January 15 is an auspicious day for every American and other people’s lives that have been touched by an incredible man who revolutionized the civil rights movement. The man is named Martin Luther King Jr. The Baptist minister, Nobel Laureate and civil rights activist dedicated his life to “work for peace, social justice, and opportunity for all Americans”.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and social activist, who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. He continues to be remembered as one of the most influential and inspirational African-American leaders in history.
Three years after he was assassinated, then-President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that created a federal holiday in King’s honour.The day was chosen because it is often around King’s birthday, January 15.
King wrote five books and delivered abou 450 speeches a year, according to CNN. People have tweeted his words and tattooed them on their bodies.More than 30 years later, the iconic “I have a dream speech’ still continue to resonate into everyone’s hearts.
Here are some of the list for King’s most inspirational speech:
- Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. -Sermons from his book Strength to Love, 1963-
2.”Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” King wrote from the Birmingham city jail in 1963.
“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly,” he said.
“Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial, ‘outside agitator’ idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.”
3.“We’ve been in the mountain of war. We’ve been in the mountain of violence. We’ve been in the mountain of hatred long enough. It is necessary to move on now, but only by moving out of this mountain can we move to the promised land of justice and brotherhood and the Kingdom of God. It all boils down to the fact that we must never allow ourselves to become satisfied with unattained goals. We must always maintain a kind of divine discontent.” Sermon at Temple Israel of Hollywood, 1965
4, “True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice,” Martin Luther King responded after being accused of disturbing the peace during the “bus boycott” in Montgomery, Alabama.
The bus boycott was a 13-month political and social protest against the policy of racial segregation on public transit. It ended on December 20, 1956. The US Supreme Court ultimately ruled that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional.
5. I have a dream 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.
6. Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.
Finally, “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality,” King said.
Have a wonderful day and peace! 🙂