Grounded in Wisdom: Timeless Lessons from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

For many years, around the middle of January, I have followed a ritual that I find grounding - I read, or rather re-read, some of the speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Even though I've read these multiple times, I often find new and relevant nuggets of wisdom each year. Perhaps it is the times we live in that nudge the ideas that resonate, or perhaps it is a new interpretation of something I had not considered before.

Staying true to this tradition, I did the same this year and read four of Dr. King’s speeches. The theme that resonated with me this year was his call to eschew bitterness in all our struggles. Linked below are his speeches and parts of the speech that stood out.

I Have a Dream: Delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August 1963

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

Give Us the Ballot: Given in Washington, D.C. on May 17, 1957

We must never become bitter. I know how we feel sometime. There is the danger that those of us who have been forced so long to stand amid the tragic midnight of oppression—those of us who have been trampled over, those of us who have been kicked about—there is the danger that we will become bitter. But if we will become bitter and indulge in hate campaigns, the old, the new order which is emerging will be nothing but a duplication of the old order.

The Birth of a New Nation: A sermon given at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church on April 7, 1957

In this speech, Dr King describes the work of Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah, whose work led to freedom in Ghana:

On the night of the State Ball, standing up talking with some people, Mordecai Johnson called my attention to the fact that Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah was there dancing with the Duchess of Kent. And I said, “Isn’t this something? Here it is the once-serf, the once-slave, now dancing with the lord on an equal plane.” And that is done because there is no bitterness. These two nations will be able to live together and work together because the breaking aloose was through nonviolence and not through violence.

“The Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech” (1964)

The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. Love is the key to the solution of the problems of the world.

As we navigate all the changes around us, let us remember Dr. King’s message – being bitter drains us and can never move us forward. Let us listen, listen to learn, and learn to understand. Together, and despite all our differences, we can make the world a better place. 

Go Jags!

Latha Ramchand
Chancellor