The Women and Men of American Religion. Story 5: Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King is a larger-than-life character in the American narrative, playing a pivotal role in the nation’s mid-twentieth-century Civil Rights Movement. His “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC in August of 1963 as part of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom is an integral part of Americans’ understanding of him and the Civil Rights Movement. However, talking about receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 he said, “I am a minister of the gospel, not a political leader”, suggesting there is more, much more, to him than “I have a dream.” This podcast episode is going to explore the religion of Martin Luther King, what it was, how it formed him, inspired him, burdened him, and animated him.

Today’s guest who will help us do this, is Paul Harvey, Distinguished Professor History and Presidential Teaching Scholar at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He researches, writes, and teaches in the field of American history from the 16th century to the present. Paul is the author of Martin Luther King: A Religious Life, Howard Thurman and the Disinherited: A Religious Biography, Christianity and Race in the American South: A History, and Bounds of Their Habitation: Religion and Race in American History. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.