40 years ago today we lost a great man.

[Al Bundy]

RIP Martin Luther King JR. One of the greatest men this world has ever known.

[Rooster]

Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family.

In 1954, Martin Luther King accepted the pastorale of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.

In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, "l Have a Dream", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.

At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.

[Ecto-I]

Most people haven't seen the ENTIRE speech. I still get chills watching it, and you can really see what a brilliant orator he was.

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[BigChiefFan]

A great man, with great vision.

[El Jefe]

A great man, with great vision.

QFT.......RIP...............Hopefully we dont see MarlboroChief poke his racist face in this thread.

[The Franchise]

It's safe to say that he would be disappointed with how people of all colors act today.

[PhillyChiefFan]

It's safe to say that he would be disappointed with how people of all colors act today.

Sadly, true.

[Al Bundy]

It's safe to say that he would be disappointed with how people of all colors act today.

100% true.

[Fish]

I find his last speech particularly moving. What a man he truly was. I shudder to think what he would tell us of today's society.

He was killed the next day....

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[Demonpenz]

Churches in my area were busy. Here is a pretty good article i think http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/560379.html

[blueballs]

It's been 40 ****ing years now
let it go - move on

[Fish]

It's been 40 ****ing years now
let it go - move on

Some people/events do not fade over time. As they shouldn't. 40 ****ing years later, his ideas are still very important to the future of our society. 40 ****ing years later, we could still learn a lot from the man.

[chiefqueen]

I read an article about his only surviving sister on CNN.com yesterday. She's a pretty remarkable woman in her own right. Much of the article was about the relationship between the two and spoke about how MLK was around family and friends MLK was known for joking around. I almost posted a link to the article here yesterday but I didn't and now I can't find it.

[Donger]

RIP MLK. He had his flaws, like we all do, but I believe his accomplishments changed our country for the better.

I just wish they could find the Grassy Knoll shooter who killed him.

[Demonpenz]

i thought it was kennedy who was killed on the grassy knoll. Good to know i guess

[Pitt Gorilla]

Watching the old videos of those times, I can't fathom why so many people had such hatred for the man.

[MOhillbilly]

Watching the old videos of those times, I can't fathom why so many people had such hatred for the man.


the black power thing with huey newton touched a nerve.

[Deberg_1990]

Why did past generations have great leaders like Dr. King...

Yet we get stuck with Jesse and Al????

[The Franchise]

Why did past generations have great leaders like Dr. King...

Yet we get stuck with Jesse and Al????

The same reason that they had Grand Master Flash and we have Soulja Boy.

[Rain Man]

I was only five years old, but I'll never forget that day when the pirates boarded his cruise yacht near Somalia.

I agree - his work made the world a better place, and I wish others who want change would learn to use his style.

[acesn8s]

Some people/events do not fade over time. As they shouldn't. 40 ****ing years later, his ideas are still very important to the future of our society. 40 ****ing years later, we could still learn a lot from the man.

Such as?

[Rain Man]

Such as?

Admittedly, he hasn't produced any significant writings or speeches in recent years.

[Pitt Gorilla]

the black power thing with huey newton touched a nerve.I didn't think King was a fan of his; King's philosophy was the polar opposite, and I believe that he spoke against the violent protests.

[fan4ever]

i thought it was kennedy who was killed on the grassy knoll. Good to know i guess

Dude...Kennedy was shot in a theater. Stop dumbing up this thread.:cuss:

[fan4ever]

Why did past generations have great leaders like Dr. King...

Yet we get stuck with Jesse and Al????

I think if King were somehow magically brought back to life, he'd walk up and bitch slap the hell out of those two race-baiting jokes of black leadership.

"Judge me, and give me special license, because of the color of my skin, not by the content of my character".

[HolmeZz]

Admittedly, he hasn't produced any significant writings or speeches in recent years.

But we're still getting new shit from 2Pac.

MLK has no excuse!

[Sully]

Why did past generations have great leaders like Dr. King...

Yet we get stuck with Jesse and Al????

Someone like King would never have the impact today that he had back then. The 24 hour news, and everyone having to have an opinion louder than the next guy would ruin his message, and he would be shot down (figurativey) by many as a fringe guy. Hell, his affairs would be public knowledge today, and that alone would cause many to turn from his message.

[MOhillbilly]

I didn't think King was a fan of his; King's philosophy was the polar opposite, and I believe that he spoke against the violent protests.
i saw a special on pbs last year and king is standing next to newton chanting black power. i do believe King retracted newtons views later on, but the damage was done.
two black 'radicals' in the 1960s chanting black power being beamed to millions on the evening news was enough to get Dr. King murdered imo. if it wasnt 40 years ago today it might have well been 40 years ago tommorow.

edit- link to docu

http://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/index.html

[bowener]

I like that he had flaws and had affairs. It makes his words more true to me. He is just as I am, and most I know. I have ****ed up, it doesnt mean I cant improve and step up above what I was and become something better. It doesnt make him a hypocrite either, to tell others to overcome while he may not have been able to overcome his own vices. A person who has failed can tell you better how failure looks and feels than someone who has never been there imo. All the wishes will never bring him back, but as long as his words are continually discussed, I think eventually, we will have what he wished.

[munkey]

i saw a special on pbs last year and king is standing next to newton chanting black power. i do believe King retracted newtons views later on, but the damage was done.
two black 'radicals' in the 1960s chanting black power being beamed to millions on the evening news was enough to get Dr. King murdered imo. if it wasnt 40 years ago today it might have well been 40 years ago tommorow.

edit- link to docu

http://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/index.html

Did you watch the today show this morning?

I wanted to puke...

[Sully]

I like that he had flaws and had affairs. It makes his words more true to me. He is just as I am, and most I know. I have ****ed up, it doesnt mean I cant improve and step up above what I was and become something better. It doesnt make him a hypocrite either, to tell others to overcome while he may not have been able to overcome his own vices. A person who has failed can tell you better how failure looks and feels than someone who has never been there imo. All the wishes will never bring him back, but as long as his words are continually discussed, I think eventually, we will have what he wished.

I agree.