My post for Martin Luther King Day

From King's "Letter From a Birmingham Jail":

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant 'Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."

I always liked this "speech" from King as it not only addresses some of the big issues faced during the civil rights era, but also goes really far in explaining why he thought that non-violence would achieve more than direct confrontation. Read the whole thing by going to the link.