Vision

'The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.' Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today is the day we celebrate the Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929-1968. In 1983, then President Ronald Reagan signed this commemorative day into law as a National Holiday for all to reflect on the man who was in constant pursuit of truth and nonviolent action. Martin Luther King strove to make the United States of America a more just nation, a more peaceful nation, a more noble nation. As a Baptist Minister and prominent leader in the civil rights movement, he strove to effect change in peaceful ways yet ironically his life was taken violently; assassinated by James Earl Ray on 4 April, 1968 in Memphis, TN. King's dream was just unfolding: to end racial segregation in public schools, to produce meaningful civil rights legislation, to prohibit racial discrimination in employment, and to protect civil rights activists from police brutality. The March on Washington in 1963 was 250,000 strong. His famous 'I Have a Dream Speech' propelled civil rights to the top of the political agenda in the US and facilitated passage of the C ivil Rights Act of 1964. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Listen and be inspired by this great orators voice here as Dr. King alludes to the Gettysburg Address, passages from the Bible, and Shakespeare. "... 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'...I have a dream that one day my four little children will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character....Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics will be able to join hands and sing...'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"