Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Jan. 15, 1996, edition 1 / Page 9
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Selected Moments from King's Life "? King responded to the continuing vio lence in 1964-the deaths of the three civil rights workers in Mississ^ppi, the ghetto riots in Harlem, Bedford Stuyvesant, Philadelphia-his speech at Oslo, where in I December he became the youngest person, at 35, to win jhe Nob&l Peace Prize: I am mindful that only ?.yesterday in Birmingham, Ala., our children, crying out for ' brotherhood, were answered with fire hoses, snarling dogs and even death. I am mind ful that only yesterday in Philadelphia, Miss., young people seeking to secure the right to vote were brutalized and mur dered. ,. . . Therefore, I must ask why this prize is awarded to a movement which is belea guered. . .which has not won the very peace and brother hood which is the essence of the Nobel Prize. After contemplation, I con clude that this award which I received on behalf of that movement is profound recog nition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time-the need for many to overcome oppression and vio lence without resorting to vio lence and oppression. ?In March 1965, w hen he spoke on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol follow - ing the tear gas, clubbings and violent deaths in the Seltna voter registration campaign and the successful march to Montgomery, he reaffirmed his Martin Luther King with one of his children. and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. We are on the move now. Let us therefore continue our triumph and march. . . .Let us march on segregated housing. . . .Let us march on segregated schools. . . .Let us march on poverty. . . .Let us march on ballot boxes. I know you are asking today, "How long will it take?" I come to say to you this after noon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long because truth pressed to earth will rise again. How long? Not long, because no lie can live forever. How long? Not long, because you still reap what you sow. H o w long? Not long, because the arm of the moral they relumed to Memphis deter mined to lead </_ ft o n v i o I e n/t demonstration. There were rumors of threats on King's life, but such rumors were not unfa miliar and had shadowed the man sinee the days and nights of the Montgomery bus boycott 13 years earlier. On April 3, 1968, King delivered his last speech to 2,000 cheering supporters in the Mason Temple of Memphis: I'm just happy that God _ has allowed me to live in this period, to see what is unfold ing. And I'm happy he's allowed me to be in Memphis. . . .We mean business now and we are determined to gain our rightful place in God's world. And that's all this whole-thing is about. We aren't engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with any body. We ape saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God's children. And that we don't have to live like we are forced to live. . Now, what does all of this mean in this great period of history? It means that we've got to stay together and main tain unity. JK411/1 IH If IC HUHVIU' f lent movement: Last Sunday we started on a mighty walk from Selma, Ala. . . .They told us we wouldn't get here. And there were those who said that we would get here only over their dead bodies, but all the world today know? that we are here and that wc-i are standing before j the forces of power in the state of Alabama say ing, "We ain't goin' to let nobody turn us arpund." There never Jl? was a moment in ? American history more honor able and more inspiring than the pilgrimage of clergymen and laymen of every race and faith pouring into Selma to face danger at the side of its embattled Negroes. Our v. hole campaign in Alabama has been centered around the right to vote. We are on the move now. The burning of our churches will not deter us. . . .We are on the move now. The beating universe. . .bends toward jus tice. "? On March 28, 1968, King agreed to lead a march in Memphis of black sanitation workers who went out on strike when they received wfrges for only two hours on a day when work was canceled because\of rain, while white workers received a full day's pay. Black militants disrupted the march, to the distress of King and SCLC leaders, but my four little chil Jdrer^^one day | Mpihation where they /ill not be judged by the olor of their skin, but by the tent of their character. " nil, mmm IP/: Martin Luther King, Jr. - i ii tr i /?> njustice. The issue s the refusal of Memphis to be fair ind honest in its iealings . . .1 don't .now what will tappen now. We've ]ot some difficult lays ahead. But it ioesn't matter with ne now, because "ve been to the nountaintop. * And / don 7 n i nd.?Like a n y - iody, I would like o live a long life. . But I'm not :oncerned about hat now. I just vant to do God's >vill, and He's illowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. 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. And I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. Facts About Martin Luther King tKUM PAUL 5 1966 ? March-U.S. Supreme court rules poll tax unconstitu tional. ? Spring-King tours Alabama to help elect black can didates. For first time since Reconstruction a number of blacks vote in the Alabama pri mary. ? May-A King antiwar statements is read at a Washington rally to protest the war in Vietnam. King agrees to serve as co-chairman of Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam. ? July-King launches a drive to make Chicago an "open city" in regard to housing. ? August-King is stoned in Chicago while leading a inarch through crowds of angry whites. ? t September-SCLC launches a project to integrate the public schools of Grenda. Mississippi and initiates the Alabama Citizen Education Project in Wilcox County. 1967 ? January-King writes Where Do We Go From Here? ? March-The desegrega tion of public schools is ordered in Alabama. Dr. King attacks U.S. policy in Vietnam in Chicago speech. ? A p r i 1 - K1 n g makes "Beyond Vietnam" speech at Riverside Church in New York City. ? July-Riots in Neward. New Jersey and Detroit, Michigan. Dr. King and other prominent black leaders call for an end to the riots. ? October-Supreme Court upholds the contempt of court :onvictions of Dr. King and :ither black leaders who led the 1963 marches in Birmingham. Ala. ? November-King announces the formation of a Poor People's Campaign by SCLC to address the problems of the poor-black and white. 1968 ? March-King lead 6.000 protesters on a march through downtown Memphis is support of striking sanitation workers. ? April -King delivers his last speech "I've Been to the Mountain Top/' at the Memphis Masonic Temple. On the 4th. Dr. King is assassinated. He dies in St Joseph's Hospital WSTA Notice p ? v The Winston-Salem Transit Authority will he closed, January /5th in commemoration ot MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. HOLIDAY Regular service will resume on Tuesday January 16th. For mor information, call 727-2060 ? Charles Peed & Associates Remember Martin Luther King Jr. on This Special Day "Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't hive to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You dont have to know Ein stein's theory of relativity to serve. You dont have to know thesecond theory of thermodynamics In physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." Charles O. Peed Charles Peed & Associates I i MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY January 15, 1996 A Celebration and an Inspiration Lowesi Quality, Service, the Right Price.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Jan. 15, 1996, edition 1
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