On the 48th Anniversary of the Assassination of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Forty-eight years ago, the boldest voice for racial equality in the U.S. was silenced by a cowardly assassin’s bullet. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had hours earlier given his final speech to 1,300 striking sanitation workers, at Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee, when he was felled.

Dr. King’s final speech, I Have Been To The Mountaintop, should be played in your home today. If you prefer, you can read it here.

Dr. King, so much work still remains, nearly a half century on. Work that feels as if it may never end. It feels to me like we as a nation are in fact regressing, with fear and misplaced anger giving rise to ever bolder racism. I’ve grown up knowing that you were a hero in every sense of the word. We need you more than ever, and I am grateful that your leadership — your wisdom, actions, ideas and ideals — still exists. It is reflected in today’s counter-movement. And I think you were right, when you said in this speech, that the revolution is at a crossroads. The time is now. As it was 48 years ago.

Rest In Power, Dr. King. You are missed.