MLK, the reluctant civil rights leader

[cbayer]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/20/living/martin-luther-king-identity/

By Clayborne Carson, Special to CNN
updated 9:55 AM EST, Mon January 20, 2014



Editor's note: Clayborne Carson, Ph.D., is the Director of the Martin Luther King Jr., Research and Education Institute. The Stanford University professor is editor of Martin Luther King's Papers, and author of several books about King and civil rights activism.

(CNN) -- On the holiday that celebrates the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., many will remember his sacrifices for the civil rights movement, and serve others in his memory.

Because of the accolades he received after his martyrdom, King is often viewed as a charismatic leader who was responsible for the success of the campaign for civil rights reform.

But many forget his international outlook, including protest of the war in Vietnam. And history reveals that before he was a civil rights leader he was, first, a preacher, committed to social and economic justice.

He was only reluctantly a civil rights leader.

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