Visitors to the Martin Luther King National Historic Site walk the Gandhi Promenade from the parking lot south to the visitor center (see map).
The quotations of Dr. King along the promenade appear below, followed by the commemorations at the base of the Gandhi statue found at the southern end of the promenade adjacent to the visitor's center.
|
For Martin Luther King, Jr., this neighborhood meant many things: he lived here, he ministered here, and he would come to lead a great human movement from here. In his youth it was a vital community--a bastian of African-American prosperity, culture, and activism. But it was something else too. It was segregated--walled in by ignorant attitudes and unjust laws. Here Martin Luther King, Jr,. learned about the pain of discrimination, the virtue of commitment and the power of ideals. |
|
"When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love. Where evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice." |
|
"Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of selfishness. This is the judgment. Life's most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?" |
|
"...A religion true to its nature must also be concerned about man's social conditions. ...Any religion that professes to be concerned with the souls of men and is not concerned with the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them is a dry-as-dust religion." |
"Nonviolence, to be a potent force,
must begin with the mind. Nonviolence of the
mere body without the cooperation of the mind
is nonviolence of the weak of the cowardly, and has,
therefore, no potency. It is a degrading performance.
If we bear malice and hatred in our bosoms and
pretend not to retaliate, it must recoil upon us and
lead to our destruction."
Gandhi
Tributes To The Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi |
|
Tribute to the Mahatma
"Gandhi was inevitable. If humanity is to progress,
Gandhi is inescapable. He lived, thought and acted,
inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward a
world of peace and harmony. We may
ignore him at our own risk"
Martin Luther King, Jr.
|
Visitors continue south from the Gandhi statue toward Auburn Avenue to the
center of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, and cross Auburn
Avenue to the tomb of Dr. King.
|