
          Stephen Oates. Let The Trumpet Sound: The Life of Martin
Luther King, Jr. Harper and Row, 1982. Paper edition by Plume,
New American Library, 1983.
          By Hanks, Lawrence J.Lawrence J. Hanks
          Vol. 5, No. 6, 1983, pp. 23-24
          
          Let The Trumpet Sound is the first biography of King
to appear since David Lewis' King: A Critical Biography
was published in 1970. One still might reasonably ask, "What could
Oates possibly add to the telling of such a well-known life since four
book length biographies have already appeared?" (Lawrence Reddick's
Crusader Without Violence, 1959;Lerone Bennett's
What Manner of Man, 1964; William Miller's
Martin Luther King, Jr. His Life, Martyrdom, and Meaning for
the World, 1968; and the Lewis biography.) To begin with,
Oates is the first to use newly available King materials at Boston
University and at the King Center in Atlanta. He has also made
excellent use of government documents, oral histories and many
writings touching upon King's life and the civil rights movement that
have appeared in the last ten years.
          Oates allows King to speak for himself whenever possible, infusing
the familiar portions of the biography with new vitality. At times,
this device makes the work seem autobiographical, with Oates adding
analysis: it creates a sense of listening to King.
          Writing that he has "no interest in adding to the deification of
King as a flawless immortal " Oates deals compassionately with his
frailties. The result is the best and most complete account we now
have of King's life, revealing an individual striving toward
philosophical consistency. He wished to be more like Gandhi. yet his
desire to take a vow of poverty and discard his middle-class wardrobe
struggled with a strong sense of family responsibility and the image
of his leadership role. He wanted to take a day for fasting and
praying each week but the pace of his schedule often took
control. King wanted to take a vacation from the movement and
completely develop his non-violent philosophy, but his charismatic
presence and fund raising skills always seemed to be required.
          King reacted to the frequent charge of being middle-class by
largely rejecting the more negative superficial middle-class values;
he abhored conspicuous consumption and refused to enrich himself from
speech making. donating these earnings to the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference and other civil rights groups. He refused a
number of lucrative jobs in order to stay with the movement.
          The sacrificing of personal needs found little compensation in
King's role as leader. There were jealousies, factionalism and genuine
strategic disagreements. And, he was extremely sensitive to the common
perception of the modern black struggle for civil rights being called
the "King Movement."
          While accepting the role as the most well-known figure, King felt
that this was a result of his being the chosen leader of the movement
rather than a result of personal ambition. He repeatedly pointed out
that the real heroes and heroines were the blacks of the South who
found the courage to fight for their rights--he was simply an
"instrument of history." He made this point in Stride Toward
Freedom and in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.
          Oates' examination of King's ordeal with the FBI and the campaign
waged against him by J. Edgar Hoover is perhaps the only part of
Let The Trumpet Sound that is "new." Determined to
discredit King. Hoover received official sanction from President
Kennedy to tap his home telephone and those of the SCLC. Between
October 1963 and December 1964 the FBI bugged rooms wherever King
stayed. In January 1965, the FBI sent a composite tape of these
recordings to the SCLC.
          Oates argues that "whether or not the tape with its alleged sounds
of sexual activity actually incriminated 

King may never be known." He
dismisses Andrew Young's and Coretta King's denials of the tapes'
incriminating potential as attempts "to protect King." Although it is
never explicitly stated, Oates' contention that King was guilty of
infidelity is based on statements made by King to confidants,
statements in his sermons and personal statements by confidants. The
case is strong, albeit circumstantial, even to those who wish to
deify. Since well-known papers such as the Chicago New,
the Washington Post, the Atlanta
Constitution, and the New York Times all
refused to carry the King "sex stories" when they were offered by the
FBI, the rumors never became widespread public knowledge during King's
life. Even within the movement, only a few confidants knew about the
tape. King perservered to confront Selma, Chicago, Memphis, the Viet
Nam war, and to make plans for the Poor People's March on Washington
before his assassination.
          At the time of his death, King was becoming a more radical critic
of America. He had grown to realize that segregation and
disenfranchisement were only symptoms of a larger problem: the
economic exploitation of poor people regardless of color. The Civil
Rights Bill of [unclear] and The
Voting Rights Act of 1965 did little to improve the daily lives of the
nation's poor blacks. The Acts did not bring economic independence to
rural Southern blacks or anything substantial to northern ghetto
dwellers. Bayard Rustin had argued since 1962 that the civil rights
movement should expand its agenda to focus on wealth and poverty in
America as well as race. King could now see the merit of Rustin's
position and he was ready to act. The Poor People's Campaign would
have been his first effort toward the goal of bringing about a
redistribution of wealth in America.
          King theorized that part of the reconstructing of American society
"might require nationalization of vital industries, as well as a
guaranteed income for impoverished Americans." While Oates stops short
of placing an ideological label on King's new philosophy, others have
argued that King was moving toward democratic socialism (See David
Garrow, Illinois Times, 31 March-6 April, 1983, "From
Reformer to Revolutionary"). One can easily argue that King, if he
were alive today, would support the women's movement, disarmament, and
abhor the growing middle-class consciousness among black Americans.
          Having the credentials to insulate himself from the harshest
aspects of class and racial discrimination, King could have easily
lived a comfortable life. He could have pursued his personal dream and
taught theology at a university. Instead, he felt compelled to
advocate [unclear] rights and humanity
of others that he jeopardized his own self-preservation. Let
The Trumpet Sound is a comprehensive and compassionate account
of this great life.
          
            Lawrence J. Hanks is a graduate student in government at
Harvard University. His dissertation research focuses on black
political participation in the rural South since the 1965 Voting
Rights Act.
          
        