"If a man-made law is in conflict with what one’s conscience reveals is a law of God, or the moral law of the universe, then he has a moral obligation, it seems to me, to break the unjust law and through self-suffering to accept whatever penalty comes." -King, 6 November 1960.

"I urge all of you, my fellow Americans, to make America a showplace of true democracy. Register, so you will be able to vote. Study the issues. And then cast your ballot on election day for the candidates and party of your choice." -Martin Luther King Jr., October 1964.

🚨 CALL FOR PROPOSALS IS NOW OPEN! 🚨 The College of Charleston's Avery Research Center invites proposals for an 8-10 June 2027 conference on Liberatory Literacies: Honoring the Legacy of Septima P. Clark Through Black Archives and Education.

Sí, se puede! The King Institute mourns the passing of Dolores Huerta (1930-2026) as we reflect on her incredible contributions to the labor movement. Learn more about Huerta here: doloreshuerta.org/dolores-huer...

#OnThisDay in 1961, King met with President John F. Kennedy and urged him to sign a second Emancipation Proclamation banning racial segregation. Learn more about King's repeated appeals for a second Emancipation Proclamation here: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/emancipation...

"The most serious indictment is not to be made against a screaming mob propelled by bottled-up venom and hatred that was having its ultimate, tragic catharsis. Surely the abysmal silence of the church and the clergy cannot pass without its due reckoning." -MLK, THE NATION, 13 October 1962.

Happy birthday to Fannie Lou Hamer! Today would be the courageous truthteller's 109th birthday. Learn more about her here: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/hamer-fannie...

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. The beauty of nonviolence is that in its own way and in its own time it seeks to break the chain reaction of evil.” -King, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, pp. 62-63.

"Our needs are identical with labor's needs—decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community." -MLK, New York Amsterdam News, 28 September 1963

Pulitzer Prize winner Jonathan Eig checks out our new location on the Stanford University Main Quad and speaks with a few students. Thank you, @jonathaneig.bsky.social!

"The liberation struggle in Africa has been the greatest single international influence on American Negro stu­dents. Frequently I hear them say that if their African brothers can break the bonds of colonialism, surely the American Negro can break Jim Crow." -MLK, September 1961.

#OnThisDay in 1963, King delivered the eulogy for three of the four young girls killed in the 15 September bombing of Birmingham's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Carole Rosamond Robertson, the fourth bombing victim, was eulogized in a separate 17 September service.

#OnThisDay in 1963, Ku Klux Klan members bombed Birmingham's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, killing four children: Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley.

In a New York Times Magazine article published #OTD in 1961, King described the impact of young Black students on the African American freedom struggle: “In sitting down at the lunch counters, they are in reality standing up for the best in the American dream.”

#OTD in 1962: "I know that the American Labor Movement has millions of people like you in it...When the means are found to organize it, the day of freedom will be brought closer because millions performing an act of solidarity, as individuals, are a powerful force."

"We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now... Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice." - MLK, "I Have a Dream," 28 August 1963.

"I have never felt that demonstrations could actually solve the problem. They call attention to the problem.... I am still convinced that there is nothing more powerful to dramatize a social evil than the 'tramp, tramp' of marching feet." -King, Interview on "Meet the Press," 21 August 1966.

#OnThisDay in 1962, King agreed to leave Albany, Georgia, and announce a halt to demonstrations, effectively ending his involvement in the Albany Movement. Although local efforts continued in conjunction with SNCC, the ultimate goals of the Movement were not met by the time of King’s departure.

#OnThisDay in 1963, Malcolm X invited King and other civil rights leaders to a Harlem rally: "A United Front involving all Negro factions, elements, and their leaders is absolutely necessary. A racial explosion is more destructive than a nuclear explosion." -Malcolm X, Letter to King, 31 July 1963.

#OnThisDay in 1962, King and Ralph Abernathy were arrested for a third time in Albany, Georgia, after leading a prayer vigil outside of city hall. Read more: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/...

#OnThisDay in 1962, King calls for a continuation of demonstrations in Albany, Ga., insisting that there is no shame in going to jail. Surveying the crowd, King asks: “Who will go? Who will be a part of greater ongoing movement who made God’s kingdom a reality?”

Six years ago today, we lost two giants on the same day: Rep. John Lewis & Rev. C.T. Vivian. Both spent their lives fighting for voting rights, marching alongside my Dad & understanding that democracy is not given, it is fought for. Today, the Voting Rights Act they helped secure is under assault.

"The present integration struggle is based on Democratic principles and abiding love for America rather than the faults and misguided principles of Communism." -MLK, Statement on photograph taken at Highlander Folk School, 13 July 1963.

Today we remember King's mother, Alberta Williams King, on the anniversary of her murder. Alberta was 71 years old when she was shot while playing the organ during Ebenezer Baptist Church's Sunday service. Learn more: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-alberta...

"Now, this is what I try to teach in this struggle in the South—that we are not engaged in a struggle that means we sit down and do nothing, that there’s a great deal of difference between nonresistance to evil and nonviolent resistance." -MLK, Interview by Kenneth Bancroft Clark, 24 June 1963.

#OTD In 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that should have come two and a half years earlier: all enslaved people were free. #Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom and a reminder that freedom delayed is justice denied.

🎉💕Happy anniversary to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King! The couple was married #OnThisDay in 1953. Learn about the couple's courtship and early marriage in the introduction to Vol. II of The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. here: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/introduction...

Listen below to King Institute director Dr. Lerone Martin's keynote address at Stanford's 2026 Baccalaureate ceremony!

Lerone A. Martin at Baccalaureate 2026

YouTube video by Stanford

youtube.com

"The brutal murder of Medgar Evers came as shocking and tragic news to all people of good will... this reveals that we still have a long, long way to go in this nation before we achieve the ideals of decency and the ideals of brotherhood." -MLK on the Murder of Medgar Wiley Evers, 12 June 1963.

#OnThisDay in 1955, King earned his doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University. Under theologians Edgar S. Brightman and L. Harold DeWolf, King developed his understanding of the social gospel, which formed the foundation of his civil rights advocacy.