Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On Meet The Press, 1965

And this should be a required part of the curriculum in every single school in the U.S.A. ... and elsewhere.

And I appreciate that. The words and actions of those who went before must continue to inspire us now.

And even in those days though there was fear in not knowing what was coming, there was still a sense it would be alright because of those standing up and speaking out. I hope Occupy can be that movement for our youth today. They so need a way to express themselves in making real changes. What we are leaving them does not please me one bit.

I agree. It certainly doesn't do him justice.

Thank you and I agree. I grew up in these times and never understood why people hated because of skin color. I remember when I was in grade school, one day I invited a friend of mine to come home after school to do homework with me. Walking down the block to my house two white women stopped and watched me and my friend walk by, and I heard one say, "didn't know we had n- lovers living on this block." I kept on walking but I could see it hurt my friend, so I put my arm around her shoulder as we walked. My mother made sure to set them straight the next day. It is sad we still see its ugly head being raised in this country.

You are welcome, Jan. I grew up in the same era, but because i lived in a big city that was segregated, I never experienced racism until I entered the job market, and traveled to the downtown area of town. Although it was a difficult time to exist, I was taught to love and be tolerant of all races by my mother and grandmother.
I knew that racism never fully went away, but I never dreamed that we would be fighting to keep the civil rights, that King and others fought and died for.

When my parents and I finally managed to move out of the ghetto, we set up one of those dopey little plastic pools in our backyard. My very best friend ( a little black girl) -- still living in the ghetto -- came to Morristown to spend a weekend with me. We were eight years young.

The white woman next door rushed outside, then began staring at the two of us in that little pool. She'd pause, then spit onto the ground, and look back at us. Her face was filled with that ugly hatred we'd come to recognize so well from our trips down South, and it was scary.

My mother, wearing a worried look, came outside and asked the two of us to step out of the tiny pool. At great length, she then very dramatically kept swishing her arms and hands through the water, repeatedly, trying to "examine" the water. Then, with a puzzled look on her face, and shrugging, she loudly said, "Huh. I don't see anything that's come off in the water."

And back in we little girls went, to continue having our fun.

Living in a segregated city WAS your experience of racism.

I wish we could keep the innocence of children. How sad that woman had such hate in her heart.

And of course she passed it on to her own daughter.

That she did.

Yes I know. I meant that I was never personally attacked by racist Whites. How well do I know that the policies that forced the division of races, was racism within itself.

I liked that too. He was unshakeable.

A piece of personal history... to this day, I still get an initial chill when I see a German shepherd. And I'm an animal rights activist, for heaven's sake. But those times... those horrible, horrible times... and the way those poor dogs were actually TRAINED to attack not only our black friends and workers, but also us white "n-lovers."

Thanks for sharing, EV. I also hope you saw the documentary on PBS last year about the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Riders.

Oh, god, yes, yes, yes! I wish that were REQUIRED in every single school in the United States, damnit.

I agree! That was one excellent documentary!

Copy and paste the inbed code from You Tube. Then when you come back here, click on add image in the comment box. That will lead to an embed code option. Click on that option and place the code in the box. Then click process and then submit. Hope that works.

THANK YOU SO MUCH! I think I got it to work this time!

You're welcome.

And HERE is a perfect example of that community feeling I used to find within Current.

They just wanted people to perceive him as a disruptor. His work on alleviating poverty is just as much a part of his legacy as anything else.

Right you both are... sadly enough.

I still believe in non violence, though I do understand your point.

The frustration is understandable but, just as with JanforGore, I have to stay with my non-violence convictions.

Thanks, Jan. I hadn't seen this one before; I will gladly share it with others.

Thank you SO much for sharing all these wonderful videos of Dr. King!
His words and works are still alive and relevant 50 years later.

50 years. Seems like yesterday that I was a girl watching this all unfold in real time. I can also remember my mother saying to my father, "that man is going to get himself killed because he speaks the truth"...

He spoke truth with a courage so rarely seen . A true Hero .

A new pain in my heart, reading your mother's words...

JFK's murder changed her. Especially regarding this government. When Dr. King was murdered, she cried for days... and then we lost Bobby.

Remember all that insane, lasting pain? It was a terrifying time, just terrifying. Three greats, one after another... and never to be forgotten, any of it. And today, once again -- as I'm sure is happening with you, as well -- the tears easily are flowing, and my heart burns from the pain and sadness.

Is your mom still alive? If so, please give her a hug for me.

Oh how I wish I could. I lost her at 17 to cancer. She was a remarkable woman.

His words in this interview regarding standing up to unjust laws are brilliant and modelled after Gandhi and satyagraha. He was a great inspiration to so many young people in those times, me included.