This year marks the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death on April 4, 1968. Today honors the man who sought justice and equality in the nation’s fight for civil rights among all people. In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in 1964, Dr. King said,
“I accept this award … with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the “isness” of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal “oughtness” that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.”
Dr. King’s words and actions are as powerful and relevant in today’s society as they were then. Let this day’s reflections on the gains won during the Civil Rights Movement spur momentum to address the contemporary issues facing our nation, continuing the legacy of Dr. King, who spent his life working to better the lives of others.
The Law Library’s resources on Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights era include:
Eyes On The Prize : America’s Civil Rights Movement
Call Number: E185.61.E94 2006 DVD
Martin Luther King Jr. and the morality of legal practice : lessons in love and justice / Vischer, Robert K.
Call Number: KF373.K523V57 2013
Pillar of fire : America in the King years, 1963-65 / Branch, Taylor.
Call Number: E185.61.B7915 1998
Just mercy : a story of justice and redemption / Stevenson, Bryan.
Call Number: KF373.S743A3 2015
The new Jim Crow : mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness / Alexander, Michelle.
Call Number: HV9950.A437 2012