The life and work of one of history's greatest leaders, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., has been distorted to make American society feel more comfortable about uncomfortable events, said the director of Eisenhower Chapel yesterday.

"There is a part of me that hates to see Martin Luther King Jr. Day come," Thomas Poole said. "The way we talk about the man. It seems that the 'I Have A Dream' speech was the only piece of work he ever wrote."

Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity sponsored Poole's speech, kicking off the first of a series of events commemorating King's birthday. Poole presented a lecture titled "MLK: Man vs. Myth.

Poole said it is impossible to understand the life, work and message of King unless it is recognized that he was a man of profound religious belief.

He pointed out that many biographies written by white authors erroneously depicted King as a man influenced mainly by intellectuals he studied in college.

"If Dr. King never encountered the thoughts of Rauschenbusch, Niebuhr or even Ghandi, Martin Luther King would be the same person today," Poole said. "His roots were founded in the Christian tradition. Non- violence was learned from Jesus."

Poole added American society must realize King alone didn't start the civil rights movement.

"The origin of the civil rights movement goes back to the shores of the continent of Africa," Poole said. "The civil rights movement is the historical black grievance of this nation."

Poole also focused on how King was not ready to start a revolution when he graduated from college.

"Martin Luther King did not seek leadership, but he didn't run when it was needed," Poole said.

As another example of how society has distorted events, Poole told the little known truth of how the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott was not started by King, but by the Women's Political Council in Alabama.

King was only brought into the event to seek support from the black church when they wanted to prolong the boycott, Poole said.

"Dr. King at no time had the full support of this nation, black or white," Poole said.

He said conservative black preachers found him too radical and young college students found him not radical enough.

When King started to state his views opposing the Vietnam War many Americans found him unpatriotic, Poole said.

He closed to say that America chose to ignore the radical thoughts that King proposed after 1963.

King began to realize that racism was woven more deeply into the fabric of this nation, Poole said.

The audience of 60 had a positive reaction to Poole's lecture.

"He definitely was resourceful, open-minded, and he also tends to lead things to your own decision," said David Gastion (senior-electrical engineering).