Martin Luther King Jr. Day

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day I decided to reread his famous speech given years ago. The full text can be found here: I Have a Dream Speech

Favorite Lines

The whole speech is so beautiful and moving. Although I cannot imagine what the world was like for African Americans in 1963, some particular quotes really stand out to me:

"In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

These were the words from the Constitution and it makes you wonder if our forefathers did indeed intend equality for all men as they stated or if they were just referring to white men. Either way they wrote the words "all men." In college we were always taught from Professor Deasy that the most important part of history are words and the way that people interpret words throughout time. These words in American's most popular document fueled MLK jr's rationale. 

"We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone."

MLK jr is credited for having a great character and this is evident in his non-violent approach to revolution. He deemed Jesus and Gandhi as two of his role models. If all the citizens in the world could adopt these principles we would feel a lot safer. Rather than killing or hurting one another with our words and actions, people could discuss their problems and come up with viable solutions. People would also look a lot classier and more dignified than when they turn to injurious means. 

"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."

To this day this is such a striking quote. There are some people who continue to judge others by their skin tone but to me this quote means even more. Sometimes we are quick to judge people based on any facet of their physical appearance rather than giving them the opportunity to prove they are of fine character. This is something we all can continue to work on. 

"And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!""

Such beautiful words and beautiful imagery. 

10 Lesser Known Facts About MLK Jr. (Taken from Here)

1. In 1934, five years after his birth, his family discovered Martin's name had been recorded wrong on his birth certificate. The certificate said Michael King, so his name had to be legally changed to Martin Luther King Jr.
2. In 1939, Martin sang with his church choir in Atlanta at the gala premiere of the movie Gone With The Wind.
3. He skipped the 9th and 12th grades in school and entered Moorehouse College at age 15.
4. He had Bachelor degrees in sociology and theology. In 1955 he received his PH. D. from Boston University.
5. From 1957 until his death in 1968, he traveled more than 6 million miles. He gave over 2500 speeches during his travels. He also wrote 5 books and had published countless numbers of articles in newspapers and magazines.
6. In 1964, at age 35, he was the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
7. According to a Gallup poll, King is the second most admired person in the 20th century.
8. In a contest sponsored by the Discovery Channel, he was voted the 3rd Greatest American of all time.
9. Presently there are 730+ U.S. cities that have streets named after King.
10. King is 1 of 10 20th century world martyrs who has a statue at Westminster Abbey.