Martin Luther King, Jr.: Nonviolent Strategies and Tactics for Social Change

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Nonviolent Strategies and Tactics for Social Change. By John J. Ansbro. New York: Madison Books, 2000. 265 pages.

Anyone who reads Ansbro's excellent and groundbreaking text, Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Making of a Mind (1982) immediately recognizes that the only difference in that book and the one under review is the title and the addition of a new Introduction by the author (xix-xxxvii), which provides a chronological and succinct summary of the aims and outcome of each of King's major campaigns from Montgomery to Memphis. Incredibly, Ansbro completely omits the contributions of black women.

This is an excellent secondary source for any course on King that addresses the intellectual foundations of his philosophical, theological, and ethical views. The author sees personalism as the basic foundation of King's thought, yet he does not focus enough on King's contribution to the personalist tradition. However, Ansbro does an excellent job of orchestrating and integrating a vast abundance of information into a book that has as a major focus King's adaptation of Gandhian nonviolence in his efforts to establish the beloved community.

The book is comprised of seven chapters. In the first three, the author methodically discusses the foundations of three fundamental themes of King's thought that appear frequently in his writings and speeches: the doctrine of agape love, the doctrine of God, and the sacredness of persons, respectively. Ansbro then turns to chapter 4, where he examines various means of addressing social evil; for example, nonviolence and non-cooperation with evil, including King's criticisms. Chapter 5 grounds the mission of the Church, notes the importance of the social gospel as well as King's confrontation with and critique of communism, and provides an examination of the capstone of his theological social ethics; namely, the beloved community. Ansbro maintains that although a number of thinkers contributed to King's conception of the beloved community (he lists all Anglo males and Howard Thurman), "Personalism emerged as the dominant influence in his thoughts about this community which was the goal of all his endeavors" (187). Chapters 6 and 7 present King's reactions to a number of Afrikan American responses to social evil in the United States, and a discussion of his total rejection of violent responses, respectively.

Throughout, Ansbro's discussion is enriched by his thorough archival research and numerous interviews. This in itself makes his book superior to others that preceded the publication of the original title in 1982. Prior to its publication, three similar studies were published on the foundations of King's philosophical and theological background. These included: Ernest Shaw Lyght, The Religious and Philosophical Foundations in the Thought of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1972); Kenneth L. Smith and Ira G. Zepp, Jr., Search for the Beloved Community: The Thinking of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1974); and Ervin Smith, The Ethics of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1981). Ansbro does not seem to be aware of the books by Lyght and Ervin Smith, both Afrikan American writers, since nowhere does he cite their work.

A limitation of this book is the author's failure to note the importance of King's familial, church, and black southern cultural background as the foundation stones for his formal intellectual development. To his credit, however, Ansbro at least hints at this (xx). Notwithstanding my concerns, this remains the best book to date for persons interested in a systematic examination of the formal theological and philosophical roots of King's thought, including his philosophy of nonviolent resistance to evil.

Rufus Burrow, Jr.

Christian Theological Seminary

Copyright Christian Theological Seminary Winter 2003
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