I must admit I know very little about Dr. Martin Luther King. Just few bits and pieces: the usual "great man" biographical pen-sketches, his ideas of non-violence and the influence of Mahatma Gandhi.
Yet, I have no real idea of his movement, his ideas and his struggle.
But I was truly fortunate to come across this program on PBS yesterday: American Experience: Citizen King.
When I caught this program, it was tracing Dr. King's march in Chicago and the unexpectedly rough reaction to it. It later showed Dr. King's disapproval of the Vietnam War, the subsequent criticisms he received for his stance and his march into Mississippi in support of striking garbage workers when there occurred violence during the march. It was later reported of this march that Dr. King 'had fled the scene.' But Dr. King fought back such allegations with the explanation that he never supported violence in any form--how very Gandhian--and went back to Mississippi.
What I also liked about this documentary was the portrayal of the human side of Dr. King--the relentless demands of travel, meeting people, answering people's concerns, taking on criticism from within and without, and relentlessly fighting with towering courage and equanimity the suppressed underdog's fight.
Just like Gandhi who took on the British empire and finally won freedom for India, Dr. King took on the established attitudes, ideas and prejudices of a nation and was instrumental in securing another sort of freedom for those he represented. It was a very brave thing to do.
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