Dispelling the Martin Luther King Mythology
TRUTH: Yes, MLK was a great African American leader, but he was also...
A great religious leader, a Christian thinker who incorporated Jewish and Hindu thought into his belief system, challenged religious institutions to follow the "extremism" of Jesus Christ, and developed an activist social gospel. He was a powerful preacher, the son and grandson of ministers.

A great leader of all Americans. His work was based on the same tradition as the American revolution, on Jefferson and Lincoln. His non-violent philosophy drew on Henry David Thoreau. He believed all races should work together in the struggle for civil and human rights and he took strong and controversial stands on many "non-black" issues such as anti-Semitism, the Vietnam War and poverty. He was a consummate political and media strategist.

A great world leader. He traveled extensively in Africa and India, met Kwame Nkrumah and Jawaharal Nehru. King identified his work with a world-wide anti-colonial movement for human liberation. He won Nobel Peace Prize and was respected around the world.