MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Find Inspiration in MLK’s Legacy
Galvanized by his Christian faith and the peaceful teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. helped African Americans achieve genuine progress toward racial equality using nothing more than the power of his words and acts of nonviolent resistance. He led with the principle that people everywhere, regardless of color or creed, are equal members of the human family.
As the world remembers King today, explore his legacy with these inspiring documentaries, books, sermons, and songs.
Watch
‣ Breathtaking in its scope, the three-hour documentary King: A Filmed Record...Montgomery to Memphis paints a vivid portrait of King’s work and life from 1955 to 1968, almost entirely through archival footage and audio. This version of the film, which was originally screened in 1970 for a one-night special event, was restored by the Library of Congress from the 35 mm negative.
‣ We Are the Dream chronicles the 40th annual Oakland MLK Oratorical Festival, a public-speaking competition where hundreds of students perform poetry and speeches inspired by King.
Listen
‣ Many of King’s speeches are available in audiobook form, including “Eulogy for the Young Victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing.” Delivered on September 18, 1963, the speech memorialized the girls who died when Ku Klux Klan members set off a bomb in a Birmingham, Alabama, church during Sunday service: “Their death says to us,” King told those gathered, “that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for the realization of the American dream.”
‣ In 1980, Stevie Wonder released “Happy Birthday” as part of a campaign to have King’s birthday declared a national holiday. Stream it with these apps.
Read
- The Essential Martin Luther King Jr. brings together the civil rights leader’s most famous and impactful speeches and essays, including “The Power of Nonviolence,” “I Have a Dream,” and his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance address. Historian Clayborne Carson introduces the writings. Get the ebook for free through January 19.
‣ In Stride Toward Freedom, a young King recounts his experiences during the Montgomery bus boycott—a pivotal act of nonviolent resistance that was a major catalyst for the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.
‣ A collectible printed relic, I Have a Dream is laid out to align with the oratory cadence of King’s legendary speech delivered at the March on Washington. This hardcover edition features a foreword by Amanda Gorman—the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate. Corresponding keepsake The Dream Journal, crafted with exclusive material from King’s archives, encourages a daily writing practice with poignant prompts and compelling images inspired by the life and words of the revered spiritual leader.
‣ In King’s sermons, he outlined a framework for nonviolent resistance. A Gift of Love collects 16 of these homilies, some of which King wrote from jail after his arrest at a prayer vigil in Albany, New York. In “Loving Your Enemies,” he explains the need for—and path to—unconditional love. Quoting Abraham Lincoln: “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”
‣ King never wrote a formal autobiography, but The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.—edited by Stanford University’s former Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute director Clayborne Carson—creates a poignant portrait by weaving together passages from published books, essays, sermons, and speeches with previously unpublished letters and manuscripts.
Purchase these ebooks using the apps below—or see if your local library has a digital copy that you can borrow for free with the Libby app.