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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.
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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.
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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.