Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story
Series: The King Legacy
By: Martin Luther King Jr. / Narrated By: JD Jackson
Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
Ponderous narration (And I mean PONDEROUS!) doesn’t mar this incredibly fine account
Sometimes I scroll through reviews of various works I’m listening to to see if my take on an audiobook/story is in keeping with the norm (I’m really fragile and shallow like that). I wait until after I’ve finished with said book, so my opinions are in no way swayed. Why do I mention this?
Well, it’s like this, see: While I was scrolling through, one review caught my eye, caught my breath, and struck me near dead. It was a one-liner that just stated: Got this for college course.
…?!?…
Holy crap, shouldn’t this, Stride Toward Freedom by MLK Jr. be mandatory reading in, at the very latest, high school? No wonder we’re still in a mess with racism and ignorance in this country. I know, I know. I’ve often stated how in my high school, we never read ANYthing, but seriously! We shoulda read this.
As it is, what I know of the Montgomery bus boycott has been gathered through bits and pieces taught here and there, little bits of lore brought to life (For Rosa Parks, it wasn’t the start of a journey but the end of a long day and the very last straw after feeling injustice for so long), snippets of speeches and prayers. Plus, our mom was really good at teaching us stuff that mattered: Civil Rights, the Holocaust, and the like. So basically, I guess that, tho’ I had a touch of knowledge going into college, I really coulda used more when I was much younger. And I think we all can as ideas learned young pretty much become the foundation we all build our emotional, mental, spiritual houses upon.
This book starts with how Martin Luther King Jr. came to be in Montgomery in the first place. He’d been pondering his life’s path, education or the pulpit, and the offer to lead a congregation came. He and young wife Coretta discussed moving to a part of the country where segregation and overt and hostile prejudice were the game of the day, but after much prayer, they decided they’d gain so much by living in Montgomery. Almost immediately, MLK advocates for ambitious change, the formation of committees to further education, further justice issues, keep the Negro community informed of the voting situation/process. He’s there barely a year when Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her seat.
What started as a One Day affair, the boycott—after all, King and other church leaders were hoping desperately that they could get as much as a 60% compliance with the call to boycott Montgomery buses and wound up with a near 100% joyous response—turns into something that lasted over a year, something that required major planning, major volunteerism (Think: Car Pools!), and major funding. And through it all was King, as steady at the helm as anyone could want (Except for one bit of a breakdown after the multiple bombings of homes and churches left him feeling guilty, left him feeling that, if anyone was killed, let it be him).
Sure, sure, (I’m hoping) we all know what a brilliant orator King was, but I was fascinated and inspired to learn that, tho’ it took him at least 15 hours to write his sermons, to get an entire city’s worth of individuals to go along with the protest, he had 20 minutes to prepare a speech, one meant to lead, one meant to inspire. And he used up the first 5 minutes worrying that he’d never be able to manage it before he called on God for guidance.
The book is chockfull of exACTly what speeches he delivered, what prayers he made, his interactions with pretty much everybody, so it’s a literary goldmine. Plus it chronicles the politics behind the prayers (His ability to get the community to forgive a man who slandered the MIA—Montgomery Improvement Association), the wretched legal injustices (Many getting arrested for false issues), and he does it all without even the least little self-congratulatory back-patting.
Others have said that in this account, King has slighted the contributions women made to the movement, and I s’pose I can see that. Even when a woman is indeed mentioned, it’s only in passing, and there’s usually a statement about how she’s fair skinned or an attractive woman. Don’t get me wrong, that makes him sound like a bit of a toad (No offense to toads!), and he TOTally is NOT one. It’s just that, perhaps with all the gender social movements abounding nowadays, I’m a tad hyper aware of statements like those, so they kinda sorta stick in my craw. ANYway, it would have been nice to learn more about the women as powerhouses; that woulda rocked.
One thing about the audiobook: JD Jackson does a superb job in capturing King’s tones, his oratory style. He lengthens vowels dramatically, and he adds a syllable or two to words scattered throughout (As in: “Joy-oy”, “Wor-ork” and the like) so ya feel like you’re listening to an awesome sermon as he speaks. -BUT- and this is a big “BUT”—Seriously! My normal x1.25 listening speed had to be jacked up to x2, x2.5!!! Otherwise, it was waaaay toooo sloooow and, as stated, PONderous as all get-out! Once jacked up, though, it all flowed quite nicely, and I was supremely engaged for the not-quite 9 hours.
The book ends with a frank discussion of how we can all get along, pointing out the various ways various groups/entities are/were abject failures, and it’s kind of a bummer to listen to. Because the man had hope, and given the state we’re in here in 2020, one wonders if it was completely unfounded. And given what I learned of his mental state, his tormented spirit in Tavis Smiley’s Death of a King, I just wound up feeling bad that such a great man, who believed in the power of love so very much, should ever be so… disappointed? Is that the word I’m going for?
Still, a really, really good listen. Well worth the time.
Definitely well worth the contemplation…
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