If Black America needs advice on how to respond to continuous examples of injustice, we should listen, read and act on the rarely quoted words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr on April 3, 1968 (one day before he was assassinated April 4, 1968).
- Something is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee — the cry is always the same: “We want to be free.” – MLK Jr
- It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it’s nonviolence or nonexistence. That is where we are today. – MLK Jr
- in the human rights revolution, if something isn’t done, and done in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed. – MLK Jr
- We mean business now, and we are determined to gain our rightful place in God’s world. – MLK Jr
- And that’s all this whole thing is about. We aren’t engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying — We are saying that we are God’s children. And that we are God’s children, we don’t have to live like we are forced to live. – MLK Jr
- When the slaves get together, that’s the beginning of getting out of slavery. Now let us maintain unity. – MLK Jr
- The issue is injustice…Now, we’ve got to keep attention on that. – MLK Jr
- For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory. We aren’t going to let any mace stop us. – MLK Jr
- Somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right. – MLK Jr
- Somehow the preacher must have a kind of fire shut up in his bones. And whenever injustice is around he tell it…because so often, preachers aren’t concerned about anything but themselves. And I’m always happy to see a relevant ministry. – MLK Jr
- It’s all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God’s preacher must talk about the new New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do. – MLK Jr
- Now the other thing we’ll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. – MLK Jr
- Individually, we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively — that means all of us together — collectively we are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? – MLK Jr
- the American Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States, and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? That’s power right there, if we know how to pool it. – MLK Jr
- We don’t have to argue with anybody. We don’t have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don’t need any bricks and bottles…our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you. – MLK Jr