quote these today if you dare. mlk is far more radical than they have told you.
bringing it back #mlk2017
58 Tweetable MLK Quotes to Reclaim King’s Legacy by Drew Dellinger
Use these with the hashtags #MLKalsoSaid & #ReclaimMLK.
“All of us are on trial in this troubled hour.”
– MLK (1968)
King on police brutality:
“We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.” – MLK, Aug. 28, 1963
“The white man does not abide by the law… His police forces are the ultimate mockery of law.” – MLK (1968)
“We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity.” – MLK, Aug. 28, 1963
“We have got to go all out to deal with the question of segregation justice. We still have a long, long, way to go.” – MLK (1965)
“How long will justice be crucified and truth buried, how long?” – MLK (1962)
“Wounded justice lying prostrate on the streets of our cities.” – MLK (1962)
“The beating and killing of our… young people will not divert us. The arrest and release of known murderers will not discourage us.” – MLK
“When we truly believe in the sacredness of human personality, we won’t exploit people … we won’t kill anybody.” – MLK (1968)
“I believe that the dignity & the worth of human personality will be respected one day. I believe this and I live by it.” – MLK (1964)
King on confronting systemic racism:
“The first thing that must be on the agenda of our nation is to get rid of racism.” – MLK (1968)
“The thing wrong with America is white racism.” –Martin Luther King Jr. (1968)
“Large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility & the status quo than about justice & humanity.” – MLK
“However difficult it is to hear, however shocking it is to hear, we’ve got to face the fact that America is a racist country.” – MLK (1968)
“Racism is a philosophy based on contempt for life.” – MLK (1967)
“We must come to see that the roots of racism are very deep in our country.” – MLK
“There must be something positive & massive in order to get rid of all the effects of racism & the tragedies of racial injustice.” – MLK
“White America has allowed itself to be indifferent to race prejudice.” – MLK (1968)
“I am sorry to have to say that the vast majority of white Americans are racists, either consciously or unconsciously.” – MLK (1967)
½: “The doctrine of white supremacy was imbedded in every textbook and preached in practically every pulpit…” – MLK
2/2: “… It became a structural part of the culture.” –Martin Luther King Jr. on white supremacy (1967)
“The great majority of Americans… are uneasy with injustice but unwilling yet to pay a significant price to eradicate it.” – MLK
“There aren’t enough white persons in our country who are willing to cherish democratic principles over privilege.” – MLK
King on the importance of direct action and civil disobedience:
“The blanket of fear was lifted by Negro youth. When they took their struggle to the streets a new spirit of resistance was born.” – MLK
“When [Black youth] cheerfully became jailbirds & troublemakers… they challenged & inspired white youth to emulate them.” – MLK
“We have, through massive non-violent action, an opportunity to avoid a national disaster & create a new spirit of class & racial harmony.”
“I’ve just come to a conclusion that our country doesn’t really move on these issues until a movement is mobilized.” – MLK (1968)
“I’m talking about poor people’s power. That is what is needed.” – MLK (1968)
“Every [person] of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits [his or her] convictions, but we must all protest.” – MLK
“There must be more than a statement to the larger society; there must be a force that interrupts its functioning at some key point.” – MLK
“Non-violent protest must now mature to a new level… The higher level is mass civil disobedience.” – MLK (1967)
“Our power lies in our ability to say nonviolently that we aren’t gonna take it any longer.” – MLK (1967)
“I’m worried today when there are those who try to silence dissenters.” – MLK
“We aren’t going to let this attempt to crush dissent turn us around.” – MLK (1968)
“Our experience is that marches must continue over 30-45 days to produce any meaningful results.” – MLK
“I believe in dissent. We must never lose this.” – MLK
“The greatness of our nation–and I don’t want to see us lose it–is that… it does keep alive the opportunity to protest and dissent.” – MLK
King on economic justice and ending poverty
“The time has come for an all-out world war against poverty.” – MLK
½: “The nation doesn’t move around questions of genuine equality for the poor and for black people…”
2/2: “… until it is confronted massively, dramatically in terms of direct action.” – MLK
“Many white Americans of good will have never connected bigotry with economic exploitation.” – MLK
“In the final analysis, the rich must not ignore the poor because both rich and poor are tied together.” – MLK
“I choose to identify with the poor…. This is the way I’m going. If it means suffering a little bit, I’m going that way.” – MLK (1966)
“I think it is absolutely necessary now to deal massively and militantly with the economic problem.” – MLK, 10 days before assassination
“I still have to ask, why do you have 40 million people in our society who are poor? I have to ask that question.” – MLK (1966)
“Poverty, the gaps in our society, the gulfs between inordinate superfluous wealth & abject deadening poverty have brought about… despair” – MLK
“There’s going to have to be more sharing in this world.” – MLK (1967)
King on the question of “Riots”
“Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention. There is no other answer.” – MLK (1967)
“Riots are not the causes of white resistance, they are consequences of it.” – MLK (1967)
“There are many persons who wince at a distinction between property & persons—who hold both sacrosanct. My views are not so rigid.” – MLK
“Three hundred years of humiliation, abuse and deprivation cannot be expected to find voice in a whisper.” – MLK
“It is clear that the riots were exacerbated by police action that was intended to injure or even to kill people.” – MLK (1968)
“Our summers of riots are caused by winters of delay.” – MLK
King on interconnection and linking issues and movements:
It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated.” – MLK
“The black revolution is much more than a struggle for the rights of Negroes…” (½) – MLK
(2/2) “… It is, rather, forcing America to face all its interrelated flaws: racism, poverty, militarism, and materialism.” – MLK (1968)
“Local problems are all interconnected with world problems.” – MLK (1968)
“I’m still convinced that the struggle for peace and the struggle for justice… happen to be tied together.” – MLK (1968)
“We aren’t going to have peace on earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.” – MLK
Now you have ammo. Seize the moment!
“We must rapidly begin the shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.“
— Martin Luther King Jr.
I friend of mine were having a chat and she brought up that the US Government was found guilty of the murder of Martin Luther King in 1999 and this year this info started to re-surface and multiple people were taking extensive efforts to make sure the information stayed hidden. I did some research and here’s what I found.
In 1999 (a year after the person convicted of the assassination, James Earl Ray, died) the United States government was taken to court by King’s family. With a very short trial, due to the overwhelming evidence against the government, they were found guilty. King’s family was awarded $100 and his widow was quoted saying this.
There is abundant evidence of a major high level conspiracy in the assassination of my husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. And the civil court’s unanimous verdict has validated our belief. I wholeheartedly applaud the verdict of the jury and I feel that justice has been well served in their deliberations. This verdict is not only a great victory for my family, but also a great victory for America. It is a great victory for truth itself. It is important to know that this was a SWIFT verdict, delivered after about an hour of jury deliberation. The jury was clearly convinced by the extensive evidence that was presented during the trial that, in addition to Mr. Jowers, the conspiracy of the Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband. The jury also affirmed overwhelming evidence that identified someone else, not James Earl Ray, as the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame. I want to make it clear that my family has no interest in retribution. Instead, our sole concern has been that the full truth of the assassination has been revealed and adjudicated in a court of law. As we pursued this case, some wondered why we would spend the time and energy addressing such a painful part of the past. For both our family and the nation, the short answer is that we had to get involved because the system did not work. Those who are responsible for the assassination were not held to account for their involvement. This verdict, therefore, is a great victory for justice and truth. It has been a difficult and painful experience to revisit this tragedy, but we felt we had an obligation to do everything in our power to seek the truth. Not only for the peace of mind of our family but to also bring closure and healing to the nation. We have done what we can to reveal the truth, and we now urge you as members of the media, and we call upon elected officials, and other persons of influence to do what they can to share the revelation of this case to the widest possible audience.
This is especially disappointing because with a quick google search of “who killed MLK” a short google-provided bio of James Earl Ray pops up
when there has been proof for 15 years now that US government indeed killed Dr. King. Yet, to this day, America waves his words and what he stood for as the symbol of our country (not to say his words shouldn’t be praised, just that the people who murdered him shouldn’t be using him to feed their ego).
You can read more about the trial here. And if anyone tries to disprove this news source, google “us government killed MLK” and you’ll have a plentiful of articles from 1999-2014 covering this topic more than I ever could in a tumblr post.
PLEASE SPREAD THIS AROUND. I was taught ever since elementary school what James Earl Ray was guilty of Martin Luther King’s death. As his wife stated, all they wanted to get out of this trial was recognition of what really happened, and the fact that all they got was $100 and a pat on the back sickens me. People need to know the truth.
The United States educational system boasts about MLK. His name is referred to countless times in our history textbooks and its made to seem like he is the face of the Civil Rights movement.
So the fact that this case has not mentioned a single time during my academic life speaks volume.
