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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 9h

#OnThisDay in 1961, King met with President John F. Kennedy and urged him to sign a second Emancipation Proclamation banning racial segregation. Learn more about King's repeated appeals for a second Emancipation Proclamation here: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/emancipation...

In memoriam poster of King courtesy of the Yanker poster collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-100009.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

"The most serious indictment is not to be made against a screaming mob propelled by bottled-up venom and hatred that was having its ultimate, tragic catharsis. Surely the abysmal silence of the church and the clergy cannot pass without its due reckoning." -MLK, THE NATION, 13 October 1962.

Photograph of King by Hugo van Gelderen / Anefo is licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Happy birthday to Fannie Lou Hamer! Today would be the courageous truthteller's 109th birthday. Learn more about her here: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/hamer-fannie...

Photograph of Hamer speaking during 1964's Mississippi Freedom Summer is courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. The beauty of nonviolence is that in its own way and in its own time it seeks to break the chain reaction of evil.” -King, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, pp. 62-63.

Photograph by Bob Fitch, courtesy of the Bob Fitch Photography Archive, © Stanford University Libraries.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

"Our needs are identical with labor's needs—decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community." -MLK, New York Amsterdam News, 28 September 1963

Photograph of King by Bob Fitch, courtesy of the Bob Fitch photography archive, © Stanford University Libraries.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Pulitzer Prize winner Jonathan Eig checks out our new location on the Stanford University Main Quad and speaks with a few students. Thank you, @jonathaneig.bsky.social!

Jonathan Eig and director Dr. Lerone Martin at the King Institute at Stanford University.

Jonathan Eig meets with Stanford students at the King Institute.

Jonathan Eig and Dr. Lerone Martin with their respective books, King: A Life and Young King: The Making of Martin Luther King Jr.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

"The liberation struggle in Africa has been the greatest single international influence on American Negro students. Frequently I hear them say that if their African brothers can break the bonds of colonialism, surely the American Negro can break Jim Crow." -MLK, September 1961.

The photograph depicts a monument to Martin Luther King Jr. in Uppsala, Sweden, during the light festival Allt ljus på Uppsala in November 2008. Image from Per Enström licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

#OnThisDay in 1963, King delivered the eulogy for three of the four young girls killed in the 15 September bombing of Birmingham's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Carole Rosamond Robertson, the fourth bombing victim, was eulogized in a separate 17 September service.

In the photograph, King walks with Eva Lemon and Aretha Willis in Greenwood, Miss., in 1966. Courtesy of the Bob Fitch photography archive, © Stanford University Libraries.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

#OnThisDay in 1963, Ku Klux Klan members bombed Birmingham's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, killing four children: Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley.

Photograph of King by Yoichi Okamoto from the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

In a New York Times Magazine article published #OTD in 1961, King described the impact of young Black students on the African American freedom struggle: “In sitting down at the lunch counters, they are in reality standing up for the best in the American dream.”

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

#OTD in 1962: "I know that the American Labor Movement has millions of people like you in it...When the means are found to organize it, the day of freedom will be brought closer because millions performing an act of solidarity, as individuals, are a powerful force."

Photograph of King courtesy of International Ladies Garment Workers Union Photographs (1885-1985), Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now... Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice." - MLK, "I Have a Dream," 28 August 1963.

Photograph of King by Rowland Scherman. Records of the U.S. Information Agency, Miscellaneous Subjects, Staff and Stringer Photographs, National Archives and Records Administration.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

"I have never felt that demonstrations could actually solve the problem. They call attention to the problem.... I am still convinced that there is nothing more powerful to dramatize a social evil than the 'tramp, tramp' of marching feet." -King, Interview on "Meet the Press," 21 August 1966.

Andrew Young, King, and others march through the streets of Philadelphia, Mississippi, in 1966 as state highway patrol officials look on. Photograph by Bob Fitch, courtesy of the Bob Fitch Photography Archive, Stanford University Libraries.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

#OnThisDay in 1962, King agreed to leave Albany, Georgia, and announce a halt to demonstrations, effectively ending his involvement in the Albany Movement. Although local efforts continued in conjunction with SNCC, the ultimate goals of the Movement were not met by the time of King’s departure.

Photograph of King from Records of the U.S. Information Agency, National Archives and Records Administration.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

#OnThisDay in 1963, Malcolm X invited King and other civil rights leaders to a Harlem rally: "A United Front involving all Negro factions, elements, and their leaders is absolutely necessary. A racial explosion is more destructive than a nuclear explosion." -Malcolm X, Letter to King, 31 July 1963.

1964 photograph of King and Malcolm X by Marion S. Trikosko. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ6-1847.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

#OnThisDay in 1962, King and Ralph Abernathy were arrested for a third time in Albany, Georgia, after leading a prayer vigil outside of city hall. Read more: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/...

Photograph of Fred Shuttlesworth, King, and Abernathy by Marion S. Trikosko. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection, LC-DIG-ppmsca-72947.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

#OnThisDay in 1962, King calls for a continuation of demonstrations in Albany, Ga., insisting that there is no shame in going to jail. Surveying the crowd, King asks: “Who will go? Who will be a part of greater ongoing movement who made God’s kingdom a reality?”

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

"The present integration struggle is based on Democratic principles and abiding love for America rather than the faults and misguided principles of Communism." -MLK, Statement on photograph taken at Highlander Folk School, 13 July 1963.

The photograph depicts a 1966 Mississippi billboard that features an image of King surrounded by other individuals at Highlander Folk School in Tennessee. Text on the billboard proclaims, "Martin Luther King at Communist Training School." Photograph by Bob Fitch, courtesy of the Bob Fitch Photography Archive, Stanford University Libraries.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Today we remember King's mother, Alberta Williams King, on the anniversary of her murder. Alberta was 71 years old when she was shot while playing the organ during Ebenezer Baptist Church's Sunday service. Learn more: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-alberta...

Photograph of Martin Luther King Sr. speaking at Alberta Williams King's funeral by Boyd Lewis. Boyd Lewis photographs, Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

"Now, this is what I try to teach in this struggle in the South—that we are not engaged in a struggle that means we sit down and do nothing, that there’s a great deal of difference between nonresistance to evil and nonviolent resistance." -MLK, Interview by Kenneth Bancroft Clark, 24 June 1963.

Photograph of King courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

🎉💕Happy anniversary to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King! The couple was married #OnThisDay in 1953. Learn about the couple's courtship and early marriage in the introduction to Vol. II of The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. here: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/introduction...

Photograph of King and Coretta Scott King by Herman Hiller, New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. LC-USZ62-116775.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

"The brutal murder of Medgar Evers came as shocking and tragic news to all people of good will... this reveals that we still have a long, long way to go in this nation before we achieve the ideals of decency and the ideals of brotherhood." -MLK on the Murder of Medgar Wiley Evers, 12 June 1963.

Photograph of Evers, top left, by Robert Knudsen. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

#OnThisDay in 1955, King earned his doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University. Under theologians Edgar S. Brightman and L. Harold DeWolf, King developed his understanding of the social gospel, which formed the foundation of his civil rights advocacy.

In the photograph, King receives an honorary doctorate from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Courtesy of the National Archives of the Netherlands, Anefo Photo Collection, ID 2.24.01.05.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

"We are going to have to do more to get across our message that there is strength in non-violence, not weakness... This does not mean we don't resist. We resist with all our might, but non-violently." -MLK in "New Attack on Violence By Dr. King," San Francisco Examiner, 2 June 1963.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

The King Institute mourns the loss of our great friend, the legend Dr. Clarence B. Jones. Rest in power.

Photograph of Clarence Jones receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joseph Biden from the Executive Office of the President of the United States.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

"We must not allow state wrongs to exist under the banner of State Rights. To deny individuals the right to vote through threats, intimidations and other insidious methods is not a State Right, But a State Wrong." -MLK, Address at Freedom Riders Rally, 21 May 1961.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

"I left India more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom and human dignity. In fact, there is no other lasting way." -MLK, Letter to G. Ramachandran, 19 May 1959.

Photograph of King at the Quaker Center in Delhi, February 1959, courtesy of the U.S. Embassy New Delhi.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

"If physical death is the price that some must pay to free their children from a permanent life of psychological death, then nothing can be more Christian. Keep going today. Keep moving amid every obstacle. Keep moving amid every mountain of opposition." -MLK, "Give Us the Ballot," 17 May 1957.

Photograph courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration, RG 330: Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

"One day we will win our freedom. We will not only win freedom for ourselves. We will so appeal to your heart and your conscience that we will win you in the process. And our victory will be a double victory." -MLK, "The American Dream," 14 May 1963.

Photograph of King by George Conklin, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

"We have a greater weapon... We have the power of our souls, the power of our standing up together, and this amazing unity and this soul force is the thing—are the things that will free us in this day." -MLK, "Statement on Nonviolence at New Home Billiard Parlor," 13 May 1963.

Photograph of King speaking with students after a 5 November 1962 speech at the University of Michigan courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library: Bentley Image Bank, University of Michigan.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

#OnThisDay in 1963, the day after civil rights leaders announced a negotiated settlement to conclude the Birmingham campaign, bombs exploded at the A. G. Gaston Motel outside of the room where King had been staying as well as at his brother A. D.’s home.

Photograph of bomb damage at the Gaston Motel by Marion S. Trikosko. Courtesy of the U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-04293.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

This weekend we had the honor of hearing Anna Malaika Tubbs and Lerone Martin discuss the hidden histories of Black excellence in their respective books The Three Mothers and Young King. The incredible event was beautifully moderated by Juliette Whittaker. Thank you, Stanford Black Alumni Summit!

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

"Tell your children and tell them early that they are significant, that they are God’s children, and that nobody in the world is supposed to take away from them their sense of dignity and their sense of worth." -MLK, Address at Birmingham campaign mass meeting at St. Paul AME Church, 1 May 1963

Photograph of King with his son Martin Luther King III by Bob Fitch, courtesy of the Bob Fitch Photography Archive, © Stanford University Libraries.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

🎉🎊 Happy birthday to Coretta Scott King! As the founder of the King Papers Project, we are grateful for her vision every day. Learn more about the Project here: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/...

Photograph of Coretta Scott King by Bob Fitch, courtesy of the Bob Fitch Photography Archive, © Stanford University Libraries.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

"Bigotry and hatred are not the most urgent issues. What is most tragic is the silence. We must not become a nation of onlookers ... All Americans must take a stand against evil." -King, Speech on the Boston Common, 23 April 1965.

Photograph of King marching with others in Boston. "Martin Luther King - Hans Bosshard 1965-04-23.jpg" by Hans Bosshard is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability." -King, Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 16 April 1963.

Photograph of King in Birmingham by Marion S. Trikosko. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection, LC-DIG-ppmsca-72946.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

On 12 April 1963, King was arrested in Birmingham, Ala., for violating an injunction against protesting. The Birmingham campaign included sit-ins at lunch counters and libraries, an economic boycott, and picketing of downtown stores to put pressure on merchants to desegregate public accommodations.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

#OTD in 1968, King was laid to rest. After a funeral service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, approximately 100,000 mourners processed behind King's casket to Morehouse College. Following a second ceremony at Morehouse, King was buried at South-View Cemetery. He was later reinterred at the King Center.

Photograph of Coretta Scott King at her husband's 9 April 1968 funeral by Bob Fitch, courtesy of the Bob Fitch Photography Archive, Stanford University Libraries.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

"I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without first having spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government." -King, "Beyond Vietnam," 4 April 1967.

King and aide Bernard Lee wait while an Alabama highway patrolman issues Andrew Young a speeding citation. 1966 photograph by Bob Fitch, courtesy of the Bob Fitch Photography Archive, Stanford University Libraries.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

On 4 April 1968, King was shot and killed in Memphis, Tenn., after stepping out onto the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel. Coretta Scott King shared that notes found in King's pockets included "Ten Commandments on Vietnam," which are listed below:

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

We wish Reverend Bernice King a very happy birthday weekend! 🎉The youngest child of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Coretta Scott King, Rev. Bernice King is a champion for peace and nonviolence and serves as the CEO of the King Center. Read more here: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-bernice...

Photograph of Bernice King by Eric Draper. "DIG13621-130" by LBJLibraryNow is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

#OnThisDay in 1965, around 25,000 demonstrators completed the 5-day, 54-mile march from Selma, Ala., to the state capitol in Montgomery to demand voting rights for Black Americans.

Photograph of King speaking at the conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery March on 25 March 1965 courtesy of the Records of the U.S. Information Agency, National Archives and Records Administration.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Happy birthday to Ralph Abernathy, who would be 100 today! "My great friend and my brother, Ralph Abernathy. I will not leave Ralph because we will be together forever.... We have worked together across these years and have developed a relationship that nothing in all the world can separate."

Ralph Abernathy and Coretta Scott King speak and lead songs at the base of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1968 Poor People's Campaign. Photograph by Bob Fitch, courtesy of the Bob Fitch Photography Archive, Stanford University Libraries.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

#OnThisDay in 1965, King and over 2,000 marchers approached the Edmund Pettus Bridge in support of SNCC's disrupted Selma to Montgomery March. Upon reaching the bridge, the demonstrators knelt and prayed before returning to Selma. Learn more: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/selma-montgo...

Photograph from Abernathy Family Photos, courtesy of the Abernathy family.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

The King Institute mourns the passing of Dr. Bernard Lafayette, a Freedom Rider, long-time SNCC organizer, and coordinator of SCLC efforts in Chicago and the 1968 Poor People's Campaign, amongst innumerable other contributions to the civil rights struggle. 🕊

Photograph of Bernard Lafayette by Representative Terri A. Sewell.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

#OnThisDay in 1964, King participated in the March on Frankfort to the Kentucky state capitol. The 10,000 demonstrators, including Jackie Robinson and Ralph Abernathy, protested Governor Breathitt's refusal to pass legislation integrating public accommodations.

Photograph of King by Kentucky Office of Public Information. Courtesy of Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

#OnThisDay in 1948, at age 19, King was ordained and appointed assistant pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. "I felt an inescapable urge to serve society. In short, I felt a sense of responsibility which I could not escape."

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

“I’m hoping that the ability to take a class at Stanford, and do well, will be transformative—both in terms of how these students see the world, and in terms of how they see themselves.” Read more: momentum.stanford.edu/stories/titl...

Photograph of Dr. Lerone Martin by Jess Alvarenga.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

"The things that drive Jesse are a combination of factors produced by his childhood, but also the moral legacy of Martin Luther King and he feels a kind of responsibility to live up to that mantle. And, that's always driving him." -Andrew Young, Frontline interview, PBS, 30 April 1996.

Photograph of Jesse Jackson by Bob Fitch, courtesy of the Bob Fitch Photography Archive, Stanford University Libraries.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute @mlkinstitute.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

#OnThisDay in 1959, the Kings laid a wreath at the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi in New Delhi during their month-long trip to India. Learn more about King's pilgrimage here: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/india-trip

Photograph of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Coretta Scott King laying a wreath at Gandhi's memorial by U.S. Embassy New Delhi.

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