Martin Luther King Jr dedicated much of his life to working to bring about greater equality to America and ensure civil rights for all people regardless of their race. His ethos of non-violent protest helped to set the tone of the movement affecting change across the USA.
Violent protests have erupted across the US after an unarmed African-American man was killed in police custody.
George Floyd, 46, suffered a cardiac arrest and died of “mechanical asphyxia” while being restrained by Minneapolis police an independent autopsy ordered by Mr Floyd’s family found.
Millions of people have shown solidarity for those protesting around the world after shocking footage of Mr Floyd’s death went viral.
The horrifying video showing a white police officer kneeling on Mr Floyd’s neck while he pleaded and begged for help, repeatedly saying he could not breathe has ignited anger over police brutality in the US.
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Black Lives Matter activists have shared positive messages and educational resources to help spread messages of how systemic racism and white privilege affect BAME individuals.
Words from American Christian Minister Martin Luther King Jr have been shared widely as people endeavour to show their solidarity.
Despite his assassination in 1968, his words have been hailed as highly poignant and relative to the current riots.
But what are Mr King’s most famous quotes?
On love
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”
“Love is the greatest force in the universe. It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos. He who loves is a participant in the being of God.”
“I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind’s problems.”
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On racism and nonviolence
“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 have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
“I plan to stand by nonviolence because I have found it to be a philosophy of life that regulates not only my dealings in the struggle for racial justice, but also my dealings with people, and with my own self.”
“Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away, and that in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.”
“Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to
humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love…violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.”
On strength of character and courage
“The time is always right to do what is right.”
“The ultimate measure of a person is not where one stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where one stands in times of challenge and controversy.”
“To be Negro in America is to hope against hope.”
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
“Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.”
“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
“We must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future.”
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
On justice and fairness
“The moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice.”
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
“True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”
“We will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.”
“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
“If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective.”
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”
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