Dream and Legacy
Dream and Legacy
Dr. Martin Luther King in the Post-Civil Rights Era
Contributions by Rosa M. Banda, Lakeyta M. Bonnette-Bailey, Donathan L. Brown, Michael L. Clemons, William H. L. Dorsey, Hannah Firdyiwek, Alonzo M. Flowers III, Helen Taylor Greene, William G. Jones, Athena M. King, Taj’ullah Sky Lark, Jamela M. Martin, Marcus L. Martin, Byron D’Andra Orey, Amardo Rodriguez, Audrey E. Snyder, James L. Taylor, Leslie Walker, and Jason M. Williams
This book examines how Martin Luther King’s life and work had a profound, if unpredictable, impact on the course of the United States since the civil rights era. A global icon of freedom, justice, and equality, King is recognized worldwide as a beacon in the struggles of peoples seeking to eradicate oppression, entrenched poverty, social deprivation, as well as political and economic disfranchisement. While Dr. King’s work and ideas have gained broad traction, some powerful people misappropriate the symbol of King, skewing his legacy.
With unique, multidisciplinary works by scholars from around the country, this anthology focuses on contemporary social policies and issues in America. Collectively, these pieces explore wide-ranging issues and contemporary social developments through the lens of Dr. King’s perceptions, analysis, and prescriptions. Essayists bring a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach to social policies and current issues in light of his ideals. They strive to glean new approaches and solutions that comport with Dr. King’s vision.
Organized into three sections, the book focuses on selected issues in contemporary domestic politics and policy, foreign policy and foreign affairs, and social developments that impinge upon African Americans and Americans in general. Essays shed light on Dr. King’s perspective related to crime and justice, the right to vote, the hip hop movement, American foreign policy in the Middle East and Africa, healthcare, and other pressing issues. This book infers what Dr. King’s response and actions might be on important and problematic contemporary policy and social issues that have arisen in the post–civil rights era.
While it is vital to map the material realities that black, poor, undocumented, and other historically marginalized and aggrieved communities are experiencing and attempting to navigate, it is equally important to imagine, outline, and document the radical social vision King and others were envisioning and working toward, and the chapters in this book gesture toward this goal in the realm of policy.
Is Martin Luther King Jr. simply a historical figure, frozen in time? The authors of this book roar, ‘No!' They tap King’s philosophy as a resource for understanding everything from hip hop to health care and from foreign policy to university faculty. These wide-ranging and thoughtful essays reveal much of our current national distress and illuminate solutions.
From ‘A Dream That Occurred or a Dream Deferred' by Byron D’Andra Orey, Lakeyta M. Bonnette-Bailey, and Athena M. King to ‘King the Sellout or Sellin' Out King?' by James L. Taylor, this volume has some real gems of scholarly treatises. All scholars are taking the intellectual legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and offering fresh analysis for contemporary politics. Organized in three crucial areas of US politics—public policy, foreign policy, and sociopolitical developments—Dream and Legacy does a fine job resurrecting the liberation theology of Dr. King and making us think about the relevancy of his ideas for our current political state.
Michael L. Clemons is professor of political science and African American studies at Old Dominion University and founding editor of the Journal of Race and Policy. He has published numerous articles and books focusing on related topics including the civil rights movement, voting rights, social movements, and African American participation in the global arena. Donathan L. Brown is vice provost for faculty diversity, associate professor of communication studies, and former US Fulbright Scholar at Northeastern University. He has published several books and articles on issues pertaining to voting rights, immigration reform, and official language policy, among other areas. William H. L. Dorsey is professor emeritus of sociology and African American studies at Atlanta Metropolitan State College. He has served as associate director for the Journal of Race and Policy.
