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Category: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “A Christmas Sermon on Peace” Still Prophetic 50 Years Later

December 24, 2017

By Martin Luther King, Jr.: This Christmas season finds us a rather bewildered human race. We have neither peace within nor peace without. Everywhere paralyzing fears harrow people by day and haunt them by night. Our world is sick with war; everywhere we turn we see its ominous possibilities. And yet, my friends, the Christmas…
Picking up King’s Legacy: Reverend William Barber and the Launching of a New Poor People’s Campaign

December 12, 2017

By Jeanne Theoharis: The air was hot and sticky. Surrounded by clergy, Rev. William Barber lambasted the voter suppression that had compromised the 2016 presidential election. “Long before Russia hacked our election, our government was hacked by racism.” Since Barack Obama’s election in 2008 and the Supreme Court’s 2013 stripping of the Voting Rights Act,…
The 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?”

October 26, 2017

Fifty years ago today, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?” speech to students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia. In it, he lays out three important steps to follow in order for the students to reach their full potential, no matter their status life, and calls on them to…
Poor People’s Campaign Redux, from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II

September 19, 2017

By Joseph Rosenbloom: As a graduate student at Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, Pennsylvania, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote about the social ill of poverty and vowed to do something about it. He put the resolve on hold. For his first decade as a civil rights leader, he dedicated himself to ending racial segregation and…
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Where Do We Go from Here?” Sermon, 50 Years Later

August 16, 2017

By Martin Luther King, Jr. This is no time for romantic illusions and empty philosophical debates about freedom. This is a time for action. What is needed is a strategy for change, a tactical program that will bring the Negro into the mainstream of American life as quickly as possible. So far, this has only…
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Where Do We Go from Here” Turns 50

June 20, 2017

This month, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? turns fifty. King’s acute analysis of American race relations couldn’t be more prophetic. Written in 1967, in isolation in a rented house in Jamaica, King’s final book lays out his plans and dreams for America’s future: the need for…
Next Steps, New Phase: A Graduation Reading List

May 26, 2017

Graduation is a rite of passage that takes us either to the next step in education or our first step in a career. As a stage of new beginnings, it can be a time of uncertainty, but it’s also full of potential for growth. Graduation this season, though, seems particularly marked by uncertainty because of…
Martin Luther King, Jr. Speaks Out on the Limits of Northern Liberalism

January 16, 2017

By Jeanne Theoharis: While Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks are typically associated with the South, both spent a great deal of their lives challenging the racism of the Jim Crow North. Yet this part of their history is repeatedly ignored. Parks described the Detroit she moved to in 1957 as the “Northern promised land…
Beacon’s Bestsellers and Highlights of 2016

December 28, 2016

It’s December, which means it’s time for our holiday sale! All this month, get 30% off every purchase on our website using code HOLIDAY30. This year, we’re donating 20% of all sales in December to the Water Protector Legal Collective, which provides legal support for water protection activities in resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline.…
Post-Election 2016 Reading to Inspire Action, Find Meaning, and Learn from Our History

November 21, 2016

The results of the 2016 presidential election have left many people in shock and disappointment. In a time where people are fearing that a new administration will work to reverse much of the progress made in the last eight years, we are left wondering what the future holds. How do we continue to fight against…

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Category: Martin Luther King, Jr.