Happy Birthday, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Happy Birthday, Dr. King. Thank you for your work and sacrifice. We know what you gave up for us. Your bravery and brilliance will always make you one of the seminal citizens this country has ever produced.

A Knock At Midnight - MLK, June 1967

Classic sermon from the Ebenezer Baptist Church. My favorite oratorical piece from MLK.

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Why Jesus Called a Man a Fool - MLK, August 1967

A fine sermon from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Oh Angry Independent, are you going to play all those MLK sermons?... I certainly am. Especially in light of Glenn Beck defecating on his memory). Glenn Beck is the antithesis of just about everything that Dr. King stood for.... labor rights, equal justice, concern for the poor and the vulnerable, unity, service, community organizing... etc.

They can rewrite American political history all they want... but attempting to distort the history and legacy of Black Americans? That can't happen.

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August 28, 1963: 'A Check Stamped Insufficient Funds'

Most people ignore the financial concerns explicit in the entire speech, choosing to focus only on ' I have a dream.'

April 4, 1968

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Black History Month Daily Thread

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States and he is frequently referenced as a human rights icon today.

A Baptist minister,[1] King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president.

King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history.

In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and opposing the Vietnam War, both from a religious perspective.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. national holiday in 1986.

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Dr. King on how long it would take to get a Black President

From the BBC:

Can't find the embed, only the link.


BBC World News America has unearthed a fascinating clip of Dr Martin Luther King speaking to the BBC's Bob McKenzie in 1964 in which Dr King predicts an African-American president "in less than 40 years".