Category Archives: Reading

What Could You Read on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2024?

Available through BLS Library:

King: A Life (2023) by Jonathan Eig (call #: E185.97.K5 E44 2023, location: Main collection)

Excerpt from author’s website: “The first King biography written with access to thousands of recently released pages of FBI files as well as thousands of personal papers from King’s associates and friends.”

Letter from Birmingham City Jail (April 16, 1963) by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (available in HeinOnline’s Civil Rights and Social Justice database, remote access requires implementation of BLS proxy server instructions)

Dr. King wrote this letter while imprisoned for participating in nonviolent protests against segregation.

Publicly accessible:

A Proclamation on Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2024 (January 12, 2024) by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Excerpt: “Dr. King’s mission was a moral one: from bridges and ballot boxes to pulpits, protests, and courthouses, he courageously stood for the sacred idea that embodies the soul of our Nation — we are all created equal in the image of God and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives. He vocalized that idea on an August day in 1963 when he told our Nation about his dream. He saw that idea realized for many Americans with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, ushering in a new era of greater equality and opportunity in our country. That work is not yet finished. It is the task of our time to take up Dr. King’s mantle and make his dream a reality.”