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Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Freedom Movement

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A biography of the Baptist minister, focusing on his leadership role in the civil rights movement

190 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1989

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About the author

Lillie Patterson

35 books1 follower
Lillian G. Patterson

Obituary

Lillie Patterson was a public school teacher and administrator whose love of writing and keen storytelling skills led her to write 16 books geared toward children. A West Baltimore resident for more than 50 years, Ms. Patterson, 82, wrote mostly biographies, historical accounts and books of poetry. Her topics included the lives of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington. She also wrote several works of fiction. Most of her works were aimed at youngsters ages 7 to 12. Her fictional characters were vivid, and the stories had morals.

For her work, she received the Living Maker of Negro History Award in 1963 from the Iota Phi Lambda sorority, the Professional Award from the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs in Baltimore, and the Helen Keating Award in 1985 from the national Church and Synagogue Library Association.

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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Profile Image for Daniel Kleven.
695 reviews27 followers
May 8, 2023
Fantastic YA account of not just King, but as the title truly indicates, Martin Luther King Jr. AND the Freedom Movement. As such, the book explores in detail additional figures, such as Ella Baker, SNCC, A. Phillip Randolph, and many others. This is a great historical book for young people, very well done.
3 reviews
March 12, 2020
Honestly when I started the book I thought it wouldn't be that good and that it would be boring. But over time I feel that the book just caught my attention and wouldn't let it go. The book really went in more depth on the Freedom Movement. It really made me see the full picture and what African American people had to go through. What really got me interested was when the book was talking about the Freedom Riders. The Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate busses into Southern Parts of America to show that the South did not listen to the Supreme Court when they said that segregated public busses were unconstitutional. It really was crazy what they had to do just to earn some basic rights. It was just crazy how they didn't commit any violence towards racist people, even though they would beat and badly injure the Freedom Riders. Overall I think the book is a great book and I suggest that anyone and everyone should read this fantastic book.

The book didn’t just go in depth on the violent and extreme parts, but it also talks about MLK’s early life. It just bewildered me on how many times MLK had to go through adversity. Throughout his life he had been to jail around 30 times. At then young age of 29 MLK survived and assignation attempt on his life. A man named Izola Ware Curry asked Ling if he was MLK at a book signing. When King said yes, the man shoved a letter opener into his body. The weapon barely missed his vital organs and he eventually survived. But what I thought was one of the best non-civil rights activists things about him was that he started Collage at the age of 15. Martin Luther King did so well in school he skipped both his freshman and senior year of school. This caused him to join Morehouse College at the young age of 15. This was the only college in the country, at the time to except only African-Americans. Here he learned about other amazing civil rights activists like Gandhi.

So in conclusion I think this is a great book and I personally think we should be reading this in class. I think this is a great book for people who would like to learn more about MLK and his journey or even the Civil rights Journey. I also think it’s a great book for someone who is looking for an adventure and thrilling book. I also believe that it is a great book because of the fact that it has totally changed the way I see how they fought for their equal rights. It is just crazy to me that we could treat people so poorly and still be able to go home at night and get a good nights sleep. So overall I would highly recommend this book. It is a great book all around.

So in my opinion this book shows a lot of foreshadowing throughout the book. For example when Martin Luther is at his last meeting with his followers, when he left the book said, “Little did Martin Luther King Jr. know that this would be his last gathering with his supporters.” This is foreshadowing that MLK will soon be assassinated by Ray with a Remington 760. This, also paired with other forms of foreshadowing prove that Lillie Patterson wrote this book focusing on using foreshadowing.

P.S.
Even though the book is kind of boring in the beginning just stick it out and read through. I promise it gets way better towards the middle and end of the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Erik.
16 reviews
Read
March 19, 2009
Very well-balanced biography. I enjoyed this one a lot.
Profile Image for Jason.
54 reviews8 followers
December 18, 2011
martin was born in 1929. His wife is Coretta kings. He helped blacks get there freedom. He was shot and died on 1968.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews

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