A Testament of Hope

"We've got some difficult days ahead," civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. , told a crowd gathered at Memphis's Clayborn Temple on April 3, 1968. "But it really doesn't matter to me now because I've been to the mountaintop. . . . And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land."These prohetic words, uttered the day before his assassination, challenged those he left behind to see that his "promised land" of racial equality became a reality; a reality to which King devoted the last twelve years of his life. These words and other are commemorated here in the only major one-volume collection of this seminal twentieth-century American prophet's writings, speeches, interviews, and autobiographical reflections. A Testament of Hope contains Martin Luther King, Jr.'s essential thoughts on nonviolence, social policy, integration, black nationalism, the ethics of love and hope, and more.

Part 1 Philosophy - religious - non-violence: non-violence and racial justice (1957); the most durable power (1958); the power of non-violence (1958); an experiment in love (1958); speech before the youth march for integrated schools (1959); "my trip to the land of Gandhi" (1959); the social organization of non-violence (1959); pilgrimage to non-violence (1960); suffering and faith (1960); love, law and civil disobedience (1961); non-violence - the only road to freedom (1966); a gift of love (1966); showdown for non-violence (1968). Part 2 Philosophy - social - integration: "our struggle" (1956); walk for freedom (1956); the current crisis in race relations (1958); who speaks for the South? (1958); the burning truth in the South (1960); an address before the National Press Club (1962)_; the case against "tokenism": (1962); bold design for a new South (1963); the ethical demands for integration (1963); behind the Selma march (1965). Part 3 Political - wedged between democracy and black nationalism: facing the challenge of a new age (1957); the rising tide of racial consciousness (1960); equality now - the President has the power (1961); the time for freedom has come (1961); in a word - now (1963); hammer on civil rights (1964); negroes are not moving too fast; civil right no.1 - the right to vote (1965); next stop - the North (1965). Part 4 Famous sermons and public addresses: "give us the ballot - we will transform the South" (1957); if the negro wins, labour wins (1962); the American dream (1961); "I have a dream" (1963); eulogy for the martyred children (1963); Nobel Prize acceptance speech (1964); "our God is marching on!" - Montgomery, Alabama speech (1965); a time to break silence (1965); "where do we go from here?" (1965); a Christmas sermon on peace (1965); the drum major instinct (4 February 1968); remaining awake through a great revolution (31 March 1968); "I see the promised land" (3 April 1968). Part 5 Historic essays: letter from Birmingham City Jail (1963); black power defined (1965); a testament of hope (1968). Part 6 Interviews: Kenneth B.Clark interview (1963); "Playboy" interview - Martin Luther King Jr (1965); transcript of "Meet the Press" television news interview (1966); transcript of "Face to Face" television news interview (1967). Part 7 Books: "Stride Towards Freedom" (1958); "The Strength to Love" (1963); "Why We Can't Wait" (1964). "Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?" (1967); "The Trumpet of Conscience" (1967). Appendix - additional interview: conversation with Martin Luther King (1968).