MLK: The Trumpet of Conscience, "Nonviolence and Social Change"
August 26, 2011
The Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial in Washington, D.C., officially opened to the public this week. Although the official ceremony scheduled for Sunday has been postponed due to Hurricane Irene, we will continue to honor this historic event, we'll be posting excerpts from books in The King Legacy series on Beacon Broadside every day this week.
In celebration of the MLK Memorial Dedication, we are also giving away books by Dr. King. Enter for your chance to win hardcover editions of recent titles released by Beacon Press: Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, Why We Can't Wait, The Trumpet of Conscience, "All Labor Has Dignity," and MLK: In Word and Image. One grand prize winner will receive ALL SIX BOOKS. Five winners will receive one book of their choice. Enter by Sunday, August 28th! For more information and to enter, see the Beacon Press website.
In November and December 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered five lectures for the renowned Massey Lecture Series of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The collection was immediately released as a book under the title Conscience for Change, but after King's assassination in 1968, it was republished as The Trumpet of Conscience. The collection sums up his lasting creed and is his final testament on racism, poverty, and war.
Each oration in this volume encompasses a distinct theme and speaks prophetically to today's perils, addressing issues of equality, conscience and war, the mobilization of young people, and nonviolence. Collectively, they reveal some of King's most introspective reflections and final impressions of the movement while illustrating how he never lost sight of our shared goals for justice. The book concludes with "A Christmas Sermon on Peace"—a powerful lecture that was broadcast live from Ebenezer Baptist Church on Christmas Eve in 1967. In it King articulates his long-term vision of nonviolence as a path to world peace.
If you cannot read the excerpt below, click on this link to read it at Scribd.