Going Down Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King's Last Campaign

Beautiful evocation of the struggle of black workers

This vibrant account of MLK's last weeks before the assassination - and of the conditions of black workers in Memphis that drew him to the city - overcomes the cliches that have inevitably encrusted our view of the civil rights struggle. It reminds us what the fight was about and shows us how the actors behaved on all sides. The south in the 1960s was still a bastion of nakedly racist white power, exploiting black laborers unmercifully to keep the white middle class comfortable, with the media, cops, FBI and courts all stomping on the underdog. The book is a great case study of unionizing, of protest organizing and, for that matter, of strike-breaking and of undermining a progressive movement. It is enriched by a ton of detail culled from archival accounts, including FBI files. One message that comes out from this detailed look is King's generosity and morality: his dedication to lift up blacks and others who were much less well off than he and his educated class. Regardless of threats from white supremacists, dirty tricks by Hoover's FBI, disunity among black movement leaders and trade unions, and his own doubts about what approaches to the Poor People's Campaign could be effective, King stuck with the sanitation workers. The rare altruism described in this book is an inspiration. It's a shame for our entire society that he had no true successors - and that the obstacles to progress towards a decent and just society are so darned hard to surmount. Anyone looking to understand the late stages of the civil rights movement, the history of Memphis, the South in the 1960s, or the turmoil that Martin Luther King had to deal with will appreciate this book. It helps that it is intelligently and sensitively written from as balanced and objective a perspective as possible. Read more