fate keeps on happening

Martin Luther King Jr was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo in 1964. He was 35 years old and, at that time, the youngest to have received it. He declared he would use the prize money to further the cause of the civil rights movement.

I’ve excerpted my favorite parts of his Acceptance Speech. Read or listen to the entire 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.

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.

I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history.

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 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 think Alfred Nobel would know what I mean when I say that I accept this award in the spirit of a curator of some precious heirloom which he holds in trust for its true owners - all those to whom beauty is truth and truth beauty - and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.

MLK with the Nobel Peace Prize.

Crown Prince Harald and King Olav congratulate MLK after receiving the Prize. UPI photo 12/10/64

Returning home after receiving the Prize.

Just a great pic of MLK.