Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed"

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and like we do every year in honor of Dr. King’s memory, I’m posting an excerpt from his Letter From Birmingham Jail.

In these passages, he is explaining why he has rejected calls to wait on advancing civil rights. King makes the point that people who wish to expand freedom must be bold (and willing to violate unjust laws!), because timidity does not bring about lasting, meaningful change. If freedom is not being expanded, it contracts.

(Note that typos are contained in the original manuscript.)

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.”

-more-

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2025/01/martin-luther-king-jr-freedom-is-never-voluntarily-given-by-the-oppressor-it-must-be-demanded-by-the-oppressed.html