Excerpt Below from “Why Martin Luther King Jr.'s Lessons About Peaceful Protests Are Still Relevant” via TIME.com
Martin Luther King Jr. addresses crowds during the March On Washington at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC, in 1963. Agence France Presse/Getty Images
Revolutions tend to be measured in blood. From Lexington and the Bastille to the streets of Algiers, the toll on a repressed people seeking freedom is steep. But what does it take for a people to absorb degrading insults, physical attack and political repression in hopes that their oppressors will see the error in their ways? For Martin Luther King Jr., it was a dream.
Over the course of a decade, King became synonymous with nonviolent direct action as he worked to overturn systemic segregation and racism across the southern United States. The civil rights movement formed the guidebook for a new era of protest. Whether it be responding to wars or protesting an unpopular administration at home, or the “color revolutions” across Europe and elsewhere overseas, the legacy of moral victory begetting actual change has been borne out time and again. The movement’s enduring influence is a far cry from its humble beginnings.
In March 1956, 90 defendants stood in wait in an aging Greek-revival courthouse in Montgomery, Ala. They faced the same charge: an obscure, decades-old anti-union law making it a misdemeanor to plot to interfere with a company’s business “without a just cause or legal excuse.” Their offense? Boycotting the city’s buses.
Read the Entire piece at Time.com
The National Civil Rights Museum will present a virtual commemoration in honor of Dr. King’s life and legacy on the 53rd anniversary of his death.
This year’s event will feature a Conversation with Rev. James Lawson, a key King ally in pursuit of nonviolent philosophy who trained a number of activists on civil disobedience. A performance of "Precious Lord," Dr. King's favorite gospel hymn, will be presented by the vocal ensemble Adajjyo. A keynote from Dr. Bernard Richardson, Dean of Rankin Chapel at Howard University, who will explore King's last days. The broadcast will culminate with a moment of silence at 6:01pm, the time Dr. King was shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.