Why We Can't Wait (Signet Classics)

Book Description

In 1963, Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. launched the Civil Rights movement and demonstrated to the world the power of nonviolent direct action. Why We Can't Wait recounts not only the Birmingham campaign, but also examines the history of the civil rights struggle and the tasks that future generations must accomplish to bring about full equality for African Americans. Dr. King's eloquent analysis of these events propelled the Civil Rights movement from lunch counter sit-ins and prayer marches to the forefront of the American consciousness.

With a special new afterword by The Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Customer Reviews:

The title says it all.......2007-01-12

Martin Luther King's work is synonymous with the civil rights movement. His powerful words were the very driving force that helped African Americans change the mindset of America. Why We Can't Wait is thought provoking and extremely well written, making this an exceptional work of literary art.
Martin Luther King Jr. truly was a man of the written word. His ability to string words and create sentences that literally roll off the tongue is nothing short of a miracle. As soon as I picked up this book, I was intrigued by his style and voice. This novel seemed like a very long, well thought out speech. Diction is excellent and King is brilliant in conveying every thought, every feeling he experiences. This book includes his world-famous Birmingham jail notes, another work that is just exemplary. Martin Luther King demonstrated the extreme power of the written word. Martin Luther King had won his reputation with just his mind, voice, and a pencil. . I would advise this to any writer that wishes to improve on their voice, style, and tone.
I will have to admit though that his voice can get bland after too much exposure. Halfway reading through this book, I thought that he was making the same points over and over again in different sentence structures and so forth. His speech is prolonged and sometimes seems much to slow to endure. Martin Luther can spend a whole chapter talking about one incident by bombarding his writing with metaphors and stories that relate to the situation. After a while his voice is almost predictable. The whole book seemed to talk only about a few topics and it really did seem interminable.
Regardless, Martin Luther King was a man that knew full well how to mold people by using words and ideas. His perseverance and hard work should be a model to people of today. Why We Can't Wait is brilliant and should be read with deep respect.

Why We Can't Wait.......2007-01-12

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. is fascinating, read his book to understand the deepest and most personal thoughts of one of the most influential men in history! This book was a true "eye-opener" for me. History books fail to capture the true emotion and real personality of Martin Luther King Jr. King is commonly known by his "I had a Dream" speech, but after reading his autobiography, you will know that King has changed the world in more ways than one could ever imagine. His life is truly fascinating and hid writing is intriguing and suspenseful. It makes you contemplate how a man who has survived so many struggles and elements that are against him could have had such determination to persevere until his goal was reached.

Through this valuable account of history written by the most important figure in the movements for African Americans rights, one can see the true thought of such a genius character. Every detail of the Civil Rights movement is detailed, the amount of planning and courage that King and his peers were a part of is still unimaginable to this day. You become so involved in the Civil Rights movement when you read you feel as if you were a part of history itself! His thoughts on his most likely assassination, family and America itself can be read as well. This book is definitely a book that should be read in everyone's lifetime, a perfect opportunity to reflect on the past of America, how far we have come to this day and how much more we still need to do to achieve racial equality.

why we can't wait.......2007-01-12

King practiced what he preached. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Why We Can't Wait tells the story of King under a whole new light - one that I have never took the time to patiently immerse myself in. I have always taken King's life for granted. I mean, I knew he was a great revolutionary leader, who preached civil disobedience, much like Gandhi. However, I never truly appreciated what he did for his people. This book lays out every aspect of his thoughts. He cared and prayed for not only blacks, but white also. He followed his values and principles.
Throughout the book, He takes you through the workings of his mind. Everything he does is done is an organized fashion, because he truly believes that his way will work as long as everyone participates. He has faith in what he does. His great speaking ability lends him credibility as his charisma appeals to his audience. He understands what his people want. King wants equality as soon as possible, but rushing is never the key. His poised and composed nature gives him patience in everything he does. As obstacles are thrown at him, King takes one step at a time to take care of one problem at a time. He knows that his people are being thrown into jail cells for performing what King preached, but he believes that civil disobedience is the only way to approach this situation. His nonviolence approach does appeal nationwide, and most blacks do follow as they were deeply inspired and moved by his beliefs. As he preached civil disobedience at all costs, he does what he says. He is later thrown in jail in the novel for what he believed. Even though he is the leader of his organization, he was unafraid to face the white jail cells. However, he worried, not about his own health, but his people outside. He was unable to communicate and fully engage meetings to organize more important rallies. Money was an issue as he was faced with conflicts, which arose as a result of white oppression.
Overall, King's account of his civil disobedience approach is insightful and thought provoking. Despite the dangers of his job, he still continues to rally people to a nonviolent solution. The book is written finely as King writes of his personal experiences in a first person point of view. I would recommend this book if you want to find out more about the inner workings of King's mind and struggles.
However, the book gets a bit boring time to time. Though every situation is a process and progress towards equality, the writing does get a bit repetitive and can be easily stated in less information. But the book does give a good account of King's life long struggle towards African American equality.

I Needed More.......2007-01-12

While I revere Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as the hero of the Civil Rights Movement, I admit I was disappointed in Why We Can't Wait. Dr. King describes his past experience in the Civil Rights Movement and reflects on the positives of what have been done, and the need for society to continue progress beyond the Montgomery Bus Boycotts. This is a key point I'm glad Dr. King focuses his book on. The main problem I had with this book was that King's argument focuses on the good actions of his own church and its constituents but never describes further from there. Even as Dr. King portrays this struggle vividly and argues the necessity to continue the fight, I felt as though the power, the importance, and the struggle of the Civil Rights Movement were reduced to the union of the different religious groups involved. Dr. King didn't, at least not in this book, expand on some secular perspectives of the Civil Rights Movement. The one reference made in this book to other perspectives of the movement, of course besides the vicious racism of that time period, was to Elijah Muhammad's Black Nationalist movement. While Dr. King could have gone in to objectively criticize the problems with this movement, he instead implied that they were sinners in their own right. Since Dr. King's main message was that everyone work together to end racism, he could have offered that both sides put aside their differences and work together to achieve their common goal. But instead, Dr. King used religion instead of objective criticism to argue against Elijah Muhammad's Black Nationalism. Of course, one could argue that it makes perfect sense for Dr. King to argue with religious fervor since he originated as a reverend. But coming from someone who constantly spoke of uniting all Americans and of attempts to reach out beyond the African-American community, that wasn't the kind of thought provoking analysis I expected. Still, I can't honestly undermine how Dr. King brilliantly argues to the unsure reader of the 1960s why the Civil Rights Movement is essential not just to African Americans, but to all Americans. And yes, I know the sacrifices Dr. King made for the people of United States as he patiently fought against those who weren't even willing to consider this genius as their equal. He only needed to include different perspectives of the same fight.

Compelling but Repetitive.......2007-01-10

Why We Can't Wait reveals the mindset and determination of one of America's most prominent African American civil rights activists, Martin Luther King Jr., explaining how he and other demonstrators, like Fred Shuttlesworth, through a nonviolent approach, helped African Americans fight for a less segregated world. This novel not only traces important events, such as the Birmingham Campaign during the Civil Rights Movement but also expresses Martin Luther King's perspective and involvement in the movement. With help from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, or SCLC, Martin Luther King Jr. organized protests and marches in Birmingham against Eugene "Bull" Connor, Commissioner of Public Safety during the Birmingham Campaign. Martin Luther King's tactic was to gather a mass of people to march along the streets. He followed the Gandhian principle to "fill up the jails" in Birmingham. Before marching, every person who joined with Martin Luther King Jr. had to sign a Commitment Card, pledging themselves to the nonviolent movement. Each protestor was taught to hold in their anger and avoid violence, even if it meant being sent to jail or being beaten. Once jails were filled, the people that were arrested were moved to the fairgrounds due to lack of space in jails. Protestors waved banners and practiced sit-ins at local lunch counters and kneel-ins at local churches, causing Bull Connor to be very aggravated. Bull Connor fought off the protestors using fire hoses and attack dogs, injuring both adults and children alike. The fire hoses were at one time reported to have been strong enough to "peel bark off trees and separate bricks from mortar." Martin Luther King's nonviolent approach against Bull Connor's violent attacks was broadcast throughout the nation on television and radio, acting as a catalyst for social change.
In his novel, Martin Luther King Jr. explains why the African Americans cannot wait any longer for change to happen, that the African Americans have to make the change happen themselves. King explains the idea of tokenism. The government, to stop protests and appease demonstrators, would promise freedom for only a small group of African Americans, giving hope to the other African Americans that they would be free. However, since the government only promised a few people freedom, the other African Americans had their hopes given up. King analyzes the religious revival and the unity of the African Americans toward a single cause. He also passes on the message that it is the future generation's responsibility to grant African Americans full equality in the land of the free. He encourages followers to solve their present problems and not leave them for their children to fix.
Although sometimes his points felt redundant, Martin Luther King Jr. supports all of his arguments very well through a hodgepodge of powerful analogies and metaphors that depict the forces behind the events of the Civil Rights movement. Through his analytic view and insightful thoughts of the time period, King paints a clear image of the struggles and hardships of the African Americans during the 1960's. Being a firsthand participant in the Civil Rights Movement, King's account relates the motivations behind the movement as well as the impact of the activists' efforts. If you like learning not just the facts of history but also the reasons behind history, then you will greatly enjoy Why We Can't Wait.

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Why We Can't Wait

Manufacturer: New American Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ASIN: B000CD3R00

Tuggle Books Presents an Analysis of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail: "Why We Can't Wait"

Average customer rating:

Great!

Tuggle Books Presents an Analysis of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail: "Why We Can't Wait"

Manufacturer: Tuggle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

Great!.......2000-04-10

Great stuff,couldn't put it down! Missed some good vocab though.

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Tuggle Books presents an analysis of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham jail, "Why we can't wait"
Melvin Tuggle
Manufacturer: Tuggle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Why We Can't Wait
Martin Luther, Jr. King
Manufacturer: Harper & Row Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Why We Can't Wait
Jr. Martin Luther King
Manufacturer: Signet Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Product Description

Offered by friends of library

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Why We Can't Wait-
Jr.- Martin Luther King
Manufacturer: Harper & Row Publishers-
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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MARTIN LUTHER KING,JR
WHY WE CAN'T WAIT
Manufacturer: HARPER & ROW
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000P6M3Y0

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Why We Can't Wait

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1149006951

Product Description

Publisher: Edition: none

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Why We Can't Wait (Signet Classics)
Dr. Martin Luther King; Afterword-Jesse Jackson Jr.
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

Samuels's collection of critical essays gives body and scope to the subject of nineteenth-century sentimentality by situating it in terms of "women's culture" and issues of race. Presenting an interdisciplinary range of approaches that consider sentimental culture before and after the Civil War, these critical studies of American literature and culture fundamentally reorient the field. Moving beyond alignment with either pro- or anti-sentimentality camps, the collection makes visible the particular racial and gendered forms that define the aesthetics and politics of the culture of sentiment. Drawing on the fields of American cultural history, American studies, and literary criticism, the contributors include Lauren Berlant, Ann Fabian, Susan Gillman, Karen Halttunen, Carolyn L. Karcher, Joy Kasson, Amy Schrager Lang, Isabelle Lehuu, Harryette Mullen, Dana Nelson, Lora Romero, Shirley Samuels, Karen Sanchez-Eppler, Lynn Wardley, and Laura Wexler.

The Culture of Sentiment: Race, Gender, and Sentimentality in 19th Century America. (book reviews): An article from: MELUS

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The Culture of Sentiment: Race, Gender, and Sentimentality in 19th Century America. (book reviews): An article from: MELUS
Prafulla C. Kar
Manufacturer: The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnics Literature of the United States
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from MELUS, published by The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnics Literature of the United States on June 22, 1994. The length of the article is 1521 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Culture of Sentiment: Race, Gender, and Sentimentality in 19th Century America. (book reviews)
Author: Prafulla C. Kar
Publication: MELUS (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1994
Publisher: The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnics Literature of the United States
Volume: v19 Issue: n2 Page: p155(4)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Culture of Sentiment: Race, Gender, and Sentimentality in 19th-Century America

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Culture of Sentiment: Race, Gender, and Sentimentality in 19th-Century America
Shirley Samuels
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKBGBS

Customer Reviews:

a let-down.......2007-05-10

While there is certainly much any reader could learn from this book, it certainly cannot be claimed to be definitive.

My job requires me to know quite a bit about the Federal Reserve, the details of whose various processes and responsibilities are usually given short shrift in most macroeconomics textbooks. And while it's the easiest thing in the world to find a book which mentions the Fed, usually nothing more than a cursory overview of the institution is given before the discussion moves on to the three tools of monetary policy and their roles in the macroeconomy.

Thus it was I was transported with delight when I was alerted that Alpha Books had come out with this title in 2003 (as of my writing it appears to be out of print). Others might think the title odd or arcane, but for me being conversant with the esoteric workings of the Fed has a direct bearing on my livelihood.

Alas! This book is not so great. I am disappointed to report that it reads like a government brochure, without getting down to the nitty-gritty. Or only brushing the nitty-gritty.

Worse, remember how I said that most economic textbooks focus on the Fed's three main tools of monetary policy and not much else? Well, this book doesn't even do that, dealing only glancingly with monetary policy.

From the look of it, you might think you're getting a much deeper, much more detailed explanation of how monetary policy works, but you'd be wrong. That's not the kind of book it is. It's almost a coffee table book, without color plates. There are no graphs and charts, and most of the text employs a "Who woulda thought!"-type approach. It seems to be written for people who already understand the subject--pace the title.

In particular, what I was looking for were extended discussions of the three tools of monetary policy, and a sickening amount of detail as to how they're carried out, their ins and outs, their effects, etc. I found nothing of the kind.

For example, in something I was reading the other day, I came across a statement to the effect that to increase the money supply, the Fed buys bonds "from the government." It's this last part that puzzled me. I thought the Fed was buying back bonds in the hands of private citizens.

So I sought out the explanation in this book. Surely there, the nuts and bolts of how Fed bond-buying goes down would be spelled out in nauseating detail.

No such luck. (Although the book does inform you that the Fed occasionally buys and sells bonds.) And ditto for similar technical questions.

Not that the book is a complete waste of time. There's a lot here I didn't know about the Fed, but most of what I learned was simply not vital, functional knowledge about the nuts and bolts of how the system operates. The book celebrates definitions; deeper explanations are few and far between.

In sum, I would characterize "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Federal Reserve" as a mere appreciation of the Fed, filled with trivia, addresses, definitions, and a raft of interesting facts, but designed either for one whose interest is merely casual, or who already knows so much about the workings of our central bank that they're dying for a round of trivial pursuit.

Touches on everything, but not deeply.......2005-01-16

This book goes into a tremendous amount of detail on several subjects I simply had no interest in. If you want to get a job at the Fed, for example, this book has an entire chapter dedicated to just that. How about developing our communities? Because the Federal Reserve Board is required by law to promote local economic development, there is a chapter on this as well. Would you like to know if we Americans are saving enough? No worries. Since the Federal Reserve helps member banks develop consumer education programs, there is a chapter on savings, too.

For the general reader, where this book is very helpful is in showing just how many responsibilities the Fed has. There are educational, regulatory, supervisory, as well as the more obvious monetary roles the Fed must play. It, of course, has a national role as America's central bank, but it also has a powerful international role that is less well-known. This book gives an abbreviated history of the institution and America's banking history, and it also has an entire chapter on the circumlocutory way Fed Chairmen express themselves in public (called "Fedspeak").

What the book is less helpful with is detail. Everything is discussed, but nothing is dealt with at even moderate length.

A Great Guide To Understanding The Fed.......2005-01-04

This book was written by an insider. This is not a bad thing. This book is a great tool to help anyone understand the workings of the Federal Reserve System. Whether or not someone agrees with how the Fed runs itself is a seperate matter from this books intention and who this book was created for. This book does not get into philosophical idealogy of economic systems and it shouldn't. It accurately discusses the tools the Fed uses to help steer the economy in the direction they want it to go. It also explains the layout of the structure of the Fed. This book is good for anyone curious about the structure / tools of the Fed and why it does what it does. The Fed helps run our economy and this book shows how pretty decently. It won't disappoint you, as it is straight-forward and comprehendable. Great for anyone who works in banking / finance / invesments.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Federal Reserve

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The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Federal Reserve
Lita; Martin, Preston Epstein
Manufacturer: Alpha
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OA3UD0

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