Remembering and honoring the (always timely) poignancy of the great words of Dr. Martin Luther King

I sincerely adore MLK day, not only because I have a long tradition of always making time to listen to the full "I Have A Dream" speech by Dr. King, but also because in recent years I have used the day to explore Stanford University's awesome collection of MLK Papers.  In previous years (in posts linked below), I have quoted from various renown speeches and writings with an emphasis on the intersection of the civil rights movement and criminal justice reform.  This year, I was especially struck by some passages in Dr. King's Address at Freedom Riders Rally at First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama on May 21, 1961. All five pages of the speech are worth a read, and here are a few excerpts of particular note at this moment:

Through our scientific and technological developments we have lifted our heads to the skys and yet our feet are still firmly planted in the muck of barbarism and racial hatred. Indeed this is America's chief moral dilemma.  And unless the Nation grapples with this dilemma forthrightly and firmly, she will be relegated to a second rate power in the world. The price that America must pay for the continued oppression of the Negro is the price of its own destruction.  America's greatest defense against communism is to take the offense for justice, freedom, and human dignity....

Over the past few days Alabama has been the scene of a literal reign of terror....  Now who is responsible for this dark night of terror in Alabama?  Certainly the mob itself must be condemned.  When people sink to such a low level of hatred and evil that they will beat unmercifully non-violent men and women, they should be apprehended and prosecuted on the basis of the crime they have committed.  But the ultimate responsibility for the hideous action in Alabama last week must be placed at the doorsteps of the Governor of this State.  His consistent preaching of defiance of the law, his public pronouncements, and his irresponsible actions created the vitriolic atmosphere in which violence could thrive.  When the governor of a state will urge people to defy the Law of the Land, and teach them to disrespect the Supreme Court, he is consciously and unconsciously aiding and abetting the forces of violence....

So in the days ahead lot us not sink into the quicksands of violence; rather let us stand on the high ground of love and non-injury.  Let us continue to be strong spiritual anvils that will wear out many a physical hammer.

I love this closing sentiment, the call to "stand on the high ground of love" and the imagery of "strong spiritual anvils" able to wear out the repeated blows of many others.  And though much more could be said about this speech and so many others by MLK, I will close this post by just renewing at a moment of political transition the question that I raised two years ago on this day right after the enactment of the FIRST STEP Act: "What might Martin Luther King seek as the next step in federal criminal justice reform?". 

Links to some prior MLK Day posts:

• Should criminal justice reform be the new civil rights movement?
• Honoring MLK by asking hard questions
• Reflecting on race and criminal justice realities to honor MLK's legacy
• Another reminder of race and criminal justice realities to honor MLK's legacy
• Is there less discussion of race and criminal justice since Obama's election?
• NPR's Fresh Air celebrates MLK Day by discussing The New Jim Crow
• Fittingly for MLK day, Prez Obama laments class and race disparities from pot prohibition
• MLK marijuana mash-up: "I Have A Dream..." we are free at last from pot prohibition
• Some still timely phrases from MLK's "I Have A Dream" speech for advocates of criminal justice reforms 
• Some new quotes at the end of the latest MLK day
• What might Martin Luther King seek as the next step in federal criminal justice reform?