Martin Luther King Jr
From WikiDemocracy
Martin Luther King Jr
A Black church leader, King participated in and led marches for the right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other civil rights. He oversaw the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As president of the SCLC, he led the unsuccessful Albany Movement in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King was one of the leaders of the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and helped organize two of the three Selma to Montgomery marches during the 1965 Selma voting rights movement. There were dramatic standoffs with segregationist authorities, who often responded violently. The civil rights movement achieved pivotal legislative gains in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
There’s Infinitely More to Martin Luther King Jr. Than ‘I Have a Dream’
by Craig Gordon 2021 ZINN EDUCATION PROJECT
Back in 2001, I was trying to get my eleventh grade U.S. history class to focus on a passage from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1967 book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? Unfortunately, I was not surprised when a student protested, “We already know about him. We’re tired of hearing about Martin Luther King.”
Martin Luther King Jr. Day: When & Why We Celebrate
by Beatrice Alvarez 16/1/21 PBS
In 1994 Congress passed a bill to dedicate the national holiday as a national day of service. The King Holiday and Service Act was introduced by Congressman John Lewis and Senator Harris Wofford, both of whom had worked alongside Dr. King in civil rights activism. Since then, it has become a day to remember Dr. King’s work and, as importantly, to continue on the path towards justice he paved for us.
Challenging Ourselves: Martin Luther King, the Movement, and Its Lessons for Today
by Charles E. Cobb 2017 ZINN EDUCATION PROJECT
My friend and former co-worker in the movement Julian Bond, who is greatly missed, used to say that the primary misconception in the public’s perception of the Southern Civil Rights Movement can be boiled down to three short sentences.
Remembering Martin Luther King Jr., the Organizer
Martin Luther King Jr. is rightly celebrated as a transformative political and moral leader who championed racial equality, but he is less often credited as a brilliant strategic and tactical organizer who led cutting edge campaigns to deliver the rights for which he is known. As an organizer, I am struck by the mastery of the organizing craft that infuses King’s writing, so on this holiday remembering his legacy, I’ll share several of King’s lessons that all activists can benefit from today.
16 Martin Luther King quotes to remember
by AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL 15/1/19
Today we honour the birthday of Martin Luther King, American civil rights activist and champion of non-violent resistance. Here we remember some of his more powerful words.
Dr. Martin Luther King in 1967: “We as a Nation Must Undergo a Radical Revolution of Values”
by Martin Luther King 21/1/13 Democracy Now
President Obama’s inauguration comes on the federal holiday in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech 50 years ago. We end our broadcast show with an excerpt from Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam” address, given at New York City’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, a year to the day before he was assassinated. “I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values,” Dr. King said. [includes rush transcript]
Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr., we have compiled archival videos, documentaries, commentaries, discussions and reports about his life, legacy and the Civil Rights movement.
Featured This Week
Explore Art & Music Through Documentaries
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy Jailed in Birmingham
On October 30, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy were arrested and forced to begin serving sentences in Birmingham jail because they led peaceful protests against unconstitutional bans on "race mixing" in Birmingham in 1963.
