Oct. 14, 1964

At age 35, Martin Luther King Jr. became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize at the time, donating all of his prize money to the civil rights movement. 

In his acceptance speech, he said he accepted the award on behalf of the movement, “which is moving with determination and a majestic scorn for risk and danger to establish a reign of freedom and a rule of justice. I am mindful that only yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama, our children, crying out for brotherhood, were answered with fire hoses, snarling dogs and even death. I am mindful that only yesterday in Philadelphia, Mississippi, young people seeking to secure the right to vote were brutalized and murdered. And only yesterday more than 40 houses of worship in the State of Mississippi alone were bombed or burned because they offered a sanctuary to those who would not accept segregation. … 

“Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love. … 

“I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men. I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. … I still believe that We Shall overcome! This faith can give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future. It will give our tired feet new strength as we continue our forward stride toward the city of freedom. When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds and our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, we will know that we are living in the creative turmoil of a genuine civilization struggling to be born.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

by Adam Ganucheau, Geoff Pender and Taylor Vance, Mississippi Today
October 14, 2024

Mississippi Today‘s Adam Ganucheau sits down with politics editor Geoff Pender and reporter Taylor Vance to discuss their new investigation of state-funded projects that benefited Rep. Trey Lamar’s neighborhoods. They detail how the story came about and share their key takeaways from the investigation.

READ MORE: As lawmakers look to cut taxes, Mississippi mayors and county leaders outline infrastructure needs

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Oct. 13, 1792

Construction began on the White House with the laying of the cornerstone. 

Black Americans, those enslaved and free, did most of the work on the foundations and the main residence. They quarried and cut the rough stone that became the walls of the White House. Historians say they also played a role in the carpentry, carting, rafting, plastering, glazing and painting. 

At the 2016 Democratic National Convention, First Lady Michelle Obama talked of that work, recalling “the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, Black young women playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.