Jonathan Eig (Medill ’86) commemorated Martin Luther King Jr.’s life — flaws and all — at his keynote speech Tuesday in Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall. An award-winning biographer, Eig spoke about the creation of his newest book, “King: A Life.”
Eig’s newest book on King is a National Book Award Nominee, a New York Times Bestseller and a Barack Obama Summer 2023 Read.
Eig detailed King’s career as a moral leader, from the Montgomery Bus Boycott to the March on Washington. But he also emphasized King’s flaws, including his extramarital affairs and his struggles with anxiety and depression. Eig said he thinks people love King more when they see that he was human, too.
“Sometimes it feels like we’re living in times when nothing can get done,” he said. “It feels like it’s hopeless. King felt that way too.”
Eig added that as King’s legacy has grown through the establishment of a national holiday and the erection of a national monument, his true message has been distorted.
In addition to advocating for civil rights in the South, King spoke out against northern racism, housing injustice, job discrimination, economic justice and the Vietnam War, Eig said. According to Eig, King often chose the morally wise choice over the politically wise one.
“King can still serve as a model, but we have to remember that he was a radical,” Eig said. “We can’t let people get away with watering down his words.”
The creation of “King: A Life” took six years, hundreds of interviews and a team of fact-checkers. Eig said through it all, the principles he learned at Medill in the 1980s stuck with him.
Medill Dean Charles Whitaker, who moderated a Q&A with the biographer after his keynote, said Eig has established himself “not only as an industrious journalist, but as one of the most talented writers of his generation.”
Eig has also written biographies of some of America’s most famous figures — Lou Gehrig, Muhammad Ali and Jackie Robinson, to name a few. Whitaker said Eig has consistently brought new insights into these iconic figures through his books.
Northwestern President Michael Schill said at the event that Eig’s book treats King not only as a legend, but as someone of flesh and blood.
“This book is destined to be one of the definitive statements of a life that has shaped our nation and all of us in this room,” Schill said.
Student a capella group Soul4Real performed the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” at the event. Audience members stood, swayed and sang along.
Their next performances, featuring “summer in winter” themed songs, are Feb. 22 and 23.
McCormick senior and Soul4Real President Jayden McCarrell said the group learned harmonies for the Black National Anthem by listening to a recording rather than using sheet music.
“We learned it orally, so there was nothing ever written down,” McCarrell said. “While we were learning, it was a ‘find the harmony’ moment.”
Eig said King reminds people that protest leaders don’t have to be perfect, but they have to be passionate enough to get back up when they’re knocked down.
In his speech, Eig remembered King’s final words before he was shot in 1968 as told in his biography: “Okay, I will.”
“We have to preserve King’s message, we have to remember his words and we have to remember his call to action,” Eig said. “Because the way to make change is to remain vigilant, to never lose hope and to say, ‘Okay, I will.’”
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @SQPowers04
Related Stories:
— MLK biographer Jonathan Eig reflects on love for journalism
— Everything Evanston: MLK Day Celebration
— MLK Day celebration offers Evanston community opportunity to reflect
