Focused Read in 3 minutes
📎 Note:
A Martin
Luther King, Jr. – addendum, because, sometimes, I think, we forget the great humility of our greatest leaders...
⬇
"Martin Luther King Jr. -
Acceptance Speech
Martin Luther King's
Acceptance Speech, on the occasion of the award of the Nobel Peace
Prize in Oslo, December 10, 1964"
Highlights ⬇
Your Majesty, Your Royal
Highness, Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:
I accept the Nobel Prize for Peace at a moment when 22 million Negroes of the United States of America are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice.
I accept the Nobel Prize for Peace at a moment when 22 million Negroes of the United States of America are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice.
I accept this award on behalf
of a civil rights movement which is moving with determination and a
majestic scorn for risk and danger to establish a reign of freedom
and a rule of justice.
... And
only yesterday more than 40 houses of worship in the State of
Mississippi alone were bombed or burned because they offered a
sanctuary to those who would not accept segregation.
... Therefore, I must ask why
this prize is awarded to a movement which is beleaguered and
committed to unrelenting struggle; to a movement which has not won
the very peace and brotherhood which is the essence of the Nobel
Prize.
After contemplation, I
conclude that this award which I receive on behalf of that movement
is a profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the
crucial political and moral question of our time - the need for man
to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and
oppression.
Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts.
Negroes of the United States, following the people of India, have
demonstrated that nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a
powerful moral force which makes for social transformation.
Sooner or
later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live
together in peace...If this is to be achieved, man
must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge,
aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
The tortuous road which
has led from Montgomery, Alabama to Oslo bears witness to this truth...It has led to a new Civil Rights Bill,
and it will, I am convinced, be widened and lengthened into a super
highway of justice as Negro and white men in increasing numbers
create alliances to overcome their common problems.
I accept this award today
with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future
of mankind.
... I
refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the
river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which
surround him.
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 refuse to accept the
cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a
militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction.
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.
I believe that even amid today's mortar bursts
and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I
believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing
streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to
reign supreme among the children of men.
I have the audacity to
believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their
bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality
and freedom for their spirits...I still believe that
We Shall overcome!
This faith can give us
courage to face the uncertainties of the future. It will give our
tired feet new strength as we continue our forward stride toward the
city of freedom.
... I say
I come as a trustee, for in the depths of my heart I am aware that
this prize is much more than an honor to me personally.
Every time I take a
flight, I am always mindful of the many people who make a successful
journey possible - the known pilots and the unknown ground crew.
So you honor the dedicated
pilots of our struggle who have sat at the controls as the freedom
movement soared into orbit.
... You honor
the ground crew without whose labor and sacrifices the jet flights to
freedom could never have left the earth.
Most of these people will
never make the headline and their names will not appear in Who's
Who.
Yet when years have rolled past and when the blazing light of
truth is focused on this marvelous age in which we live - men and
women will know and children will be taught that we have a finer
land, a better people, a more noble civilization - because these
humble children of God were willing to suffer for righteousness'
sake. ... "
You can read the speech in its entirety here
You can watch the 12-minute video of the speech here ⬇
( If you need it, you can find the link to the video here )
Focused Thought in 30 seconds
Focused Action in 30 seconds
You can share Thom Hartmann's Tweet here
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→ Direct sources for Democrats:
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The Democratic Party Website
Also
C-SPAN (a good place for speeches & hearings direct source (s))
→ Fact checking organizations courtesy of the Society of Professional Journalists
in alphabetical order...
→ Some of my favorite, most informative
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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ US Intelligence | Author | Navy Senior Chief | NBC/MSNBC
⭐⭐⭐ Federal Government Operations | Vanity Fair | Newsweek | MSNBC Contributor | Author
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Voting Rights/Voter Suppression | Author | Mother Jones
→ Some of the most credible media -- at the moment:
📰📰📰 Mother Jones
→ Some of the most credible Talking Heads -- at the moment -- and their Twitter handles:
( ⬆⬆⬆ Wallace is new to the job but for right now
her work on Trump GOP has been credible, IMO)
...for Networking for Democrats today!
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g., aka Focused Democrat
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