'All Men Are Created Equal'
Dr. King's Drive Toward Achieving the Promise in our Declaration
|
|
Martin Luther King Jr. famously pronounced, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Thanks to his great work, we have come a long way. Let us remain dedicated to that fight today to eliminate racism of any kind.
Dr. King first came to national attention when he led a boycott of the Montgomery segregated bus system lasting 382 days, following Rosa Park’s arrest for refusing to give up her seat to a white man.
|
|
|
During the boycott, Dr. King was arrested, threatened, and his home was bombed. But the boycott is considered a turning point in the civil rights movement because it led to the integration of the Montgomery bus system and ongoing desegregation nationwide.
Dr. King’s Life and Legacy
He continued his civil rights work, becoming president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and a leader of the 1963 March on Washington. Between 1957 and 1968, Dr. King traveled six million miles, spoke 2500 times, and wrote five books and numerous articles to protest injustice and urge action. He advised Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
In April of 1968, his work for unity and peace was cut short when he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. The following year, Congressman John Conyers Jr. introduced legislation to make King’s birthday a federal holiday, but for years the bill stalled without sufficient support.
By the early 1980s, efforts by figures such as Coretta Scott King and Stevie Wonder pushed the bill through the House and, eventually, the Senate. In 1983, President Reagan signed the bill into law, finally making Martin Luther King Jr. Day a federal holiday on the third Monday of January.
An Ongoing Message of Unity and Perseverance
Dr. King's legacy has left a lasting imprint on American politics and culture. His words in the iconic "I Have a Dream" speech have been a guiding light in our nation's pursuit to achieve the promise in our Declaration.
His message of American unity and perseverance is one we must hold dear in this divided time.
Dr. King said that the vision laid out in the Declaration of Independence —that all men are created equal—was the promissory note of our great country and "a dream deeply rooted in the American dream".
"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
The work to achieve that commitment continues as we keep making progress toward paying off our nation's debt and realizing that promise of equality. Our goal is to carry out the mission of Dr. King's, that people should not be judged by the color of their skin.
The clarion call of his iconic speech was “Let Freedom Ring.” Let that be our inspiration today as we honor Dr. King for his life’s work in securing and preserving America’s founding principles for all.
|
|
Do you know others who may be interested? Please forward this email to your friends and contacts or share on your social media.
|
|
Diana Schaub on The American Mind
Who Was a Better Citizen, Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X?
|
|
JMC faculty partner Diana Schaub compares the differing ideologies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X on the Claremont Institute’s The American Mind with Charles Kesler.
|
|
The battle for the soul of our nation will be won or lost in our classrooms ™ — Jack Miller
At the Jack Miller Center, that battle is our sole mission. We are the boots on the ground, working to bring the American political tradition and history back to the classroom. Please consider a tax-deductible gift to JMC. Your donation, large or small, is an investment in the future of our country—for you, for your children, for your grandchildren.
|
|
|
About the Jack Miller Center
The Jack Miller Center is a 501(c)(3) public charity with the mission to reinvigorate education in America's founding principles and history. We work to advance the teaching and study of America's history, its political and economic institutions, and the central principles, ideas and issues arising from the American and Western traditions—all of which continue to animate our national life.
We support professors and educators through programs, resources, fellowships and more to help them teach our nation's students.
www.jackmillercenter.org
|
|
|
|
|
|