MLK's Nobel Peace Prize - Another Chapter in a Continuing History

The Civil Rights Movement won hard-fought gains — but the work to defend them continues.

In his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize for Peace in December 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King spoke with quiet eloquence and humility. He thanked the committee for the recognition bestowed on the Civil Rights Movement, and “those devotees of non-violence.” He spoke with hopeful words, praising the Supreme Court’s 9-0 ruling in favor of Brown v. Board of Education, while clear-eyed that the ‘fight’ for equality would never be complete. Dr. King knew that these achievements were “a chapter in a continuing story.”

During Freedom Summer on June 21, 1964, three young civil rights workers, Michael Schwerner, James Cheney, and Andrew Goodman, whose “crime” was registering Black residents to vote, were murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan. On Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, a march in protest for the right to vote across the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama, resulted in the death of Reverend James Reeb. John Lewis was nearly killed and many others risked life and limb. In 1968, both Dr. King’s and Bobby Kennedy’s assassinations were an outrage felt across the country. Nonetheless, quiet, incremental changes continued to reshape American life. More people of color were earning university degrees; colleges were creating access through grants and scholarships to low-income families; TV shows, and sports and news programs slowly began to diversify.

November 4, 2008, was a pinnacle moment in U.S. history, when Barack Obama was elected president. Hopes soared for those who recognized what was right and good.

Millions of joyous hearts, faces of every shade from black to white, shared the pride for Barack Obama and his family as they stood in the highest place of respect and honor of the United States. Jesse Jackson’s face was covered in tears; in his eyes, one could almost read the emotions of a past, a present, and a future. Many believed the quest was won — only to see gains met with new backlash. It came as a surprise to many who celebrated the recognition for people of color when so many others saw this liberation as a threat. The powerful schemed to “make him a one-term president.”

Dr. King said that the Civil Rights Movement sought “…no victory over anyone. The wish was only to share in the self-liberation of all people” of the United States.

But fear prevails through ignorance.

Twice, our nation made a choice that revealed how powerful fear and grievance can be in shaping political outcomes. Since 2025, the dignity and integrity of the presidency have been openly undermined. The office has been diminished in both tone and conduct. The strength of racism, sown into the fabric of this nation since 1619, has risen and fallen across generations — and Dr. King knew this was “another chapter in a continuing story.” That story is not finished.

The gains we celebrate can be rolled back unless we remain vigilant, organized, and committed. There is no choice: we must continue the fight — by showing up, speaking out, voting, organizing, defending the truth in our schools and public spaces, holding leaders accountable, and refusing to let our history be erased.