Today in labor history: Martin Luther King Jr. awarded Nobel Peace Prize

On Oct. 14, 1964, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. In his acceptance Dec. 10 speech, Dr. King stated, “I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. I believe that even amid today’s mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow.”

The Zinn Education Project has a lesson titled “A Revolution of Values” based on Dr. King’s speech about the Vietnam War and militarism in general.

Photo: The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks to an anti-Vietnam war rally at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul on April 27, 1967. (Minnesota Historical Society/CC)