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It is right for us to celebrate Dr. King’s marvelous oratory, but it is worth remembering that progress did not come from words alone. Progress was hard. Progress was purchased through enduring the smack of billy clubs and the blast of fire hoses. It was bought with days in jail cells and nights of bomb threats. For every victory during the height of the civil rights movement, there were setbacks and there were defeats.
We forget now, but during his life, Dr. King wasn't always considered a unifying figure. Even after rising to prominence, even after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. King was vilified by many, denounced as a rabble-rouser and an agitator, a communist and a radical.
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Barack Obama's remarks at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Dedication at The National Mall in Washington, D.C. (16 October 2011)

 

Martin Luther King

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The pursuit of peace and progress cannot end in a few years in either victory or defeat. The pursuit of peace and progress, with its trials and its errors, its successes and its setbacks, can never be relaxed and never abandoned.

 

Dag Hammarskjold

 

COLSON: "Many think of (civil rights leader) King as a liberal firebrand, waging war on traditional values. Nothing could be further from the truth. King was a great conservative.....Were he alive today, I believe he would be in the vanguard of the pro-life movement and would be supporting Judge Alito." [dead link]

 

Charles Colson

 

My friends, the time for action is upon us. The enemies of justice wants you to think of Dr. King as only a civil rights leader, but he had a much broader agenda. He was a tireless crusader for the rights of the poor, for an end to the war in Vietnam long before it was popular to take that stand, and for the rights of workers everywhere.
Many people find it convenient to forget that Martin was murdered while supporting a desperate strike on that tragic day in Memphis, Tennessee. He died while fighting for the rights of sanitation workers.
Dr. King's dedication to the rights of the workers who are so often exploited by the forces of greed has profoundly touched my life and guided my struggle.

 

Cesar Chavez

 

Since the 50s, Belafonte has used his celebrity status to aid the civil rights movement, influence the Kennedys, raise millions for Africa and support the anti-apartheid movement. The turning point was a meeting with Martin Luther King in 1953. Belafonte was already politically aware, his anger stirred by the way blacks were treated after they had fought for democracy in the war against Hitler. Then King, a relatively unknown preacher at the time, sought his aid. "We talked for four hours — it was a life-changing moment. From then on, I was in his service and in his world of planning, strategy and thinking. We became very close immediately."
Belafonte gave generously to the civil rights movement and enlisted the support of Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, James Garner and other Hollywood stars. But, despite turning up at rallies with a legendary bag full of cash, he was far more than a political sugar daddy. The authoritative history of the movement by Taylor Branch has more than 100 references to Belafonte's role as a key adviser to King and a bridge to prominent white politicians, especially the Kennedys.

 

Harry Belafonte

 

After you have practiced for a while, you will realize that it is not possible to make rapid, extraordinary progress. Even though you try very hard, the progress you make is always little by little. It is not like going out in a shower in which you know when you get wet. In a fog, you do not know you are getting wet, but as you keep walking you get wet little by little. If your mind has ideas of progress, you may say, "Oh, this pace is terrible!" But actually it is not. When you get wet in a fog it is very difficult to dry yourself. So there is no need to worry about progress.

 

Shunryu Suzuki