I'm not much of an historian, and King was before my time, and I'm certainly not the most well-read on him. But one thing I have read previously is King's Letter From a Birmingham Jail (link to text below) which he wrote to fellow clergymen. Probably the most striking thing to me about this letter is that King -- like most great leaders -- is clearly on a level of moral plane that most human beings never reach. (I doubt that I ever could or will, for example). This is exhibited in the passages concerning why he at times broke laws that then existed. Also striking are many of his written words, from succinct yet extremely powerful sentences (e.g., "I am in Birmingham because there is injustice here," "Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever") to longer sentences and passages that are truly inspirational. Perhaps the best example of the latter would be the sentence that King uses to close his letter:"Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty."
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