Today, in the United States, it’s Martin Luther King Jr. day. A day or remembrance and reflection on a man whose words are as powerful today as the day he spoke them. One year after King’s famous “I have a dream” speech [28 August 1963], he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway on December 10, 1964. This is an excerpt from his acceptance speech:

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.

Interesting that King graciously accepts the Nobel Peace Prize and at the same time asks why the prize is awarded to a struggle which has yet won the peace and brotherhood which is what the Nobel Prize is all about in the first place. King makes a strong point without disparaging the very award he is given. He merely wants the audience to understand that the movement is ongoing until peace + brotherhood is achieved.

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 motor 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 believe that what self-centered men have torn down men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive good will proclaim the rule of the land. “And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid.” I still believe that We Shall overcome!

“I believe that what self-centered men have torn down men other-centered can build up.” This unto itself is a powerful and relevant statement for our time. Self-centered can be good or bad. It just depends on the focus. I like the positive spin he puts on self-centered. As if to say we can take that self-centered energy and focus it on something positive for all of humanity rather than the opposite. So it is on this day I reflect on King’s words and see so much relevance for today. Like all great leaders and prophets, Martin Luther King life was taken on April 4, 1968 by an assassin’s bullet in Memphis, Tennessee. He was only 39 years old.

Here is a mashup, from an earlier post, of King’s famous “Drum Major Speech.” I took the speech and added music and a female backing voice: