You are using an outdated browser.
Please upgrade your browser
and improve your visit to our site.
Skip Navigation

TNR on Martin Luther King Jr.

This week marks Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, a national holiday. Decades after his first civil-rights marches, what is the meaning of King's legacy? And what do we know about the man himself? Below, read some of the best TNR articles from our archives:

"A Moral Revolutionary" by Garry Wills (09/13/82) The life and trials of MLK.

"Uneasy Holiday" by Taylor Branch (02/03/86) How should we honor a man we still don't know?

"The King To Come" by Bayard Rustin (03/09/87) The holiday and the future of race relations.

"Celebrating Dr. King's Birthday" by Robert Weisbrot (01/30/84) What made King the most effective protestor of his generation.

"Protests at Selma: Martin Luther King, Jr. & the Voting Rights Act of 1965" by David Herbert Donald (11/04/78) The Selma protest in the public eye.

"What Shall Become of His Dreams?" by John Osborne (08/24/68) King's men return to Memphis.