Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
From Wikipedia

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was a famous leader of the American civil rights movement, a political activist, and a Baptist minister. In 1964, King became the youngest man to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (for his work as a peacemaker, promoting nonviolence and equal treatment for different races). On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1977, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Jimmy Carter. In 1986, Martin Luther King Day was established as a United States holiday. In 2004, King was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. He was known as a great public speaker. King's most influential and well-known public address is the "I Have A Dream" speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.


Immediately after the March, the Negro leaders met with Kennedy to discuss the bill, and their future. When they first met, the president smiled and said, "I have a dream."

The entire “I have a dream” speech from The March on Washington on August 28, 1963 can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk

"I think there is a need for a leader... similar to a Martin Luther. But I don't think that we can expect in our lifetime another Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King was a rare breed. They just don't come around that often." -John Lewis- (Ten Years after the March)

This is a must watch! (This is really worth the three minutes it takes to watch!)


April 24, 1971, over 500,000 demonstrators arrived in Washington. My mother and I boarded a bus full of demonstrators and headed for Washington. My memory of that day was bolstered by the information I found on the internet. We sang almost the whole way there. Everyone on the bus was singing. I remember John Denver singing and I found a wonderful video from the day we were there.
Peace and Love were very important concepts in the world at the time.


Dionne Warwick sings one of Martin Luther King’s favorite songs as a tribute.



I will close with these words:

I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind's problems. And I'm going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn't popular to talk about it in some circles today. I'm not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love, I'm talking about a strong, demanding love. And I have seen too much hate. I've seen too much hate on the faces of sheriffs in the South. I've seen hate on the faces of too many Klansmen and too many White Citizens Councilors in the South to want to hate myself, because every time I see it, I know that it does something to their faces and their personalities and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we are moving against wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. He who hates does not know God, but he who has love has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.~Martin Luther King, Jr.