I came to see that so many people who supported, morally and even financially, what we were doing in Birmingham and Selma were really outraged against the extremist behavior of Bull Connor and Jim Clark toward Negroes rather than believing in genuine equality for Negroes. And I think this is what we’ve gotta see now, and this is what makes the struggle much more difficult. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), “The Other America” speech, Stanford University, April 14, 1967.We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of the tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), Letter From Birmingham Jail, 1963.I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), Letter From Birmingham Jail, 1963.
(29.52 minutes) On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1967, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his Christmas Sermon on Peace and Nonviolence in his pastorate, Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. It is also known as A Christmas Sermon on Peace and Peace on Earth Sermon.
For many people this is their very favorite of Dr. King’s sermons. It was broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as the fifth and final part of the 1967 Massey Lecture Series. In the sermon, Dr. King articulates the values and tactics of his broad and long-term vision of nonviolence as the path to world peace. At one point Dr. King states: “In 1963, on a sweltering August afternoon, we stood in Washington, D.C. and talked to the nation about many things. Toward the end of that afternoon, I tried to talk to the nation about a dream that I had had, and I must confess to you today that not long after talking about that dream I started seeing it turn into a nightmare. I remember the first time I saw that dream turn into a nightmare, just a few weeks after I had talked about it. It was when four beautiful, unoffending, innocent Negro girls were murdered in a church in Birmingham, Alabama. I watched that dream turn into a nightmare as I moved through the ghettos of the nation and saw my black brothers and sisters perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity and saw the nation doing nothing to grapple with the Negroes’ problem of poverty. I saw that dream turn into a nightmare as I watched my black brothers and sisters in the midst of anger and understandable outrage, in the midst of their hurt, in the midst of their disappointment, turn to misguided riots to try to solve that problem. I saw that dream turn into a nightmare as I watched the war in Vietnam escalating, and as I saw so-called military advisors, 16,000 strong, turn into fighting soldiers until today over 500,000 American boys are fighting on Asian soil. Yes, I am personally the victim of deferred dreams, of blasted hopes, but in spite of that I close today by saying I still have a dream, because, you know, you can’t give up in life. If you lose hope, somehow you lose that vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of all. And so today I still have a dream.”
Martin Luther King, Jr., San Francisco, June 30, 1964. “Martin Luther King, Jr. San Francisco June 30 1964” by geoconklin2001 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.I hope that the president didn’t mean to equate nonviolent demonstrations with a riot, and I think it is time for this country to see the distinction between the two…I think demonstrations must continue, but I think riots must end. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), interview from Chicago with Meet The Press, August 21, 1966. Cited in The Eclipse of Equality: Arguing America on Meet the Press, Solon Simmons, Stanford University Press, 2013, p. 160-61.I contend that we are not doing more harm than good in demonstrations, because I think demonstrations serve the purpose of bringing the issues out in the open. I have never felt that demonstrations could actually solve the problem. They dramatize the existence of certain social ills that could very easily be ignored if you did not have demonstrations. I think the initial reaction to demonstrations is always negative….Ultimately society must condemn the robber and not the robbed. It must protect the robbed, and this is where we are in these demonstrations, and I am still convinced that there is nothing more powerful to dramatize a social evil than the tramp, tramp of marching feet. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), interview from Chicago with Richard Valeriani (NBC News), August 9, 1966. Cited in The Eclipse of Equality: Arguing America on Meet the Press, Solon Simmons, Stanford University Press, 2013, p. 161.The toughminded person always examines the facts before he reaches conclusions; in short, he postjudges. The softminded person reaches a conclusion before he has examined the first fact; in short, he prejudges and is prejudiced. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), “A tough mind and a tender heart,” Strength to Love (1963).Softminded individuals among us feel that the only way to deal with oppression is by adjusting to it. Softminded acquiescence is cowardly. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), “A tough mind and a tender heart,” Strength to Love (1963).We do not need to look far to detect the dangers of softmindedness. Dictators, capitalizing on softmindedness, have led men to acts of barbarity and terror that are unthinkable in civilized society. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), “A tough mind and a tender heart,” Strength to Love (1963).There is little hope for us until we become toughminded enough to break loose from the shackles of prejudice, half truths, and downright ignorance….A nation or a civilization that continues to produce softminded men purchases its own spiritual death on an installment plan. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), “A tough mind and a tender heart,” Strength to Love (1963).This undue gullibility is also seen in the tendency of many readers to accept the printed word of the press as final truth. Few people realize that even our authentic channels of information – the press, the platform, and in many instances the pulpit – do not give us objective and unbiased truth. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), “A tough mind and a tender heart,” Strength to Love (1963).This undue gullibility is also seen in the tendency of many readers to accept the printed word of the press as final truth. Few people realize that even our authentic channels of information – the press, the platform, and in many instances the pulpit – do not give us objective and unbiased truth. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), “A tough mind and a tender heart,” Strength to Love (1963).Somewhere, we must come to see that social progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals. And without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation. And so we must help time and we must realize THAT THE TIME IS ALWAYS RIGHT TO DO RIGHT. “The Other America” speech at Stanford University on April 14, 1967.
In “The Other America” speech Dr. King presents “two Americas” – one that is “beautiful” and the “other America ” that is an “arena of blasted hopes and dreams.” In these remarks on racism and civil rights in American society, Dr. King explains that his campaign is about people who “are seeking to make America one nation.”“Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.” by U.S. Embassy New Delhi is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.Open to our quest for freedom [is] nonviolent resistance, that combines toughmindedness and tenderheartedness and avoids the complacency and do-nothingness of the softminded and the violence and bitterness of the hardhearted. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), “A tough mind and a tender heart,” Strength to Love (1963).God is neither hardhearted nor softminded. He is toughminded enough to transcend the world; he is tenderhearted enough to live in it. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), “A tough mind and a tender heart,” Strength to Love (1963).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. I have a dream today! Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), “I Have a Dream” speech, August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), “I Have a Dream” speech, August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.
