Every January, I return to King in the Wilderness, an HBO documentary released in 2018 that offers one of the most honest portrayals of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The civil rights leader and American icon has been honored with a federal holiday since 1986, yet his legacy is often simplified, softened, and reshaped to fit modern political needs.

King in the Wilderness strips much of that away and focuses on the final years of King’s life, when he was deeply engaged in struggles that still resonate today – opposition to the Vietnam War, economic justice, voting rights, and inequality.

The film shows a man under enormous pressure, trying to hold together a nonviolent movement as parts of it splintered toward Black nationalism, while conservatives labeled him a radical and a communist.

King lived with constant threats; his home had been bombed in 1956, and he understood that his life could end at any moment.

In fact, the night before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, he gave a profound speech that foreshadowed his death the following morning.

“I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you,” King proclaimed from the pulpit of Bishop Charles Mason Temple in Memphis. “But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land!”

On this MLK Day, I’ll watch King in the Wilderness again and remember the real Martin Luther King, Jr. – a man who gave his life trying to push America toward justice.

King in the Wilderness is available via HBO Max

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