The Heavens Might Crack

January 29, 2018
For the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights historian Sokol focuses on the murder’s aftershocks. He begins with stories of the African-Americans who venerated King, but who largely felt that his murder proved that “nonviolence is a dead philosophy,” as Floyd McKissick of the Congress of Racial Equality explained in 1968. Sokol then turns his attention to white people, now champions of King but who once largely disapproved of his actions, and reminds readers of the virulence of that hatred, and the battles over even the smallest tributes to King’s memory. Sokol is an assured writer, deploying revealing, striking anecdotes, such as that of James Baldwin, who was quoted in a New York Post article saying he could never again wear the black suit he wore to King’s funeral. After reading the article, one of Baldwin’s high school friends called Baldwin up, asking about the now-extraneous suit. Baldwin gave it to him. “‘For that bloody suit was their suit.... They had created Martin, he had not created them, and the blood in which the fabric of that suit was stiffening was theirs.’” This book offers valuable yet painful insight into the paradox of King’s stature throughout history. Agent: Brettne Bloom, Kneerim & Williams.

February 1, 2018
A history of the passionate responses generated by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.Five decades after his death, King stands as one of the most admired individuals of the 20th century. But when he was killed on April 4, 1968, he was a divisive figure: lauded and beloved by some; feared and reviled by many. J. Edgar Hoover called him a "degenerate," and Strom Thurmond damned him as a disruptive agitator. Drawing on archival sources, oral histories, interviews, and local, national, and even college newspapers, Sokol (History/Univ. of New Hampshire; All Eyes Are Upon Us: Race and Politics from Boston to Brooklyn, 2014, etc.) offers a richly detailed analysis of the impact of King's death on blacks and whites of all stripes. In the immediate aftermath, King's killing "intensified a debate among African Americans about the virtues of nonviolence versus armed resistance." Some joined the Black Panthers, who had gained followers even while King was alive. By the end of 1968, the group had established chapters in nearly 20 cities. Their appeal, writes the author, "was obvious: they were bold and fiery, intelligent and confrontational." The rage that fueled the Panthers also stoked racial hatred among whites, which intensified as cities erupted in looting and riots. That violence led to support for gun control laws among white Americans who wanted to keep guns out of the hands of black rioters. On college campuses, King's death inspired activism that had been focused on opposition to the Vietnam War. Suddenly, students saw the urgency of responding to issues of racial injustice. Sokol closely examines the trajectory of events at Duke University, where a weeklong silent vigil transformed both an apathetic student body and a conservative administration. International acclaim followed King's receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and surged after his death, especially in developing nations. By the 1980s in the U.S., King's message had become "scrubbed" until it threatened no one.A revealing examination of how a "courageous dissident" became a martyred saint.

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March 1, 2018

Several books have been released in time for the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination, including Joseph Rosenbloom's Redemption: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Last 31 Hours. Historian Sokol (Arthur K. Whitcomb Associate Professor of History, Univ. of New Hampshire; All Eyes Are Upon Us) is the author of two previous books on the civil rights movement, and is well versed in King's life story. His latest work does not go into much detail regarding the assassination itself, but instead places King in a balanced perspective both at home and abroad. This even-handed account helps explain the irony that King, in his day, was largely unpopular outside of African American communities yet now has become a symbol of American democracy. VERDICT A highly readable volume that will appeal to a spectrum of scholars, students, and the general public interested in African American politics.--William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2018
In the half-century since Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at a Memphis motel in 1968, his reputation as a visionary civil rights pioneer has grown to an almost saintlike status in some circles, including one prominent Evangelical Christian church. In this fascinating look at King's importance as a revolutionary American humanitarian and his legacy, history professor Sokol (All Eyes Are upon Us, 2014) reveals just how mixed people's reactions across the country were in the years following King's death and how his crusade has continued to shape our nation's often-contentious dialogue on race. Sokol describes the widespread rioting in African American communities in contrast with equally numerous celebrations by white supremacists after the assassination, and he covers a wide spectrum of both domestic and international reactions, including the enduring impact on gun-control legislation. Despite the wealth of information already available on King, Sokol offers a well-written, new perspective on his life here that all readers interested in twentieth-century history and the story of civil rights activism will find insightfully informative.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)