WHEN HARLEM NEARLY KILLED KING: The 1958 Stabbing of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - Hardcover

Hugh Pearson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 158322274X ISBN 13: 9781583222744

Publisher: SEVEN STORIES PRESS, 2002

Synopsis

In 1958 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was celebrating his first major triumph: the US Supreme Court decision desegregating buses in Montgomery, Alabama. With his book about to be released, King travelled to New York for a promotional tour. Then, in a little known incident, a mentally unstable black woman stabbed the civil rights leader, and a black surgeon saved his life in Harlem Hospital. Now, the acclaimed author of The Shadow of the Panther captures this historical moment, arguing that change occurs not in one grand gesture, but in many small ways.

About this title

Review:

"This fact-filled foray into a harrowing day in King's life, and the political environment of Harlems and of the [civil rights] movement makes for interesting reading."

About the Author:

Descended from generations of African-American surgeons--including his great-uncle, who was the first Negro surgeon in south Georgia and who built the largest private hospital for blacks in the state--HUGH PEARSON's distinctive voice weaves autobiography and investigative journalism to offer a unique window of understanding into the nature of the American experience. He was the author of Under the Knife: How a Wealthy Negro Surgeon Wielded Power in the Jim Crow South (2000), which The New York Times called "a moving passionate story," of "a poignancy transcending issues of race." His previous book was The Shadow of the Panther: Huey Newton and the Price of Black Power in America, a New York Times Notable Book of 1994. Pearson was also a former columnist for the Village Voice. He died in 2005.

About this edition

• Publisher: SEVEN STORIES PRESS
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 158322274X
• ISBN 13: 9781583222744
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 144