And the Walls Came Tumbling Down: An Autobiography

by Ralph Abernathy

Originally published in 1989, this beautifully written autobiography of the Rev. Dr. Ralph David Abernathy—Martin Luther King Jr.'s partner and eventual successor—not only tells his own story but also expounds on the leaders he knew intimately, including King, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, and Lyndon Johnson, among others. Revealing the planning that went into major protests and the negotiations that brought them to a close, Abernathy chronicles a movement, recalling the bitter defeats they faced, the misery and deaths they suffered. Amidst these struggles, though, he celebrates the victories that integrated communities, gave economic and political power to the disenfranchised, and brought hope to people who had not dreamed of it. Throughout, Abernathy's close relationship with King is central to the story—and to the civil rights movement. In 1956, when Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus, it was Abernathy who enlisted King to join the protest. Together, they led the landmark bus boycott for 381 days, during which Abernathy’s house was bombed and his church dynamited. From there, the two helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and they were jailed together more than 40 times. Their protests and marches took them all over the South—Selma, Albany, Birmingham—and to Washington and Chicago as well. An unsung hero of his era, Abernathy's inspiring memoir ultimately shows how their victories, and even their setbacks, led to social and legislative changes across the entire country.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Politics, Autobiography, Memoir, Biography Memoir

672 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1989

About the author

American civil rights leader Ralph David Abernathy founded the southern Christian leadership conference and served as its and president from 1968 to 1977.

Reverend Ralph David Abernathy Sr. was an American Baptist minister and civil rights activist. He was a close associate of Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior, during the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_A...

Reviews

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am such a fangirl for this book it is almost embarrassing. There are two particular ways in which it works for me.

One is the voice of the author. Abernathy writes with a rich warmth, and humor for all the seriousness, and is very personable.

In addition, the way he sets out the events of the Civil Rights movement is so clear. The various events are familiar, but he sets them in a context where you understand how some things led to others, and why things happened the way they did. I have studied these events, but I understand them better now.

This is not to say that there are no weaknesses. The focus of the main body of the book starts to wander as we reach the epilogue, catching things up on what happened to him personally after the movement has ended, but it is natural that it would do so. I can also see how some would feel that he takes too much credit for his part, as he and King worked very closely together, despite King being the much more public face. However the account takes nothing away from King's place, and you can easily see the devotion Abernathy felt for King, and his grief at the loss. I would recommend this book to anyone.

[Patricia L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who campaigns or demonstrates now for the poor and disenfranchised? Is there still a Poor People's Campaign or plans for another Resurrection City in Washington, DC?
What future is there for the poor other than welfare and food stamps?

I just finished reading the history of the Civil Rights movement - an autobiography by Ralph David Abernathy: "And the Walls Came Tumbling Down" (Harper & Row, 1989, 1990). It is the best history of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rev. Abernathy because it relates personal and intimate stories from the man who knew the movement the best. A must read for everyone, especially anyone who is inspired to engage in action to reduce poverty in our nation and to know how civil rights for black people came to be inthe U.S.A.

[HR-ML · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Rev. Ralph David Abernathy (RDA) wrote this paper-
back autobiography. Military veteran RDA attended college
on the GI Bill. Leader Abernathy improved the quality of the
student food & housing for military vets on campus. These
negotiating skills later helped in the movement to come.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) & RDA lead the US civil
rights movement from 1954-68. And created the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) whose objective
was via non-violent marches (mostly in the South) and
sit-ins to fight for legal access to: public accommodation
(buses, planes, trains, motels), voting, fair housing, bank-
ing (lending practices) & employment (labor practices)
for black Americans. Some federal, state, & local officials
blatantly ignored existing laws. The movement also saw
the need for new laws IE the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The SCLC encountered violence at marches IE clubbing,
being subjected to water canons, tear gas & dogs. Some
in the movement had their homes or churches bombed.
RDA implied local police & the KKK seemed united to
bomb/ maim/ kill those in the movement, black or white.
A policeman looked at his watch & indicated the horrible
loud boom was the bombing of Abernathy's church.

Southern black Americans were subjected to a literacy test
(not required of whites) before finalizing voter registration.
Or the registrar required the voter-to-be to recite verbatim
the Constitution's 13th or 14th Amendment. The average
American could not do this!

According to Abernathy, black organizations didn't have
united goals for black Americans. Abernathy thought the
National Association for Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) too conservative & timid, Student Non-Violent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in theory non-violent,
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) prudent (didn't over-
react to events) & Black Panthers (tended to advocate
violence). Individual egos prevented progress, per RDA.
He noted a few times Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth & (future
Rev.) Jesse Jackson told the media the opposite message
to what they & the SCLC had previously agreed upon.

RDA & MLK learned the FBI tapped their phones & lodgings,
after they heard an audiotape of MLK & a woman (not his
wife) during a private rendezvous. MLK voiced the FBI
had no right snooping into his private life. The FBI head
Hoover decided the SCLC supported the Communists (un-
true). He held these tapes, with the goal to blackmail MLK.

Upon news of Dr. King's murder, some black Americans in
major cities, rioted, looted & burned their own poor neigh-
borhoods.

After Dr. King's death, RDA took over SCLC leadership. He
received push-back from some black American groups which
tired of non-violence, thinking it ineffective. Also some
white Americans felt threatened by the aftermath of civil
rights legislation.

Revised May 2019.

[3Maggie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Banning books is wrong. Why ban knowledge almost like telling your kids there not worth learning. Why not ban school while we at is society is so uptight that they will try to eliminate anything that says any different that what it teaches, kind of sounds like brainwash to me.
There are many reasons as to why books are banned. Some of those reasons are religion, sexual content, homosexuality, violence and books that promote individuality. Books that have been banned for religion are, Are You There God Its Me Margaret, Bridge To Terabithia, and the Da Vince Code, some reasons these were banned are Satanism witch craft questing "god", proof against "god. Violence is has many forms such as homicide, suicide, rape, and graphic details. Candid, The Diary Of Ann Frank and The Color Purple were banned for these reasons among others.
And The Walls Came Tumbling Down was written by Ralph David Abernathy is about Martin Luther Jr. This story evolved the love life of this American icon. Written by a close friend of Martin Luther King jr. when it stated that Martin Luther King Jr. had a mistress many were upset. Along with the secret lover the assumed drug usage was also controversial.
And The Walls Came Tumbling Down is a book that was banned for "sexual content, innappropriat langue" it was really banned for saying that martin Luther king Jr. had a mistress. We can no let people let know that such a highly looked upon idol was human and made human mistakes!!! Ohhhh no!!!
Because of all this available Knowledge why ban it?

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a record of the events that together formed the Civil Rights Movement this book is very good. However Reverend Abernathy does not come off well. He seems extremely conceited and jealous of Martin Luther King's place in history. He makes it seem as if Dr. King would have been helpless without Abernathy there to whisper in his ear.

Still, the book is interesting and marks the points of change for Black Americans in the United States. It is tough to recommend and I will probably have to lay that blame in the hands of Reverend Abernathy's writing skills and his ego. However if you want to read about the Civil Rights Movement from the personal perspective of someone very close to the events that formed it this book is worth picking up.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

MLK’s best friend and cofounder of the Civil Rights Movement wrote this during the twilight of his life to recollect his experiences for the next generations. I learned so much about the past, their struggle, and how our present came to be. A book rec for our times.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A MARVELOUS BOOK BY MARTIN LUTHER KING’S BEST FRIEND

Ralph David Abernathy (1926-1990) was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, who worked with his close friend Martin Luther King Jr. to create the Montgomery Improvement Association which led to the Montgomery bus boycott. He also co-founded and was an executive board member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He became president of the SCLC following the assassination of Dr. King in 1968.

He wrote in the Introduction to this 1989 book, “I suppose it is presumptuous for anyone to write an autobiography. When I began to consider the possibility many years ago, I came to the conclusion that most of what I had to tell was a matter of public record… But the truth is, after a few years people tend to forget their past… If we are to survive and prosper as a people, we cannot forget who we are or where we came from. If my personal experience has any value in the 1980s, it is because I grew up in the South of the 1930s and 1940s and because I was part of a great movement that changed the face of American society and made that old way of life obsolete… I want the American people, white as well as black, to have a record of precisely how it was.” (Pg. xi-xii)

He recalls that his father “gave me many words of advice when I was a child, but one thing he told me stands out above all others… ‘David, if you ever see a good fight, get in it---and win it.’” (Pg. 10)

He recounts how that, as elected president of the student council in college at Alabama State University, he organized a strike/boycott of the food prepared for students in the dining hall (the faculty had much better food prepared for them). After the college President agreed to improve things immediately, Abernathy called off the boycott: “by the time we got to the dining hall… we saw huge platters of fried chicken… I was a campus hero. This experience taught me a lesson… You can deal with the most awesome authority on an equal basis if the people are on your side.” (Pg. 67)

Years later, he was receiving an honorary degree from his alma mater “along with Governor George Wallace, columnist Carl Rowan, and [the president of Alabama State University]. He shook hands with Wallace, and observes, “In his later years he had become one of the greatest friends the blacks ever had in Montgomery. Where once he had stood in the doorway and barred federal marshals from entering, he now made certain that our people were first in line for jobs, new schools, and other benefits of state government… it was a time for reconciliations.” (Pg. 86)

After the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, he notes, “among the educated blacks, and particularly among the clergy, there was … lots of talk… [and] we eyed the new situation and calculated our chances of forcing the issue, of bringing about our freedom more quickly. Some of the older clergy… were largely unconcerned with social issues. They preached the Gospel of ‘other worldliness,’ of a better time in the sweet by and by… But a new generation of black men and women was coming along. Those of us in our twenties were less patient and less afraid of making trouble… we started [preaching] about courage and justice and the necessity to gain equality in this world… We also began preaching about specific injustices on the local scene… That kind of talk was dangerous…” (Pg. 114-115)

When Dr. King was called to pastor the Dexter Avenue church, Abernathy observes, “The Lord had sent me a friend to replace Vernon Johns… and from the beginning he and I became inseparable… we tried to meet for dinner every day to talk and to make plans… spelling them out in terms of actions we could take right there in Montgomery… I had the specific understanding of Montgomery that he lacked… Martin provided the philosophic framework for the whole plan and we both insisted that its implementation be completely and militantly nonviolent. Martin and I had thoroughly read and absorbed the teachings of Henry David Thoreau and Mahatma Gandhi on this subject.” (Pg. 128-129)

The famous Montgomery Bus Boycott began, and he notes, “The miracle of this period was how little the relationship changed between whites and blacks, how calm and civil everyone remained. Our quarrel was not with the white race but with the city officials and the bus company, and most white people understood this distinction… So as difficult as it may be for some people to believe, Montgomery was a relatively friendly place during the year of the bus boycott.” (Pg. 163-164)

Of the 1963 March on Washington, he recalls, “with a civil rights bill before Congress, it was obvious that a Washington march would be feasible… Though Philip Randolph was the most important single figure involved in the planning, the leaders of ten organizations were principally responsible for the final shape of the event… If the March on Washington seemed like a gamble at the time, in retrospect I realize that we had a great deal more to lose than to gain. Martin and I were both worried about violence… He … expressed to me his concern that with SNCC involved the march would easily provoke an incident that could lead to trouble.” (Pg. 274-275)

Of Dr. King’s famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, he comments, “How he knew just what note to strike I can’t say. It was part of his genius to be able to rise to such occasions and somehow transcend them… he gave the cheering crowd… the vision of a future no one else had defined and few black people could imagine… The dream he envisioned … simply looked beyond the injustice and hatred and division to see what America could become, if and when it realized its fullest potential as a nation…. At a time then black people and the nation as a whole needed hope more than anything else.” (Pg. 280)

In January 1965, the FBI sent Dr. King their letter accompanying their infamous tape of several extramarital indiscretions, and King played part of the tape for Abernathy: “‘So they bugged our hotel room.’ … It was outrageous. I wanted to ask him if Coretta had heard it, but decided not to. I also resisted the temptation to remind him that I had warned against just such tactics when we were in jail in Birmingham. It was no time to say ‘I told you so.’ … Of course, I didn’t bother to say anything about the suggestion that he commit suicide. Whoever wrote that letter had no understanding whatsoever of Martin or his faith… Whatever his weaknesses, he had no intention of throwing away the life that God had given him.” (Pg. 310)

He acknowledges, “We should have known better than to believe we could come to Chicago and right its wrongs with the same tactics we had used in Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma. We entered a different world when we came to this northern city in 1966, a world we didn’t fully understand… and before we had fully understood the differences between the two societies, we had suffered our first significant defeat… It was an embittering experience, and I’m not sure that Martin ever got over it.” (Pg. 362)

There, they encountered the Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam: “While we were speaking out for integrated schools and integrated housing, the Muslims were preaching the gospel of separatism…. The last thing they were willing to support was a move to put black students and white students in the same neighborhood… They would probably have joined us if we had proposed killing all the white people, but they certainly didn’t want to listen to anyone preach the gospel of brotherly love.” (Pg. 372-373)

Of Jesse Jackson, he observes, “When Jesse was promoting PUSH Excel in the late 70s he was performing a great service for our people, and I always regretted the fact that he became involved in presidential politics and dropped the PUSH educational program. Not since then have we shown any significant improvement in motivating black youngsters to get the most out of their education.” (Pg. 411)

Of King’s assassination, he recounts, “I heard a loud crack… It sounded like a backfire from a car, but there was just enough difference to chill my heart. I wheeled, looked out the door, and saw only Martin’s feet… I bolted out the door and found him there, face up, sprawled and unmoving… I looked down at Martin’s face. His eyes wobbled, then for an instant focused on me… His eyes grew calm and he moved his lips… Then… I saw the understanding drain from his eyes and leave them absolutely empty…” (Pg. 440-441)

He also wrote, “Much has been written in recent years about [King’s] weakness for women. Had others not dealt with the matter in such detail, I might have avoided any commentary. We all fall short of the mark…. Sexual sins are by no means the worst… Unfortunately, some of these commentators have told only the bare facts without suggesting the reasons why Martin might have indulged in such behavior… In the first place, Martin and I were away more often than we were at home… Some men are able to bear such deprivations than others… It was just that he had a particularly difficult time with that temptation. His own principal explanation of that difficulty is one I choose not to repeat here.” (Pg. 470-471)

He continues, “But in addition to his personal vulnerability, he was also a man who attracted women…in droves… He was a hero… and women are always attracted to a hero… A recent biography has suggested without quite saying so that martin had affairs with white women as well as black. Such a suggestion is without foundation.” (Pg. 471-42) He adds, “He was involved with a young woman and her closeness to Martin had been spotted by some of the reporters covering our story… soon after the question had begun to trouble me, Martin and I were thrown in jail again and once more shared a cell… I brought up the matter… ‘So whatever your relationship with her, you need to cool it down. With Hoover’s men hiding under every bed, you just can’t afford to continue the way you have.’ … [MLK replied], ‘Ralph, you may be right, but I don’t care… The FBI can do whatever they please, but I have no intention of cutting off this relationship.’ I nodded my head and changed the subject. I was disappointed in his reaction, but I think I understood it… he was bearing a lion’s share of the burden, and he felt he couldn’t do it without this source of strength.” (Pg. 474-475)

There is SO much important and fascinating material in this book---it will be “must reading” for anyone interested in Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement.

[Gary Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish i could review this book the way it deserves. A must read for anyone interested in the history of the civil rights movement and those involved. I am in awe of these folks vision and courage. I truly hope this part of history is never forgotten. Here it is almost 2017, and our country will be facing a much more organized and wealthy racist greedy bunch then Ralph David Abernathy had to face in Alabama in his lifetime. Think about that!!!! I would argue that the wealth discrepancy the blacks were living with in the south during Mr. Abernathy's times were horrid , where as today it is happening to the entire middle-class in America. Of course it is still much worse toward those facing our countries institutionalized racism. The sad part, because of the 'conservative cabal' and the top 1% buying the media and our 'constitutionally bound' politicians, they have created an aura of hatred and disdain toward our fragile democracy. Hence the uninformed and the racists, misogynists, xenophobes and the 'blue eyed' jesus fundamentalists have voted against their interests truly believing that what happened to the middle-class during the 2001-2008 debacle will not happen again. What is the definition of insanity? We all know more and more of our countries wealth is in the hands of the top 1%, and it is going to get worse after the 11-8-2016 election. As the old saying goes 'it's hard to fight city hall'. This helps explain what Ralph David Abernathy and his close friend Martin Luther King, Jr were up against, except they only had the backing of their churches and a hand full of disenfranchised supporters to begin with. What they accomplished was truly a miracle. I know it is looking very bleak, but if we can find some young 'truth soldiers' like Ralph David Abernathy and Martin Luther King , Jr. were, we just might win this war. Yes, we have lost the most recent battle, but we surely must never give up. As Martin Luther King Jr. said,"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."

[Edward]

One of the important sources for MLK's notorious philandering. Sam Francis wrote:

"I spoke to several former agents of the FBI who had been personally engaged in the FBI surveillance of King and who knew from first-hand observation that the rumors about his undisciplined sex life were substantially true. A few years later, with the publication in 1989 of Ralph Abernathy's autobiography, And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, those rumors were substantiated by one of King's closest friends and political allies. It is quite true that a person's sex life is largely his own business, but in the case of an internationally prominent figure such as King, they become publicly relevant, and they are especially relevant given the high moral stature King's admirers habitually ascribe to him, the issue of his integrity as a Christian clergyman, and the proposal to elevate him to the status of a national moral icon." ~ The King Holiday and Its Meaning

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

And the Walls Came Tumbling Down by Ralph David Abernathy (Harper & Row Publishers 1989) (Biography) (3841).

Ralph David Abernathy was a preacher, a warrior, and a hero of the American Civil Rights movement of the Twentieth Century. He was one of Martin Luther King Jr’s best friends, and that’s all the bona fides Abernathy needs. Abernathy was with King during many of the most important civil rights events of the 1960’s. Abernathy was with King in Montgomery, Alabama, in Albany, Georgia, in Birmingham, Alabama, in Selma, Alabama, in St. Augustine, Florida, and in Memphis, Tennessee. Abernathy was at the Lorraine Motel with King in Memphis when King was assassinated. And the Walls Came Tumbling Down is Abernathy’s autobiography.

I selected this book because of its chapter on the Albany Movement in Georgia in 1961-1962. The Albany Movement began when a coalition of Black Southwest Georgia ministers and community leaders sought to end racial segregation practices in the city, which included forced segregation at the waiting rooms at the Dougherty County bus and train stations. When MLK and Abernathy joined the protests in Albany, SNCC (the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) and the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) were already involved. The SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) entered the fray along with King and Abernathy, and the stage was set for a monumental showdown in the struggle for civil rights.

I was particularly interested in Ralph David Abernathy’s reporting about the Albany Movement, for I lived near Albany during the last ten years of the 1900s. When I lived there, Albany was still fiercely segregated. I was thus very curious to learn about Abernathy’s experiences in Albany.

The Albany Movement predated the horrible law enforcement attacks on nonviolent Black protesters in Birmingham and Selma. In Abernathy’s account, he and Dr. King came to Albany to support the ongoing local protests. They were soon arrested and jailed along with so many other demonstrators that the jails in all of the contiguous counties were soon filled to overflowing with Albany demonstrators. The demonstrators’ strategy was to forego bail and accept a sentence of 30 to 45 days in jail until the jails were so crammed that gridlock would occur and the local authorities would have to give in to the protesters’ demands.

King and Abernathy promised to stay in jail with their fellow arrestees to show their (King’s and Abernathy’s) resolve to stay the course until the white Albany establishment caved and the battle had been won.

To my surprise, Abernathy reported that there were no attacks upon protesters in Albany; Abernathy stated that Albany’s mayor Asa Kelly and the chief of police Laurie Pritchett conducted themselves as gentlemen during the confrontations. Abernathy writes that the Albany authorities brooked no maltreatment of demonstrators or arrestees. According to Abernathy, with the whole world watching, the establishment in Albany did not tolerate police brutality or violence during the protests for the simple reason that they did not want images of police brutality from Albany to be broadcast or published for all the world to witness.

According to Abernathy, the Albany Movement failed to achieve its goals when he and King lost their credibility with the other jailed protesters. Though King and Abernathy had intended to stay in jail to support the movement, some unknown and never-identified party or parties posted bail for the two ministers, much to the chagrin of King and Abernathy. When the two were turned out of jail and released, their credibility in the eyes of their fellow demonstrators with whom they had pledged to remain in jail was destroyed.

Albany continued to fight local civil rights battles for years thereafter, and King and Abernathy considered the lessons of Albany to be critical to the formation of future winning strategies for the movement.

And that’s basically what Ralph David Abernathy had to say about the Albany Movement. I would have been hugely skeptical of this account had the words been those of some other witness, but I credit Reverend Abernathy with speaking the truth as he saw it.

My rating: 7/10, finished 8/7/23 (3841).

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read. Overall, well-written, full of good insights into the working of the Civil Rights Movement, SCLC, and Martin Luther King Jr. However, I have some reservations about how he describes anyone who disagrees with him. He makes it sound like anyone who is remotely interested in Black Nationalism or Islam or less passive non-violent tactics is a foolish kid who doesn't know anything, rather than a well thought out philosophy. It also bother me that he mention Bayard Rustin maybe once, and I have to wonder if that is partly due to Rustin's sexuality. In addition, he writes assuming some knowledge of Martin and the Civil Rights Movement. It can be hard to follow if you don't have some knowledge. For example, he alludes a couple times to Martin meeting women and being involved with them in the various hotels they stay in, but doesn't explain that that's what he means until almost the end, when he defends Martin as if everyone knows about his infidelities.

However, I do enjoy the willingness to admit and discuss mistakes, failings, and flaws, in addition to successes. This story is there for the highs and lows, including lessons learned the hard way. And learning about how much of the Civil Rights Movement's success was based on circumstance and luck. What if Bull Connor hadn't brought out the dogs and the hoses, and been more like the sheriff in Albany - affable, apologetic, quietly effective? What would have happened?

And what if judges had not ever sided with the SCLC, et al.? What if the SCLC had become branded as law breakers from the beginning, rather than only under extreme duress? So many "what ifs," and that's where this book shines - what if Martin hadn't dated the woman Ralph was interested in? Would they have become good friends?

All in all, a worthwhile read, but in an America with Black Lives Matter leading the way for civil rights, some of his editorializing is hard to take seriously.

[Cory Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provided me better insight of the civil rights movement and the impact it had on the nation. It appears that history is repeating itself.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent book. It led me to appreciate even more The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., the Civil Rights Movement, and most of all The Reverend Ralph Abernathy. He admits freely that each man had a vice but not the same vice. He writes about their struggles finding a place for peaceful meetings. Their safety and the safety of the men, women and children who gathered were in danger. These two gentlemen and all those involved in the movement were true heroes.

[Booker · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of the great leaders of the civil rights era that no one talks about

[Eric]

So much about the Civil Rights Movement and MLK that I never knew before!

[Corey Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great look inside the life of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King. The good, the bad and the ugly.

[Greta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! The insiders look at the unfolding civil rights movement is fascinating. Abernathy was MLK's secretary.

[Deborah Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good detail on his early life path. Particularly was intrigued with narrative on his friendship with Rev Dr. King and poignant pieces on the assassination aftermath.

[Glenda]

Very interesting and informative about the Civil Rights Movement.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book #11 in my Library Biography Challenge.

Wow. So I've never heard of Ralph Abernathy. Which, after reading his 600 page autobiography - I'm honestly shocked! He was Martin Luther King's right-hand man. Abernathy covers much more than his own story in this book - he is chronicling the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement. There is so much information in his detailed accounts that is not talked about these days and I believe if more people read about what they did, namely their non-violence workshops & what steps to take - we could draw a lot of inspiration and knowledge from their examples. I'm sure many have already - but the masses should be more aware of what actually went down. I wasn't looking forward to reading this book, because it was so long. But I'm glad I did, I learned so much from Abernathy's writings.

At one point Abernathy comments, "...elected politicians routinely made campaign promises to keep us in our place, today no one uses such rhetoric - that is, no one who expects to be elected." Well, Mr. Abernathy, I'm quite happy you didn't live long enough to see what has become of this country and in particular the 2016 election. Because that's exactly what happened. Even if it wasn't particular to the Black community. Although, there was a speech made by the President that spoke of protestors - "The Good Ol' Days" - when they didn't protest again so quickly - well the President obviously never studied or was involved in the Civil Rights Movement - because Martin, Abernathy, the SCLC, and many, many other did stand up quite frequently - and did so until they got some advancement - if not all that they were asking for.

I will be honest - from time to time - Abernathy's jealously creeps into his writing - he makes small comments about King & Jesse Jackson in particular. Just to kind of make himself seem better than himself - maybe that wasn't his intention, but it sure feels like it to the reader. I feel that this was because he never was as popular as the two, even though he was at the heart of the movement. If he was well-known at the time, his popularity did not stand the test of time. For that reason, I feel for him - because I know that there were many successes because of Ralph Abernathy.

Worth reading, despite the long winded and sometimes unnecessary details.