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"We will not resort to
violence. We will not degrade ourselves with hatred.
Love will not be returned with hate."
Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. |
It was December, 1955, and Martin Luther King, Jr. had just
received his doctorate degree in theology. He had moved to Montgomery,
Alabama to preach at a Baptist church. He saw there, as in many other
southern states, that African-Americans had to ride in the back of
public buses. Dr. King knew that this law violated the rights of every
African-American. He organized and led a boycott of the public buses
in the city of Montgomery. Any person, black or white, who was against
segregation refused to use public transportation. Those people who
boycotted were threatened or attacked by other people, or even
arrested or jailed by the police. After 382 Days of boycotting the bus
system, the Supreme Court declared that the Alabama state segregation
law was unconstitutional.
African-Americans were not only segregated on buses throughout the
south. Equal housing was denied to them, and seating in many hotels
and restaurants was refused.
In 1957, Dr. King founded the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference and moved back to his home town of Atlanta, Georgia. This
was the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. In the years
following, he continued to organize non-violent protests against
unequal treatment of African-American people. His philosophy remained
peaceful, and he constantly reminded his followers that their fight
would be victorious if they did not resort to bloodshed. Nonetheless,
he and his demonstrators were often threatened and attacked.
Demonstrations which began peacefully often ended up in violence, and
he and many others were often arrested.
On August 28, 1963, a crowd of more than 250,000 people gathered in
Washington, D.C. and marched to the Capitol Building to support the
passing of laws that guaranteed every American equal civil rights. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was at the front of the "March on Washington."
On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that day, Dr. King delivered a
speech that was later entitled "I Have a Dream." The March was one of
the largest gatherings of black and white people that the nation's
capital had ever seen... and no violence occurred.
One year later, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. It was not
the first law of civil rights for Americans, but it was the most
thorough and effective. The act guaranteed equal rights in housing,
public facilities, voting and public schools. Everyone would have
impartial hearings and jury trials. A civil rights commission would
ensure that these laws were enforced. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and
thousands of others now knew that they had not struggled in vain. In
the same year Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize for leading
non-violent demonstrations.
In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated while he was
leading a workers' strike in Memphis, Tennessee. White people and
black people who had worked so hard for peace and civil rights were
shocked and angry. The world grieved the loss of this man of
peace.
The following is an excerpt from the speech entitled "I Have a
Dream," delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.
"I Have a
Dream,"
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of
the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I still have a
dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live
out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be
self-evident; that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the
sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will
be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a
desert state sweltering with the heat of injustice and
oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and
justice.
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.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama ... will be
transformed into a situation where little black boys and black
girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and
white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted,
every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will
be made plains, and the crooked places will be made straight,
and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall
see it together. |
This will be the day when all of God's children
will be able to sing with new meaning "My country 'tis of thee,
sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers
died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let
freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true.
So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New
Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of
Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and mole hill of
Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom 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
that old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God
almighty, we are free at last!"
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The Making of a Holiday
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s death did not slow the Civil Rights
Movement. Black and white people continued to fight for freedom and
equality. Coretta Scott King is the widow of the civil rights leader.
In 1970, she established the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center in
Atlanta, Georgia. This "living memorial" consists of his boyhood home
and the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King is buried.
On Monday, January 20, 1986, in cities and towns across the country
people celebrated the first official Martin Luther King Day, the only
federal holiday commemorating an African-American. A ceremony which
took place at an old railroad depot in Atlanta Georgia was especially
emotional. Hundreds had gathered to sing and to march. Many were the
same people who, in 1965, had marched for fifty miles between two
cities in the state of Alabama to protest segregation and
discrimination of black Americans.
All through the 1980's, controversy surrounded the idea of a Martin
Luther King Day. Congressmen and citizens had petitioned the President
to make January 15, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, a federal
holiday. Others wanted to make the holiday on the day he died, while
some people did not want to have any holiday at all.
January 15 had been observed as a public holiday for many years in
27 states and Washington, D.C. Finally, in 1986, President Ronald
Reagan declared the third Monday in January a federal legal holiday
commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday.
Schools, offices and federal agencies are closed for the holiday.
On Monday there are quiet memorial services as well as elaborate
ceremonies in honor of Dr. King. On the preceding Sunday, ministers of
all religions give special sermons reminding everyone of Dr. King's
lifelong work for peace. All weekend, popular radio stations play
songs and speeches that tell the history of the Civil Rights Movement.
Television channels broadcast special programs with filmed highlights
of Dr. King's life and times.