Stride Towards Freedom
TOPIC: A STRIDE TOWARD FREEDOM: THE MONTGOMERY STORY
BY: DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
DISCUSSION LEADERS: LAVON CLARK III & CHUK CHUKUDEBELU
A brief summary about A Stride Toward Freedom: It gives a timeline of events ranging from Dr. King’s arrival to Montgomery, a journey that covers the bus boycotts through December 1, 1955 – December 21, 1956 of the South and then concludes with asking the important question located in the last chapter, “Where Do We Go From Here?” It focuses on MLK’s perspective of the people, events, and bus boycott procedures. A Stride Toward Freedom touches on not only a huge part of African American/Negro history but also American history with one of the first applications of nonviolent successful protest known to date. A quote Dr. King used to specifically describe this book was “the chronicle of fifty thousand Negroes who took to heart the principles of nonviolence, who learned to fight for their rights with the weapon of love, and who, in the process, acquired a new estimate of their own human worth." It gives an account for the charismatic “26 year old,” of how he transformed himself, leaders, the community, and then the world to love everyone equally.
1. What do you think about Martin Luther King’s book? Could it have been more detailed or was it too vague? Why or why not?
2. What have you specifically learned from Stride Toward Freedom as an individual?
For example, I learned how Dr. King dealt with the fact of all the resistance that was shown to him since he came to Montgomery. He received KKK postcards, threaten calls sometimes sexually motivated, and bomb threats. Through it all during one of the mass meetings he said pg. 123 Chapter 8: The Violence of Desperate Men, “If one day you find me sprawled out dead, I do not want you to retaliate with a single act of violence. I urge you to continue protesting with the same dignity and discipline you have shown so far.” He often became numb to these threats which is
BY: DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
DISCUSSION LEADERS: LAVON CLARK III & CHUK CHUKUDEBELU
A brief summary about A Stride Toward Freedom: It gives a timeline of events ranging from Dr. King’s arrival to Montgomery, a journey that covers the bus boycotts through December 1, 1955 – December 21, 1956 of the South and then concludes with asking the important question located in the last chapter, “Where Do We Go From Here?” It focuses on MLK’s perspective of the people, events, and bus boycott procedures. A Stride Toward Freedom touches on not only a huge part of African American/Negro history but also American history with one of the first applications of nonviolent successful protest known to date. A quote Dr. King used to specifically describe this book was “the chronicle of fifty thousand Negroes who took to heart the principles of nonviolence, who learned to fight for their rights with the weapon of love, and who, in the process, acquired a new estimate of their own human worth." It gives an account for the charismatic “26 year old,” of how he transformed himself, leaders, the community, and then the world to love everyone equally.
1. What do you think about Martin Luther King’s book? Could it have been more detailed or was it too vague? Why or why not?
2. What have you specifically learned from Stride Toward Freedom as an individual?
For example, I learned how Dr. King dealt with the fact of all the resistance that was shown to him since he came to Montgomery. He received KKK postcards, threaten calls sometimes sexually motivated, and bomb threats. Through it all during one of the mass meetings he said pg. 123 Chapter 8: The Violence of Desperate Men, “If one day you find me sprawled out dead, I do not want you to retaliate with a single act of violence. I urge you to continue protesting with the same dignity and discipline you have shown so far.” He often became numb to these threats which is