face of my preconceived notions. I realized suddenly that many of the men and women I see every day lived during that time, only a few decades ago, when white people didn't let black people drink from the same water fountains, and when blacks could be beaten and abused in the streets for daring to ask for equal treatment. I had heard of this before, but it had always seemed in the distant past. I was repeatedly astonished that such things could have happened in America.

My views took a new spin. Suddenly, King's arguments for affirmative action sounded reasonable. How could a black man "pull himself up by his bootstraps" if he has no shoes? How could the children of poor blacks in the south go to college, even if they were allowed to, when their parents couldn't afford the tuition? While I still do not like the idea of racial discrimination of any kind, I now see that there is reason to try to tip the scales back a little, at least for a generation or two.

Above all, I was surprised at how Godly a man King was. When I read the statements that his protestors were required to live by, such as "I will pray for those who persecute me," and "I will not strike back in anger," I realized that these people had more spiritual courage in fighting for what was right than I could muster in myself. They were moved by the notion that Christians must love one another regardless of race, and were determined to change society, not in bloody revolution, but by their unity in spirit, by their obvious displays of love, and by the power of prayer.

This is a moving book and one that opened my eyes. I recommend it highly for anyone, especially those of us born too late to understand the civil rights movement and the horrors that prompted it firsthand.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every American should read this, April 8, 2000

By	Sean S. Varney (Seattle) - See all my reviews

Dr. King's "Why We Can't Wait" is a remarkable book. The chapter containing the famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is one of the great political, religious and social works humanity has ever produced. If you read nothing else about the civil rights movement, or about Martin Luther King, this letter will show you why it was the right thing to do, why he won a Nobel Peace Prize, and why America (and the world) is a better place because King lived.

Every American should read two documents: The Constitution and "The Letter from Birmingham Jail."

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why We Can't Wait, December 25, 1999

By	Peter Furst (Sydney) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why We Can't Wait (Mentor) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a fantastic work by Martin Luther King Jr discussing the 1963 situation in Birmingham, Alabama, where King and others took a big step towards bringing down racism.

King's words and ideas are truly provocing, and should be read by all - they are not just applicable to the situation in 1963, but also to our lives today.

If everybody read this book and listened to its message, the world would be a better place.