Who was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and why is he still relevant today?
- Amanda Omoigui
- Jan 15, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 21, 2024
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." A Baptist preacher from Atlanta used this quote in a collection of his nationally listened to sermons, called Strength to Love. Americans, young and old, black and white, are taught about and admire this preacher, or as we better know him as, Martin Luther King Jr. His powerful protests and the justice that he sought for and achieved have become a household "story."
In the United States, Americans celebrate this famed preacher for a weekend and enjoy a day off from school and work, often missing the fundamental core of the celebration. It’s easy to dismiss Dr. King’s acts as “something we would have done” in his position or as unimpactful. But these thoughts come from a lack of answer to this question; “what makes this pioneer in the Civil Rights Movement different from other protesters, different from other wishers and thinkers?”
Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15th, 1929. His first sighting of desegregation was in the summer before he entered college. Dr. King had visited a northern tobacco farm. Dr. King was shocked that negroes and whites could attend the same church and eat in the same dining establishments. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr. weaponized and shaped the power of words and used his preaching and teaching to advocate for African-American rights and national equality.
After Rosa Parks’ arrest in Montgomery, Alabama, Dr. King was chosen to lead a boycott against Alabama's city-wide transit system. About the protest, Dr. King stated, “We have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the feeling that we liked the way we were being treated. But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice.”
After over a year, Dr. King’s protest came into fruition with the desegregation of the Montgomery transit system. Although he was successful, through the process of activism, Dr. King was arrested, subject to personal abuse, and had his home bombed.
One of his most famous protests, located in Birmingham, Alabama, led to the now famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” In these letters, Dr. King famously quoted, “nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.”
Martin Luther King Jr. also led a march on Washington D.C. that attracted 250,000 participants. And at this march, Dr. King presented his now worldwide known speech, “I Have a Dream.” In the speech, Dr. King expressed hope, saying, “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.” This dream eventually came true. In the last few years of his career, Dr. King broadened his protests to fight for other relevant issues.
On April 4th, while supporting African American sanitation workers who were on strike, Dr. King was assassinated in the hotel that he was residing in Memphis. The night before he died, at the Mason Temple Church, Dr. King said seemingly in reference to his death, “I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”
Between the start of his activism career, Dr. King traveled for more than six million miles and gave over 25,000 speeches. And in the entirety of his career, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested twenty times and assaulted at least four times. Dr. King received four honorary degrees, was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963, and at the age of 35, Martin Luther King Jr. became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Martin Luther King Jr. drew inspiration from the peaceful teaching and activism of Gandhi and from his biblical knowledge, to make a nationwide difference. Dr. King stood out from other protesters of his time due to his nonviolent speeches and protests and the fact that he ultimately made a difference.
Martin Luther King Jr. knew and understood the importance of freedom to the individual. In Dr. King's closing speech at the NAACP Emancipation Day Rally, he stated, “I close by saying there is nothing greater in all the world than freedom. It's worth going to jail for. It's worth losing a job for. It's worth dying for. My friends, go out this evening determined to achieve this freedom which God wants for all of His children.”
Now, it is our turn to continue Dr. King’s dream and to strive for the freedom of those unrepresented and in bondage, whether literal or figuratively. In our homes, it is very easy to forget that there was a time when white boys and black girls couldn't learn in the same classroom. But now, it is our duty to address modern day injustices. For whose voices shine louder than the voices of the future?
Citations
Carson, Clayborne, and David L Lewis. “Martin Luther King, Jr. - Historical Significance and Legacy.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 1 May 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-Luther-King-Jr/Historical-significance-and-legacy.
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Wow, this is such a well-written article! MLK day is usually something people just think of as a day off, but you brought so much attention to what he did so it can be inspirational for everyone. Good job!
Interesting, I learned so much.😁