An analysis and comparison of the ideal of community in the thinking of Howard Thurman (1900-1981) and Martin Luther King, Jr. (1926-1968). For both, the search for community was a life-long quest and the ideal of community was the single, underlying thesis of their thoughts and ministries. The significance of this study lies in its examination of each man's respective approaches to the explication and application of the ideal of community. It is the claim of this study that a comparative analysis of this concern in Thurman and King can yield fruitful insight into the conception, character, and actualization of human community.

The burgeoning terrain of Martin Luther King Jr. studies is leading to a new appreciation of his thought and its meaningfulness for the emergence and shaping of the twenty-first-century world. This volume brings together an impressive array of scholars from various backgrounds and disciplines to explore the global significance of King-then, now, and in the future. Employing King's metaphor of "the great world house," the major focus is on King's appraisal of the global-human struggle in the 1950s and 1960s, his relevance for today's world, and how future generations might constructively apply or appropriate his key ideas and values in addressing racism, poverty and economic injustice, militarism, sexism, homophobia, the environmental crisis, globalization, and other challenges confronting humanity today. The contributors treat King in context and beyond context, taking seriously the historical King while also exploring how his name, activities, contributions, and legacy are still associated with a globalized rights culture.

The burgeoning terrain of Martin Luther King Jr. studies is leading to a new appreciation of his thought and its meaningfulness for the emergence and shaping of the twenty-first-century world. This volume brings together an impressive array of scholars from various backgrounds and disciplines to explore the global significance of King-then, now, and in the future. Employing King's metaphor of "the great world house," the major focus is on King's appraisal of the global-human struggle in the 1950s and 1960s, his relevance for today's world, and how future generations might constructively apply or appropriate his key ideas and values in addressing racism, poverty and economic injustice, militarism, sexism, homophobia, the environmental crisis, globalization, and other challenges confronting humanity today. The contributors treat King in context and beyond context, taking seriously the historical King while also exploring how his name, activities, contributions, and legacy are still associated with a globalized rights culture.

This book's title, "the stones that the builders rejected" (Psalm 118:22), refers to "history's black absent ones" who may indeed have much more to say about the nature of moral discourse and redemption of America's soul than has previously been acknowledged. In the book, six outstanding black scholars, women and men, build on the hypothesis that, because of its distinctive socio-cultural location and long history of producing quality leadership despite inadequate material and social resources, the black church tradition is a prime candidate for offering direction for the development of leaders for today's national and global communities. Contributors include: Peter Paris, Princeton Theological Seminary; Marcia Y. Riggs, Columbia Theological Seminary; Clarice J. Martin, Colgate Rochester Divinity School; Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, Colby College; Carolyn C. Denard, Georgia State University; and Michael Eric Dyson, Columbia University. While the authors offer distinct methodological approaches for understanding ethical leadership, all express the need to return to some of the powerful resources of the past as a way of rethinking appropriate forms and styles of leadership in the lives of African Americans and the nation at large. The editor, Walter E. Fluker, is Project Director of the National Resource Center for the Development of Ethical Leadership from the Black Church Tradition at Colgate Rochester Divinity School.