Martin Luther King Jr. was a social activist who played a major role in the American civil rights movement during the 1950s and 60s. Dr. King fought for equality and civil rights for African Americans and all victims of injustice. One of the hallmarks of his leadership was modeling peaceful protest as a way of upholding human dignity while pursuing justice. He was assassinated in 1968, but his words continue to guide and inspire. 

Words from Dr. King 

“The function of education…is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society… Intelligence plus character–that is the goal of true education.”

– “The Purpose of Education,” Morehouse College Student Paper, The Maroon Tiger, in 1947

“I am cognizant of the interrelateness of all communities and states… We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly… Was not Jesus an extremist for love: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.’ Was not Amos an extremist for justice: ‘Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an everflowing stream.’…So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?” 

– “Letter From a Birmingham City Jail” 

“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, 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.’… 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 mountain side, let freedom ring’—and if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.”  

– The speech “I Have a Dream” Dr. King gave from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, DC on August 23, 1963.