Martin Luther King's Address to First Montgomery Improvement Association Mass Meeting, at Holt Street Baptist Church
5 December 1955
Montgomery, Alabama
"We are here, we are here this evening because we are tired now. (Yes) [applause] And I want to say that we are not here advocating violence. (No) We have never done that. (Repeat that, repeat that) [applause] I want it to be known throughout Montgomery and throughout this nation (Well) that we are Christian people. (Yes) [applause] We believe in the Christian religion. We believe in the teachings of Jesus. (Well) The only weapon that we have in our hands this evening is the weapon of protest. (Yes) [applause] That's all...
And as we stand and sit here this evening and as we prepare ourselves for what lies ahead, let us go out with the grim and bold determination that we are going to stick together. [applause] We are going to work together. [applause] Right here in Montgomery, when the history books are written in the future (Yes), somebody will have to say, "There lived a race of people (Well), a black people (Yes sir), 'fleecy locks and black complexion' (Yes), a people who had the moral courage to stand up for their rights. [applause] And thereby they injected a new meaning into the veins of history and of civilization." And we're going to do that. God grant that we will do it before it is too late. (Oh yeah) As we proceed with our program, let us think of these things." (Yes) [applause]
This passage was quoted by Dr. Randal Jelks today, in a spectacular January Series lecture in honor of Dr. King. The address, titled "African Americans in the Furniture City" will be archived here, via RealAudio, soon.
It's quite common that January series lectures are enlightening, but they're rarely moving. This one was both.
5 December 1955
Montgomery, Alabama
"We are here, we are here this evening because we are tired now. (Yes) [applause] And I want to say that we are not here advocating violence. (No) We have never done that. (Repeat that, repeat that) [applause] I want it to be known throughout Montgomery and throughout this nation (Well) that we are Christian people. (Yes) [applause] We believe in the Christian religion. We believe in the teachings of Jesus. (Well) The only weapon that we have in our hands this evening is the weapon of protest. (Yes) [applause] That's all...
And as we stand and sit here this evening and as we prepare ourselves for what lies ahead, let us go out with the grim and bold determination that we are going to stick together. [applause] We are going to work together. [applause] Right here in Montgomery, when the history books are written in the future (Yes), somebody will have to say, "There lived a race of people (Well), a black people (Yes sir), 'fleecy locks and black complexion' (Yes), a people who had the moral courage to stand up for their rights. [applause] And thereby they injected a new meaning into the veins of history and of civilization." And we're going to do that. God grant that we will do it before it is too late. (Oh yeah) As we proceed with our program, let us think of these things." (Yes) [applause]
This passage was quoted by Dr. Randal Jelks today, in a spectacular January Series lecture in honor of Dr. King. The address, titled "African Americans in the Furniture City" will be archived here, via RealAudio, soon.
It's quite common that January series lectures are enlightening, but they're rarely moving. This one was both.