Assessment of Martin Luther Kings Achievements

Assessment
 
The contribution of Martin Luther King to the black freedom movement was that of a leader who was able to turn protests into a crusade and to translate local conflicts into moral issues of nationwide concern. Successful in awakening the black masses and galvanizing them into action, he won his greatest victories by appealing to the consciences of white Americans and thus bringing political leverage to bear on the federal government in Washington. The strategy that broke the segregation laws of the South, however, proved inadequate to solve more complex racial problems elsewhere. King was only 39 at the time of his death"a leader in midpassage who never wavered in his insistence that nonviolence must remain the essential tactic of the movement nor in his faith that all Americans would some day attain racial and economic justice. King wrote a number of books. The most important for an understanding of his career are: Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (1958), Why We Can't Wait (1964), and Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967).
 
 
"King, Martin Luther, Jr." Encyclopædia Britannica