Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a talented orator, known for his “I Have a Dream speech” which he delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in August of 1963. | Alamy
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a talented orator, known for his “I Have a Dream speech” which he delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in August of 1963. | Alamy
Illinois state Rep. Seth Lewis marked the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday, encouraging the public to honor the life of the activist.
In a statement Monday, Lewis emphasized words he had spoken during his time as an advocate for civil rights.
“'Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.’ – Martin Luther King Jr. Today we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr,.” Lewis said in his statement.
According to the Nobel Prize website, King received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the Civil Rights Movement at the age of 35, making him the youngest man to have received the award. With his winnings, King donated over $50,000 in prize money to further advance civil rights.
After surviving an assassination attempt in the fall of 1958, King continued to preach and practice nonviolence, History reports. He continued his efforts in the years following and in 1968, as King traveled to Memphis to support sanitation workers that were on strike, he was assassinated while he was on the balcony of his hotel at just 39 years of age.
King was a talented orator, known for his “I Have a Dream" speech, which he delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in August of 1963, NPR reports. In this speech he famously said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
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