Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This book is a psychological biography of Martin Luther King Jr. It examines King’s life and thought in order to explore two central themes: (1) the notion that many aspects of manic and depressive symptoms can actually help a person be a more successful leader, especially in crises; and (2) the idea that by understanding King through the lens of his moods, one can gain keen new insights into the core of his nonviolent philosophy, as a politics of radical empathy. New historical documentation in this book demonstrates that King experienced clinical depression and likely had manic traits as part of his personality. His life and experiences highlight how such psychiatric states can help a great leader and how the psychology of nonviolence can be better understood as based on empathy toward one’s opponents. Other civil rights figures who also struggled with psychiatric illness, and often benefited from those conditions in terms of their leadership, also are discussed. Stigma and discrimination against mental illness, “the loneliest minority of all,” has been a feature of human nature; the civil rights movement is better understood once this bias is removed.</jats:p>