【2002 Archives】
Chinua Achebe002 ArchivesMartin Luther King: He Died Too Young
Listen
Chinua Achebe
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr., we bring you audio from an unused portion of the Art of Fiction No. 139, an interview with Chinua Achebe conducted for issue no. 133 (Winter 1994) of The Paris Review. In this clip, Achebe discusses the legacy of none other than Martin Luther King Jr. A transcript follows:
Yes, I think certainly, in my view, that Martin Luther King is an ancestor. And although he died at the age of thirty-nine, this is something we do not often remember—how young he was when he was cut down. But his achievement was such that some who lived to be a hundred didn’t achieve half as much. So he does deserve that status, that standing. If he were in my country, he would be worshipped … I did not meet him, unfortunately, and I think one of the reasons was what I have just said, that he died too young. He was thirty-nine. Gandhi, with whom he is often compared, had not even returned to India at thirty-nine; he was still studying. We are thinking not about a sportsman, who can achieve his peak at eighteen, we are thinking of a philosopher, a thinker, who had to mature into action. I have been lucky in the past few years to be invited, again and again, to speak on his day—two years ago at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and then last year at the Smithsonian, so I’ve become something of an expert on Martin Luther King.
Search
Categories
Latest Posts
Today's Hurdle hints and answers for May 12, 2025
2025-06-26 09:535 Ways to Connect Your Old Storage Devices to a New PC
2025-06-26 09:05Wordle today: The answer and hints for June 16, 2025
2025-06-26 08:33What Ever Happened to Adobe Flash?
2025-06-26 08:12Shop Owala's Memorial Day Sale for 30% off tumblers
2025-06-26 08:10Popular Posts
NYT Strands hints, answers for May 5
2025-06-26 10:205 Ways to Connect Your Old Storage Devices to a New PC
2025-06-26 10:16A Brief History of the Multi
2025-06-26 10:13Ancient moon volcanoes made tiny glass beads. Here's what they mean.
2025-06-26 09:4213 Good Games You Can Play on Laptops and Budget PCs
2025-06-26 07:57Featured Posts
Best Sony deal: Save $100 on WH
2025-06-26 10:304K vs 1440p vs 1080p: What Monitor to Buy?
2025-06-26 10:01Nvidia and AMD Seriously Want to Offload Current
2025-06-26 09:42Google Pixel Buds Pro 2: $40 off at Amazon
2025-06-26 07:57Popular Articles
Best Apple deal: Save $60 on the Apple Watch SE
2025-06-26 10:16YouTube might slow down videos if you use ad
2025-06-26 09:237 Red Flags When Choosing Cheap PC Components
2025-06-26 08:21Best Amazon Fire TV Cube deal: Save $30 at Amazon
2025-06-26 08:17Newsletter
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.
Comments (2687)
Opportunity Information Network
'The Last of Us' Season 2, episode 4: Why Ellie sings 'Take on Me'
2025-06-26 10:25Star Sky Information Network
How to Boot to BIOS in Windows 11
2025-06-26 10:18Sky Information Network
Major League Cricket 2025 livestream: Watch Major League Cricket for free
2025-06-26 09:26Leadership Information Network
Lego deals: Order Lego flower building sets at Amazon for $8
2025-06-26 08:25Treasure Information Network
Google Pixel Buds Pro 2: $40 off at Amazon
2025-06-26 08:18