Remembering the Dream: Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As the nation honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on January 16th, a testament to his greatness is that nearly every major city in America has a street or school named after him.

After his death in Memphis on April 4, 1968, the words of Martin Luther King Jr. still hold captivating influence and inspiring gracefulness:

On Equality (Birmingham jail, 1963)
"Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched across the pages of history the majestic words of the Declaration, we were here."

On Nonconformity (1963)
"The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority."

On Civil Rights (Selma to Montgomery, 1965)
"We are moving to the land of freedom. Let us march to the realization of the American dream."

On Peace (1964)
"Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood."

On the Dream of Freedom (1964)
"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed...that all men are created equal."

On Freedom (1963)
"So let freedom ring. From the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire let freedom ring. From the mighty mountains of New York, let freedom ring. From the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania, let freedom ring. But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi..."

On the Future (April 3, 1968 – the night before his murder)
"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. So I'm happy tonight, I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

Listen to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Serving