So, what do you like about Martin Luther King Jr? Best quotes? His legacy? Let’s discuss about him.
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I watched the “I Have a Dream” speech a few days ago… beautiful. Left me crying.
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Same, watched it in History class.
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His work is incredibly important. We should remember him and also remember him correctly. From our POV today, MLK is seen as moderate but at the time he was seen as radical and this got him killed. He also has various quotes critiquing capitalism which get heavily overlooked.
The not-judged-by-colour-of-skin-but-by-content-character quote is so important and yet so taken out of context. “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” refers to not discriminating against people based on skin not pretending race doesn’t exist. If MLK supported colour blindness he wouldn’t be the civil rights activist we know of him today OR back in the 60s.
My favourite quote about him is white moderate quote. It’s long but relevant to this day and crucial in the fight against racism:
I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action;” who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a “more convenient season.”
Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."
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This is appropriate since it was just MLK day until he US on Monday!
I often think about people who wish protesters were more peaceful “like Martin Luther King Jr was” don’t realize how radical and unpopular he was among the majority of people at the time. I feel like we study a watered down version of him (at least I did in school), so even people who are not for racial justice use him as an example while they denigrate activists of today. Case in point, the FBI closely monitored him and the FBI sent him a threatening letter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI–King_suicide_letter).
I admire him, of course, but hope we can expand more about him, beyond his “I have a dream” speech because we need to realize that he had more for us!
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I dont know anything about this 
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Wow, yes! You said it even better than I did. People think he was so peaceful and idealistic but he was radical and we shouldn’t dilute his message!
And what an amazing quote, I can think of many people this describes (aka everyone who says #alllivesmatter unironically):
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That’s okay, it’s great to learn to start knowing now or whenever you want.
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I do know about other motivational speeches, but they arent as powerful as this dude’s
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Yeah, his speech is very powerful.
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The first one that comes to my mind when i think of speech is The freedom speech from the movie braveheart, which is empowering but part of a far smaller thing
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“Let freedom ring!” he said.
And yet, there’s still no freedom for us from racism.
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Radical like Malcolm X? (Who deserves a holiday too)
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Not quite since Malcom X did condone violence to be met with violence while MLK Jr did advocate for peaceful protest but this is a pretty radical quote I found from him:
As King told the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) board on March 30, 1967, “The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism.”
From this fascinating article
Which makes him pretty radical, especially for Rhine time as capitalism was supreme!
This article was also great, and recommended by Representative Ilhan Omar (Democrat from Minnesota) about how MLK was not as “cuddly” and soft as he’s been portrayed: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article239376063.html
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Just wanted to pull this quote from the last article I linked:
And when he said, “Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn.”
Read more here: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article239376063.html#storylink=cpy
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Pretty radical for the 60s!
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I like that he wasn’t afraid to stand up for what he believed in and fought for rights for all
If it weren’t for him, we would probably still be segregated and I wouldn’t be able to go to school with my friends
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Confidence & determination.
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