To realize MLK’s vision of a Beloved Community, we’re all called to live from a moral conscience that interconnects and permeates society with justice and peace.

Working at the intersection of politics, religion, and education, Dr. Lerone Martin of Stanford University is carrying forward the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a social and historical context desperately in need of renewed moral imagination, connection across racial and economic divides, and the transformative power of love.

In this conversation with Lerone Martin, we discuss:

• How his spirituality integrates with the meaning of education and formation


• The legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., his vision of thriving and justice, and the relevance of his life and writings for the contemporary world


• The role of emotion and affect and music in Christian faith and spirituality


• We dive into the core elements of MLK’s famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”


• We explore the joint power of courage and love in non-violent action


• We look at practical insights about the kind of morality that leads to thriving,


• And we close by asking the question posed in Martin Luther King’s final book, Where do we go from here?

About Dr. Lerone Martin

Dr. Lerone Martin is the Martin Luther King, Jr., Centennial Professor in Religious Studies, and the Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.

He’s a historian of 20th-century religion and a cultural commentator. He’s written books about White Christian Nationalism in the FBI, as well as the making of modern African American Christianity—as well as a book about MLK’s adolescence and his early sense of vocation and calling.

He stays deeply connected to teaching and community service, teaching the “Why College?” freshman course at Stanford, inspiring underserved high school students in Los Angeles and St. Louis, and developing programming and teaching courses for the incarcerated.

Visit the King Institute online at kinginstitute.stanford.edu or follow him on X @DirectorMLK.

Show Notes

• “I Have Been to the Mountaintop” (Delivered by MLK in Memphis on April 3, 1968, a day before his assassination)

• “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (April 16, 1963)

• Where Do We Go from Here?: Chaos or Community?

About the Thrive Center

• Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.


• Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenter
  


• Follow us on X @thrivecenter
  


• Follow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenter
  

About Dr. Pam King

Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.  Follow her @drpamking.

About With & For

• Host: Pam King


• Senior Director and Producer: Jill Westbrook


• Operations Manager: Lauren Kim


• Social Media Graphic Designer: Wren Juergensen

Special thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.