I believe that Carson made a good choice in using Marin Luther King Jr. as an example of being a charismatic leader. One of the qualities of a charismatic leader, that was discussed in the Riggio article, is being able to speak eloquently, driving those listening to action. MLK was able to effectively communicate the injustices that African Americans were going through in that time, spurring them to action, such as in his famous ‘I Have A Dream’ speech. Even with the repercussions he had to face in such a racist period, he continued to speak his truth and the truth of others, nonviolently.
It was brought up in this article that MLK is thought to be “the initiator and sole indispensable element in the southern black struggles of the 1950s and 1960s” (Carson). I believe that this is true because if you ask someone to name the first person that they can think of who played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement, many people would say King. However, there are plenty of other leaders during this period that had a considerable impact on history. For example, it was brought up in the reading that Rosa Parks was also one of the important Civil Rights leaders, emerging before him, however, she was probably not taken as seriously as MLK based on the fact that she was a woman.
Going back to one of our previous readings which talked about if a leader is born through situational events or can be made, I believe in MLK’s case his leadership abilities depended on him being alive during the Civil Rights Movement. There were certain events that had to occur in his life which would inspire him to become the man we all read in our history books today. One may never know, if he was born a couple decades after the 60’s would he still be as known as the leader he is today? Perhaps. Or he could still be known as a leader, but the leader of his local congregation, not a nationwide movement.
I agree that situational events helped make MLK into a leader. Not only was he born in a time when people were looking for a leader, but he was also born into the appropriate family life to be able to become that leader. Him growing up in a stable family that value religion helped him a lot. His understanding the struggle from a privileged perspective allowed him to communicate with both white and black people.
I agree that MLK was a very goos speaker and a charismatic leader. I also agree with even though he was going through a lot in that time period he kept speaking what was on him mind and the truth. He spoke very well even with the repercussions he faced.