Researchers suggest that this quote, while
often repeated by politicians, is probably not authentic. Rather, it is a sort of paraphrase of
multiple quotes that urged taking positive action against oppression. One of these quotes was in
reference to civil rights protests in Selma, Alabama, where King urged people to stand up for
their political rights even though it might mean their deaths. Other, similar quotes from King's
sermons and public speeches have been documented. Whether or not the quote is fully authentic,
it certainly gives voice to a belief that was central to the nonviolent direct action at the
heart of the Civil Rights Movement. People who engaged in this kind of protest did so with the
knowledge that they confronted a segregation regime whose protectors were willing to use (and in
fact often did use) violence against people who challenged it. King faced repeated assassination
attempts, including house bombings, long before he was murdered in Memphis in 1968. Many other
civil rights activists, rank and file and leaders, also faced violence and even death. Without
the belief that some things were worth dying for, nobody would have been willing to participate
in the direct action that made the movement successful. So this quote, while perhaps not
entirely accurate, is completely consistent with King's philosophy and that of the Civil Rights
Movement as a whole.
Thursday 11 February 2016
What does our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter mean?
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