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Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Nobel Peace Prize Lecture from Oslo, 11 Dec. 1964 (full audio)

May 02, 2020
Sir. Jung Mr. with a frown and to all members of the Nobel Committee, ladies and gentlemen, it is impossible to begin this

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without once again expressing my deep gratitude to the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament for granting me and the civil rights movement in the United States such Occasionally, It is a great honor in life that of those moments of indescribable fulfillment that cannot be

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y explained by those symbols called words, their meaning can only be expressed through the inaudible language of the heart and, as in the moment I am currently experiencing, I experienced this height and joy. moment not only for me but for those devotees of nonviolence who have moved so bravely against pockets of racial injustice and who in the process have acquired a new estimate of their own human worth.
martin luther king jr s nobel peace prize lecture from oslo 11 dec 1964 full audio
Many of them are young and educated, others are middle-aged. elderly and middle class, most are poor and uneducated, but they are all united in the quiet conviction that it is better to suffer in the dick than to accept segregation in humiliation, they are the true heroes of the fight for freedom, they are the noble people who could accept. Nobel Peace Prize winner, I would also like to say that it is a common experience and to know that so many friends who have worked closely with me in recent years in this fight were willing to dip into their pockets, their means and their humble financial situations. and come to Oslo to be part of this experience and, naturally, it is a great pleasure and privilege to have my devoted wife, my mother and father, my sister and brother and, among many other friends, my closest partner, who He has been my dearest friend in this fight Ralph David Abernathy I would also like to say just a few words about the many courtesies extended by the Norwegian people.
martin luther king jr s nobel peace prize lecture from oslo 11 dec 1964 full audio

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martin luther king jr s nobel peace prize lecture from oslo 11 dec 1964 full audio...

I have traveled through many lands and many places in the world, but I have rarely, if ever, encountered people friendlier than the people of Norway and we will long remember all the courtesies extended and their great kindness and I particularly want to thank the committee, especially mr. John for the eloquent words he spoke yesterday at the ceremony and yesterday afternoon at the banquet and I can assure you that all these expressions of support are of inestimable value for the continuation of my humble efforts and for ma

king

brotherhood, freedom and Justice a reality in the United States of America This afternoon I would like to use this lofty and historic platform and discuss what seems to me to be the most pressing problem facing humanity today.
martin luther king jr s nobel peace prize lecture from oslo 11 dec 1964 full audio
Modern man has brought the entire world to an impressive threshold of the future that he has. He reached new and surprising peaks of scientific success. He has produced thin

king

machines and appearing instruments in the unfathomable ranges of interstellar space. He has built giant bridges to span the seas and gigantic buildings to kiss the skies. Here are our planes and spaceships. They have a dwarf distance placed in time. and chains and dug the roads through the stratosphere and this is a dazzling picture of the scientific and technological progress of modern man, but despite these spectacular advances and science and technology and the still limitless ones to come, something basic is missing. and that is a kind of poverty. of the spirit that flagrantly contrasts with our scientific and technological abundance the richer we have become materially the poorer we have become morally and spiritually we have learned to fly in the air like birds and swim in the sea like fish, but we have not learned the The simple art of living together as brothers, each man lives in two realms: the inner and the outer, and the inner is the realm of spiritual ends expressed in art, literature, morality and religion.
martin luther king jr s nobel peace prize lecture from oslo 11 dec 1964 full audio
The external is that complex of devices, techniques, mechanisms and instruments through which we can live. We live our problem today is that we have allowed the internal to become lost in the external, we have allowed the means by which we live to distance themselves from us, the ends for which we live and much of modern life can be summed up in that saying heartbreaking to lead the improved path means an unimproved end this is a serious problem the deep and disturbing problem facing modern man if we want to survive today our moral and spiritual backwardness must be eliminated increasing material power means great danger if that is not a proportional growth of the soul, when the exterior of man's nature subjugates the interior, storm clouds began to form in the world and the problem of spiritual and moral backwardness that constitutes the main dilemma of modern man is concentrated in three more problems broad ones that arise each from man's infantile ethical ISM. one of these problems, while appearing to be separate and isolated, is inextricably linked to the other.
I referred to racial injustice, poverty and war. The first problem I would like to mention is racial injustice, the fight to eliminate the evil of racial injustice and constitutes one of the The main struggles of our time in the current uprising of the black people of the United States arise from a deep determination and passionate about making freedom and equality a reality here and now. In a sense, the civil rights movement in the United States is a special American movement. phenomenon that must be understood in light of American history and addressed in terms of the American situation, but on another and more important level, what is happening in the United States today is a relatively small part of the global development in which we live today , says a philosopher Alfred North Whitehead when civilization is changing its basic perspective an important turning point in history where the presuppositions on which society is structured are being analyzed sharply challenged and profoundly changed what we are seeing now is an explosion of freedom the realization of an idea whose time has come to use Victor Hugo's phrase, the deep roar of discontent we hear today is a thunder of disinherited masses rising from the dungeons of oppression towards the shining heels of freedom in a majestic chorus that the rising masses sing with the words of our freedom song and gone let no one spin us around the world like a fever the freedom movement is spreading in the broadest liberation in history the great masses of people are determined to put an end to the exploitation of their races and their lands, they are awake and moving towards their goal like a tidal wave you can hear them rumbling in every town, in the streets, on the docks and in the houses, among the students , in churches and in political meetings, the historical movement was for several centuries and that of Western European nations and societies in the rest of the world. world and conquests of various kinds that period the era of colonialism has come to an end East meets West the land is being redistributed yes, we are changing our basic perspectives now these developments should not surprise a student of history oppressed peoples cannot remaining oppressed forever the longing for freedom finally manifests itself and the Bible tells the thrilling story of how Moses stood in the hands of Pharaoh centuries ago and shouted, "let my people go." This is sort of the opening chapter of an ongoing story.
The current struggle in the United States is later. chapter in the same story that unfolds, something inside has reminded the black man of his innate right to freedom and something outside has reminded him that he can obtain it consciously unconsciously he has been trapped by the spirit of the age and with his black brothers from Africa and their browns and yellows. brothers in Asia, South America and the Caribbean, Black America is moving with a sense of great urgency towards the promised land of racial justice, fortunately some significant progress has been made in the fight to end a long night of injustice racial, we have seen the Magnificent The drama of independence unfolds in Asia In Africa Just 30 years ago there were only three independent nations in all of Africa, but today 35 African nations have risen from colonial slavery.
In the United States we have witnessed the gradual disappearance of the system of racial segregation. The 1954 Supreme Court decision outlawing public school segregation dealt a legal and constitutional deathblow to the entire separate but equal doctrine: the court decreed that separate facilities are inherently unequal and that the child segregated on the basis of your race should deny you access to that child. equal protection of the law this decision was a great beacon of hope for millions of disinherited people and then came that bright day a few months ago when a strong civil rights bill became the law of the land this bill that was recommended and first promoted by President Kennedy was passed thanks to the overwhelming support and perseverance of millions of black and white Americans.
It was a brilliant interlude in the long and sometimes turbulent struggle for civil rights. The beginning of a second Emancipation Proclamation that provided a comprehensive legal basis for equal opportunity. Following the passage of this bill, we have seen some encouraging and surprising signs of compliance. I am pleased to report that, in general, communities throughout the southern part of the United States are obeying the civil rights law and showing remarkable good sense in the process. Another indication that progress is being made was found in the recent presidential elections. In the United States, the American people revealed great maturity by overwhelmingly rejecting a presidential candidate who had identified with extremism, racism and backwardness.
The voters of our nation dealt a resounding blow to Radek. You are right, they defeated those elements in our society who seek to confront black people and lead the nation down a dangerous fascist path. Now, let me not leave you with a false impression, the problem is far from solved, we still have a long way to go. Before the dream of freedom becomes a reality for black people in the United States, to put it figuratively in biblical language, we have left the dusty assaults of Egypt and crossed a red sea whose waters had been hardened for years by long, penetrating winters of massive resistance. but before we reach the majestic concrete shores of the promised land, which is a frustrating and bewildering wilderness, we must still face prodigious hills of opposition and gigantic mountains of resistance, but with patience and firm determination we will press on until every valley of despair is exalted. new peaks of hope until all growth of pride and irrationality is reduced by the fermentation process of humility and compassion, until the rough places of injustice are transformed into a small plain of equality and opportunity and until the crooked places of prejudice be transformed by righting. process a brilliant wisdom what the main sectors of the civil rights movement in the United States are saying is that the demand for dignity, equality, jobs and citizenship will not be abandoned or deceived or postponed if it means resistance and conflict, we will not flinch. we will not be cowed we will no longer be afraid the word that symbolizes the spirit and the external character of our meeting is non-violence and it is undoubtedly that factor that made it seem appropriate to award a

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to someone identified with the struggle in general terms not -violence in the fight for civil rights has meant not depending on weapons and weapons for the fight it has meant non-cooperation with customs and laws that are institutional aspects of a regime of discrimination and enslavement it has meant the direct participation of the masses in protest Instead of reliance on indirect methods that often do not involve the masses in action at all, nonviolence has also meant that my people in the agonizing struggles of recent years have taken suffering upon themselves rather than inflicting it on others, It has meant, as I said, that we are no longer We are no longer afraid or card, but to some substantial degree it has meant that we do not want to instill fear in others or in the society of which we are a part.
The movement does not seek to liberate black people at the expense of the humiliation and enslavement of white people. he does not seek any victory over anyone; seeks to liberate American society and share in the self-liberation of all people; violence as a way to achieve racial justice. I am convinced that it is impractical and immoral. I am not aware of the fact that violence often produces momentary results nations have frequently won their independence in battle but despite temporary victories violence never brings permanent

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it does not solve any social problems it simply creates new and more complicated ones violence it is impractical because it is a downward spiral that ends in destruction for all it is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent instead of when its understanding seeks to annihilate instead of converting violence it is immoral because it is nourished by hate instead of love it destroysthe community and makes fraternity impossible abandons society and monologue instead of dialogue violence ends up defeating itself creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality and in the destroyers in a real sense nonviolence seeks to redeem the spiritual and moral leg of which I spoke before as the main dilemma of modern man seeks to ensure moral ends through moral means that non-violence is a powerful and just weapon, in fact, it is a unique weapon in history that cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who he wants it.
I believe in this method because I believe it is the only way to restore the broken community that is. a method that seeks to implement the just law by appealing to the conscience of the vast decent majority who through their blindness fear pride and irrationality have allowed their conscience to sleep non-violent resisters can summarize a message in the following simple terms we will take action direct against injustice even though the government and other official agencies have not acted first we will not obey unjust laws we will submit to unjust practices we will do so peace

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y openly joyfully because our goal is to persuade we adopt the means of nonviolence because our goal is a community at peace with itself we will try to persuade with our words but if our words fail we will try to persuade with our actions we will.
We will always be willing to talk and seek a fair compromise, but we are willing to suffer when necessary and even risk our lives to become witnesses of the truth as we see it. This approach to the problem is not at all without successful precedents. It was used in a magnificent way by Mohandas K Gandhi to challenge the power of the British Empire and free the people of it from the political domination and economic exploitation that has been inflicted on them for centuries. He fights only with the weapons of truth, soul force, non-injury and courage in the past ten years.
Unarmed brave men and women of the United States have been borne living testimony to the moral power and efficacy of nonviolence by thousands of anonymous and relentless young people, white and black, even as they temporarily abandoned the walls of the ivory tower of learning to trample the barricades of partiality, are brave and disciplined. The activities have come as a refreshing oasis in a desert stifling by the heat of injustice. They have returned our entire nation to those great wells of democracy that were dug deep by the founding fathers in the formulation of the Constitution. and the Declaration of Independence someday all of America will be proud of those achievements.
I am well aware of the human weaknesses and failures that exist, the doubts about the effectiveness of nonviolence and the open defense of violence by some, but I am still convinced that nonviolence is the most practical and moral way. excellent way to address the age-old problem of racial injustice. A second evil that plagues the modern world is poverty. Like a monstrous octopus, it protects its persistent prehensile tentacles. In lands and peoples around the world, almost two-thirds of the world's people go to bed hungry at night. They are malnourished, poorly housed and poorly clothed. Many of them do not have houses to sleep in.
The only beds are the sidewalks of the streets. In the cities and dusty village roads, most of these poverty-stricken children of God have never seen a doctor or a dentist. This problem of poverty is not only seen in the class division between highly developed industrial nations and the so-called underdeveloped ones. nations, it is seen in the large economic gaps within the rich nations themselves, take my own country for example, we have developed the greatest production system that history has ever known, we have become the richest nation in the world, our product Gross national income this year will reach a staggering figure of almost six hundred and fifty billion dollars, yet at least one fifth of our fellow citizens, some ten million families comprising around 40 million people, are tied to a miserable culture of poverty, in a sense of poverty of the poor in the United States is more frustrating than the poverty of Africa in Asia the misery of the poor in Africa in Asia is shared misery a reality for the vast majority everyone is poor together as a result of years of exploitation and underdevelopment in sad contrast to the poor in America.
Know that you live in the richest nation in the world and that, although you are perishing on a lonely island of poverty, you are surrounded by a vast ocean of material prosperity. Gleaming towers of glass and steel, easily visible to residents of their slums, spring up almost overnight. Passenger planes speed over their entry holes at six hundred miles per hour. Satellites streaked through outer space and revealed details of the moon. President Johnson in his State of the Union message emphasized the entré diction and announced the United States' highest standard of living in the world and deplored that it was accompanied by dislocation, job loss, and the specter of poverty in the midst of abundance, so it is obvious that if man wants to redeem his spiritual and moral AG, he must do everything possible to bridge the bridges of the social and economic chasm between the haves and the haves. the dispossessed of the world poverty is one of the most urgent issues on the agenda of modern life that is nothing new about poverty, what is new is that we have the resources to get rid of it for more than a century and medium People began to worry about the twin problems of population and production.
A thoughtful Englishman named Malthus wrote a book that laid out some pretty terrifying conclusions. He predicted that the human family was gradually moving toward global famine because the world was producing people faster than it was. However, later scientists refuted Malthus's conclusions and revealed that he had greatly underestimated the world's resources and man's ingenuity not many years ago. Kurt Li Mathur, a Harvard geologist, wrote a book titled Quite Enchanted. He said the basic issue is that hunger is totally unnecessary in today's modern world, therefore the question on the agenda must be: Why should there be hunger and deprivation in any land in any city?
At any table, when man has the resources and scientific knowledge to provide all humanity with the basic needs of life, even deserts can be irrigated and the topsoil can be replaced, we cannot complain about a lack of land for 25 million square miles of arable land of which we use less than seven million we have an amazing knowledge of vitamins nutrition the chemistry of food and the versatility of atoms that is not a deficit in human resources the deficit is human will the rich and the secure have to often The poor of our countries have been excluded from our minds and expelled from the mainstream of our societies because we have allowed them to become invisible, just as nonviolence exposes ugliness of racial inequalities.
In addition to injustice, the infection and disease of poverty must be exposed and cured not only of its symptoms but also of its basic causes. This too will be a fierce struggle and we must not be afraid to seek the remedy, no matter how formidable the task, the time has come for a solution. total war on poverty rich nations must use their vast resources of wealth to develop the underdeveloped school the unschooled and feed the unjust ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation no individual a nation can be great if it does not care for The least of these, deeply engraved in the fiber of our religious tradition, is the conviction that men are made in the image of God and that they are souls of infinite metaphysical value, heirs of a legacy of dignity and worth, if we feel this as A profound It is a moral fact that we cannot be content to see men hanged to see men victimized by hunger and ill health when we have the means to help them.
The wealth of nations must do everything possible to bridge the gap between the rich minority and the poor majority in the end. analysis the rich should not ignore the poor because both the rich and the poor are united in a single garment of destiny all life is interrelated and all men are interdependent the agony of the poor decreases our rich and the salvation of the poor increases Our rich that we are inevitably our brother's keeper due to the interrelated structure of reality John Donne interpreted this truth in graphic terms when he stated that no man is an entire island unto himself, each man is a piece of the continent, a part of the continent if a cloud is carried by the sea of ​​Europe it is as much as if it were a promontory of the world as if a man ordered your friends from yourself if the death of any man diminishes me because I am involved in humanity and therefore I will never send to know for whom the bell tolls.
For you, the third great evil facing our world is war. Recent events have vividly reminded us that nations are not reducing but increasing their arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. The best brains and highly developed nations of the world are engaged in military activities. technology nuclear weapons proliferation has not stopped despite the limited nuclear test ban treaty; On the contrary, the creation of an atomic device by the first non-white, non-Western and so-called underdeveloped power, that is, the People's Republic of China, opens new perspectives of exposure of large multitudes keeping humanity under an insidious terror by the ever-present threat of annihilation;
The fact that most of the time human beings forget the truth about the nature and risk of nuclear war because it is too painful and therefore not acceptable does not alter the nature and risk of such war the rejection mechanism It may temporarily cover anxiety but it does not provide peace of mind or emotional security so man's propensity to get involved in war remains a fact but is born of wisdom Experience should tell us that Ward is obsolete. There may have been a time when war served as a negative good by preventing the spread and growth of an evil force, but the destructive power of modern weapons eliminates even the possibility that war could serve as a negative good. .
Well, if we assume that life is worth living and that man has the right to survive, then we must find an alternative to war in a day when vehicles are launched through outer space and guided ballistic missiles open roads of death to Through the stratosphere, no nation can claim victory. in war, the so-called limited war will leave little more than a calamitous legacy of human suffering, political turmoil and political disillusionment, a world war, God forbid, will leave only smoldering ashes as mute proof, a human race whose father led inexorably to definitive death, etc. If modern man continues to flirt unflinchingly with war, he will transform his earthly habitat into a hellish place that not even the mind of Dante could imagine, which is why I dare to suggest to all of you and all who hear and eventually read these words that The philosophy and strategy of nonviolence immediately become a subject of serious study and experimentation in all fields of human conflict, without in any way excluding relations between nations;
After all, it is the nation-states that waged war that have produced the weapons that threaten survival. of humanity and that are both genocidal and suicidal in nature, here too we have ancient habits of dealing with vast power structures, indescribable and complicated problems to solve, but unless we completely abdicate our humanity and succumb to fear and the importance in the presence of the weapons we have. created by ourselves it is imperative and urgent to end war and violence between nations, as well as put an end to racial injustice, equality with whites will hardly solve the problems of whites or blacks if it means equality and a society under the spell of terror and a world condemned to extinction.
I do not wish to minimize to a minimum the complexities of the problems that must be faced to achieve peaceful disarmament, but I believe it is a fact that we will not have the will, the courage and the insight to deal with such matters unless we are prepared in this field. To undergo a mental and spiritual re-evaluation, a change of focus that allows us to see that the things that seemed most real and powerful are now really unreal and have fallen under the death sentence we need to make a supreme effort to generate the readiness, in fact. , the desire to enter the new world that is now possible the city that has foundations whose builder and maker is God we will not build a peaceful world following a negative path it is not enough to say noWe must wage war, it is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it, we must concentrate not only on the negative explosion of war but on the positive affirmation of peace, and that is a fascinating little story that is preserved for us in literature.
Greek about Ulysses and the Sirens The sirens had the ability to sing so sweetly that the sailors could not resist heading towards their island. Many ships were drawn to the rocks and men forgot duty and home honor as they threw themselves into the sea to become hug bombs. that dragged them to their death Ulysses, determined not to be attracted by the sirens, first decided to tie himself tightly to the mast of his ship and it is among the things of his crew that years with wax, but finally he and his crew learned a better way to save yourself They took on board the obvious beautiful singer whose melodies were sweeter than the music of the sirens when Orpheus sang, who bothered to listen to the sirens, so we must fix our visions not only on the negative expulsion of war but on the positive affirmation of peace.
We must see that this piece represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody that is far superior to the discards of war, in some way we must transform the dynamics of the struggle for world power from the negative nuclear arms race that no one can win. through positive competition to take advantage of man's creative capacity. genius in order to make peace and prosperity a reality for all the nations of the world, in short, we must turn the arms race into a race for peace, if we have the will and determination to mount that peace offensive that we will unlock until now.
It will seal the doors of hope and transform our eminent cosmic elegy into a psalm of creative fulfillment. Everything I have said boils down to the point of stating that the survival of humanity depends on man's ability to solve the problems of racial injustice, poverty and war, the solution of these problems in turn depend on Let men compare their moral progress with their scientific progress and learn the practical art of living in harmony. A few years ago, two novelists died, among their articles was a list of suggested plots for future stories, the most notable being this one. one a very separated family inherits a house in which they have to live together this is a great new problem of humanity we have inherited a large house a large world house in which we have to live together black men and white men Eastern and Western Gentiles and Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Hindus, a family unduly separated in ideas, culture and interests who, because we can never again live without each other, must somehow learn in this great world house to live with each other and this is our great, this means that increasingly Our loyalty must be more ecumenical than sectional.
We must now give primary loyalty to humanity as a whole to preserve the best of our individual societies. For a global brotherhood that elevates concern for our fellow man beyond tribe, race, class and nation is indeed a called to a universal and unconditional love for all men, this misunderstood and misinterpreted concept, so easily dismissed by the niches of the world as something weak and cowardly. Strength has now become an absolute necessity for man's survival. When I talk about love, I don't mean a weak, sentimental response that is little more than an emotional bosh. I am referring to that force that all the great religions have seen.
As the supreme unifying principle of life, love is in some way the key that opens the door that leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist belief in ultimate reality is beautifully summarized in the First Epistle of Saint Peter. John, let us love one another because love is from God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God whoever does not love does not know God because God is love if we love one another God lives in US and his love is perfect in us Let us hope that this spirit is the order of the day, as Arnold Toynbee says, love is the supreme force that contributes to the saving choice of life and good versus the damning choice of death and evil.
Therefore, the first hope in our inventory must be the We hope that love has the last word. We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate. We bow before the altars of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate and history is littered with the remains of nations. and the people who followed this counterproductive path of hate, love is the key to the solution to the world's problem, let me finish by saying that I have personal faith and that humanity will somehow rise to the occasion and give new directions As the era moves rapidly toward its doom, despite the tensions and uncertainties of this period, something profoundly significant is happening: old systems of exploitation and oppression, of death, and out of the wombs of the fragile of a fragile world, new systems of justice and equality.
After being born, the doors of opportunity are gradually opening for those at the bottom of society, the shirtless and barefoot people of the land are developing a new sense of nesting and carving a tunnel of hope through the dark rising out of despair, the people who sat in The darkness have seen a great light here and that an individual or group dances to love us and raise us to the majestic heights of moral maturity and therefore, in a real sense, this is A great time to be alive, so I'm not yet discouraged by the future granted. that the tolerant optimism of yesterday is impossible, given that those who are pioneers in the fight for peace and freedom will still face uncomfortable prison sales, painful death threats, will continue to be buffeted by the storms of persecution that will lead them to sometimes to the persistent feeling that we can no longer bear such a heavy burden, the temptation to want to retire to a calmer and more serene life, given that we are facing a global crisis that so often leaves us standing in the middle of the rough sea. restless of life, but every crisis has its dangers and its opportunities can mean salvation or perdition in a dark and confusing world, the kingdom of God can still reign in the hearts of men and we will reach that great and joyful day when men all over the world will be able to join hands, black men. and white men Jews and Gentiles Protestants and Catholics Hindus and Muslims and sing the words of the old spiritual black free at last free at last thank God Almighty we are free at last you

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