Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Essential Box Set by Clayborne Carson
Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story by JD Jackson
Several other audiobooks are well worth your listening time. In Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (Tantor Audio), narrator JD Jackson delivers King’s assurance, style, and confidence. In his performance of Troy Jackson’s biography Becoming King (University Press Audiobooks), narrator Andrew Barnes delivers the text as well as King’s speeches. A new recording this fall of The Radical King (Audible Studios) brings an all-star cast of voices including LeVar Burton, Gabourey Sidibe, Cornel West, Mike Colter, Danny Glover, Colman Domingo, and Wanda Sykes.
Marching to the Mountaintop by Ann Bausum
Some family listening may help to give some perspective for kids, so that Martin Luther King, Jr. Day does not fall into the “school-holiday” trap of President’s Day. A good choice for children ages 10+ is Marching to the Mountaintop (Recorded Books) by Ann Bausum and read by Corey Allen. Dr. King’s sister Christine King Farris helps deepen our understanding of the person behind the name and the headlines in March On (Weston Woods Studios). In My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., (HarperAudio) Martin Luther King III (Marty) shares his personal stories intended for even younger listeners.
The website of Atlanta’s The King Center museum has excellent biographical material, and is worth a visit if you have the opportunity. Meanwhile, there are many hours of listening to explore.
