The Leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King

Introduction

Much has been written on the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. Most of it is biographical and descriptive of the Civil Rights Movement. The leadership of King is implied as a topic in most of these works since his leadership of the Civil Rights Movement was his primary life work.

The preeminent biographers of King are David Levering Lewis (1978), David Garrow (1986), and Taylor Branch (1988, 1998). Lewis was the first to present a major biography after King's death. Lewis presents how King's vision for peace was at the center of his leadership. Garrow won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award for the most comprehensive book ever written about Martin Luther King, Jr. Garrow's central thesis, as indicated by the title, was that King had a growing awareness of the symbolic message of the cross and believed that his life was about self-sacrifice. That belief was fulfilled by the ultimate self-sacrifice for his people.

Discussion

King was at the vortex of a social movement that caused Americans to consider what it meant to offer fair and equal treatment to all citizens, regardless of race, ethnicity, or economic background. He was tactical in his efforts to involve others and to ensure that the movement yielded maximum impact for social change. King embraced a “prophetic witness,” and, as scholar Cornell West noted, “called attention to the unjustified suffering, and unnecessary social misery” of those in need. James Melvin Washington Jr. and Juana Bordas state that King became a world historical and prophetic figure. King captured the spotlight of history precisely at the right time, and responded with a vision for what America could become if it trusted its democratic legacy.

Scholars have examined the dynamics of King's courage, dedication, and idealism. Yet, King possessed subtle qualities of leadership. He had the ability to use people, not in a manipulative or exploitative manner, but in the sense of utilizing their talents to further an ideal. A historical assessment of King's leadership with athletes and entertainers during the Civil Rights Movement provides significant insights to the historical record of social change. Social and political leaders can benefit from an investigation of King's efforts to work with athletes and entertainers during the Civil Rights Movement.

King's Leadership

Numerous authors have studied King's leadership during the Civil Rights Movement, including his ethics as a leader, leadership style, what informed King's leadership modality, and the impact of his leadership and legacy subsequent to his death. At the very least, this has caused a distortion of the historical record, making the examination of King's leadership incomplete. Descriptions such as “charismatic,” “dynamic” and “compelling” are often associated with his actions and leadership.

The aforementioned descriptions are common attributes of what scholars refer to as the “Great Man.”

King understood the African-American struggle. He experienced discrimination as a boy and, throughout his developmental years, he was aware of the constant challenges of what it meant to live in a nation that viewed him as ...