Dr. Martin Luther King is one of
the most significant leaders in U.S. history. He was a man who
lived —and died— for the bold realization of our Country's founding
edict, that all men are created equal.
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Listen to the "I have a dream..." speech (real audio)
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say to you today my friends, even though we face the
difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a
dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American
dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise
up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
— MLK, 1963
Martin Luther King
Jr., "The Peaceful Warrior"
American civil rights leader (1929-68)
"I have a
that my four little
children will one day live in a nation where they will
not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the
content of their character.
Legacy of Vision: Social Justice for Every American
The Reverend Martin Luther King,
Jr., Ph.D. was a Nobel Laureate, Baptist Minister
activist. He is one of the most significant leaders
in U.S. history and in the modern history of
nonviolence, and is considered a
martyr by many people around the world
In 1954, King became the pastor of the
Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
He was a leader of the 1955
Montgomery bus boycott, which began when
Rosa Parks refused to cede her seat to a white
person. Dr. King was arrested during this campaign,
which ended with a
United States Supreme Court decision outlawing
racial segregation on intrastate buses.
King was an adherent of the
philosophies of nonviolent
civil disobedience used successfully in India by
Mohandas Ghandi. King correctly identified that
organized, non-violent protest against the racist system
of Southern separation known as
Jim Crow, when violently attacked by racist
authorities and covered extensively by the media, would
create a wave of pro-Civil Rights public opinion, and
this was the key relationship which brought Civil Rights
to the forefront of American politics in the early
King is perhaps most
famous for his "I
Have a Dream" speech,
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
He organized and led marches for the
fair hiring, and other basic civil rights. Most of
these rights were later successfully enacted into
United States law with the passage of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the
Voting Rights Act of 1965.
King wrote and spoke frequently,
drawing on his long experience as a
preacher. His "Letter
from Birmingham Jail", written in 1963, is a
passionate statement of his crusade for
justice. On October 14, 1964, King became the
youngest recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him for
leading non-violent resistance to end racial prejudice
in the United States.
Since his death, King's reputation has
grown to become one of the most revered names in
American history to the point where he is compared with
Abraham Lincoln. Supporters of this idea remark that
both were leaders credited with strongly advancing
human rights against poor odds in a nation divided
against itself on the issue - and were assassinated in
part for it.
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"Injustice anywhere is
a threat to justice everywhere."
can not drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate
cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish
together as fools."
are a nation of many nationalities, many races, many
religions—bound together by a single unity, the unity of
freedom and equality. Whoever seeks to set one nationality
against another, seeks to degrade all nationalities."
hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined
nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and
all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the
most shocking and inhumane.
as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and
immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral
ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it
seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his
understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to
convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred
rather than love.