On this date in 1964 Martin Luther King Jr. accepted Noble Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. His organization, SCLC, helped to lead the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama. His march on Washington is now legendary because of his “I have a dream” speech. On April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee he was assassinated by James Earl Ray. Dr. King was in Memphis to organize the Poor People Campaign in DC later that year.
Here we are 57 years later. Race relations are front and center. The poor are obviously disproportionately affected by COVID-19. All are affected by pandemic fatigue. Emotions are raw and people are tired.
“I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. I believe that even amid today’s mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men. I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive good will proclaim the rule of the land. “And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together, and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid.” I still believe that We Shall overcome!” (Martin Luther King’s Acceptance Speech, on the occasion of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, December 10, 1964)
Watch it here: Martin Luther King Jr. Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech – YouTube
Yes, we shall, Dr. King. Yes, we shall. With God’s help.
