Watch Martin Luther King Jr.’s powerful Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech
More than 50 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. was honored by the Nobel Committee for his nonviolent campaign against racism in the United States.
“I accept the Nobel Prize for Peace at a moment when 22 million Negroes of the United States of America are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice,” began King in his acceptance speech in Stockholm, Sweden. “I accept this reward on behalf of a civil rights movement [that] is moving with determination and a majestic scorn for risk and danger to establish a reign of freedom and rule of justice.”
But King’s speech was far from pure adulation, and the civil rights leader quickly sought to draw attention to the ongoing struggle of black Americans seeking dignity and respect.