This book unearths a radical King that we can no longer sanitize. They called him ‘the most dangerous man in America.’. As West writes, “Although much of America did not know the radical King-and too few know today-the FBI and US government did. Cornel West, that illustrate King’s revolutionary vision, underscoring his identification with the poor, his unapologetic opposition to the Vietnam War, and his crusade against global imperialism. But after more than forty years, few people appreciate how truly radical he was.Īrranged thematically in four parts, The Radical King includes twenty-three selections, curated and introduced by Dr. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY This selection of Kings writings and speeches ably introduces historical neophytes to the great civil rights leaders 'radical' side, though readers may feel a disconnect between his empathetic words and the scathing introduction from West (Race.

Martin Luther King, Jr., is celebrated as one of the greatest orators in US history, an ambassador for nonviolence who became perhaps the most recognizable leader of the civil rights movement. This book unearths a radical King that we can no longer sanitize. Could it be that we know so little of the radical King because such courage defies our market-driven world?” -Cornel West, from the IntroductionĮvery year, Dr. The response of the radical King to our catastrophic moment can be put in one word: revolution-a revolution in our priorities, a reevaluation of our values, a reinvigoration of our public life, and a fundamental transformation of our way of thinking and living that promotes a transfer of power from oligarchs and plutocrats to everyday people and ordinary citizens. “The radical King was a democratic socialist who sided with poor and working people in the class struggle taking place in capitalist societies. A reframing of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy to celebrate his political radicalism.

King as being every bit as radical as Malcolm X

The radical king book