“Dr. Martin Luther King is not a black hero. He is an American hero.” BlackKingsHeroDrsLutherDr Martin Luther KingAmerican Hero Author:Morgan Freeman
“Martin Luther King said America had given a bad check to black people.” PeopleSaidAmericaGivenBlackRaceKingsChecksBlack PeopleLuther Author:Andrew Young
“Martin Luther King Jr's agenda was not to help Negroes overcome American apartheid in the south. It was to make America democracy a better place, where everyday people, from poor people who were white and red and yellow and black and brown, would be able to live lives in decency and dignity.” PeopleHelpingWould BeAbleAmericaBlackWhitePoorDemocracyKingsRedDignityOvercomingSouthEverydayLive LifeBrownAgendasYellowBetter PlacePoor PeopleDecencyLutherApartheidRed And Yellow Author:Cornel West
“All talks about legacies of white supremacy must be tied to empowering the lives of poor and working people as a whole. The black agenda - from Frederick Douglas to A. Philip Randolph, Martin Luther King Jr, Fannie Lou Hammer to Ella Baker - has always been tied to race talk inseparable from expanding possibilities of democracy, expanding empowerment of everyday people.” PeopleWholeBlackWhitePoorRaceDemocracyPossibilityKingsEmpowermentEverydayLegacyEmpoweringAgendasTiedWhite SupremacyExpandingHammersLutherInseparableSupremacyPhilipBakersFrederick Douglas Author:Cornel West
“There is no gay leader anywhere near the stature of Martin Luther King, because black activism drew on the profound spiritual tradition of the church, to which gay political rhetoric is childishly hostile.” SpiritualPoliticalBlackChurchLeaderKingsGayTraditionProfoundActivismRhetoricHostileLutherStaturePolitical RhetoricProfound Spiritual Author:Camille Paglia
“I, with millions of other Americans, have the same dream Martin Luther King Jr. had; when I wake up I wish some of the things I dreamt would be true. I wish that little black and white boys and girls would hold hands without being shocked at their nearness to each other and say in a natural way, "we have overcome.” WayLittlesDreamHandsWould BeGirlWishBlackNaturalWhiteBoysMillionsKingsOvercomingWake UpBeing TrueBlack PeopleBlack And WhiteShockedLutherBoy And GirlHolding HandsI Have A Dream SpeechAnti RacistBoy GirlBlack Boy Author:Maya Angelou
“When that devil's bullet lodged itself inside the body of Martin Luther King, he had already begun an astonishing mobilization of poor, Black, white, latino Americans who had nothing to lose. They would challenge our government to eliminate exploitative, merciless, and war-mongering policies, nationwide, or else "tie up the country" through "means of civil disobedience." Dr. King intended to organize those legions into "coercive direct actions" that would make of Babylon a dysfunctional behemoth begging for relief. Is it any wonder he was killed?” MeanWarCountryBodyGovernmentActionBlackLosesChallengesWhitePoorWonderPolicyKingsDevilDirectTiesReliefBulletsDrsOrganizeLutherAstonishingLatinoDisobedienceBeggingCivil DisobedienceNothing To LoseLegionBlack WhiteBabylonDirect ActionMobilizationBehemoth Author:June Jordan
“I am really enjoying the new Martin Luther King Jr stamp - just think about all those white bigots, licking the backside of a black man.” ThinkingMenEnjoyBlackWhiteKingsRacistBigotryStampsLutherBigotsLickingBacksides Author:Dick Gregory
“The idea that America elected a black man to be its president forty years after it declined to allow Martin Luther King Jr. to stand on a balcony without getting shot still maintains its power to awe and inspire.” MenYearsStillsIdeasAmericaBlackPresidentInspireKingsShotsAweFortyLutherBalconies Author:Charlie Pierce
“We [black people] don't respect our elders. Besides artists, we don't respect Frederick Douglass. We don't respect Martin Luther King. You look at every Martin Luther King Boulevard out here, and it's a crack block. That's not because of white people. That's because of black leadership. We just have that problem, and it's something that I am going to spend the rest of my life trying to conquer.” PeopleTryingLooksProblemArtistBlackWhiteKingsBlockConquerCracksBlack PeopleEldersLutherBoulevard Author:KRS-One
“If Martin Luther King, Roy Wilkins or any of these compromising Negros who say exactly what the white man wants to hear is interviewed anywhere in the country you don't get anybody to offset what they say. But whenever a black man stands up and says something that white people don't like then the first thing that man does is run around to try and find somebody to say something to offset what has just been said. This is natural but it is done.” PeopleIfsMenWantTryingFirstsDoeSaidCountryDoneRunningBlackNaturalWhiteKingsCompromiseWhite ManLuther Author:Malcolm X
“I think this is what people misunderstand about Martin Luther King saying to love your enemies. They think he was just using this silly little phrase, but what he meant was that as Black Americans we need to let our anger go, because holding on to it we hold ourselves down. We oppress ourselves by holding on to anger.” PeopleThinkingNeedsLittlesBlackEnemyLove YouKingsSillyPhrasesLutherHolding OnLove Your EnemiesSilly Little Author:Bell Hooks