MLK Day: Remembering the Courageous Peaceful Transformational Leadership of Martin Luther King Jr.

 

Written By: Tony J. Spain
January 19, 2026

97 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Ga. In his 39 years on this planet, the Baptist minister and civil rights leader, fought peacefully for equal rights while hatefully being spit on, attacked, imprisoned and eventually assassinated. It was his courage in his Christian faith rooted in the Gospel and Scripture, and his transformational leadership skills that were put into action through powerful peaceful conviction in the eternal truths of human dignity, moral law and individual character that his legacy will always be remembered.

Most people remember Dr. King for his iconic “I have a dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the Summer of ‘63, a speech of beautiful goals and honest hope: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but the content of their character.” That sentence is not a slogan for division or quotas. It is a call to a colorblind ideal—an America where merit, effort, integrity and personal responsibility determine our worth in the eyes of our neighbors and our opportunities in the land of the free. These great words should be remembered and fulfilled, but some of Kings best words came earlier in the Spring in a letter from a Birmingham jail.

Dr. King believed in the God-given dignity of every person, created in His image. He fought against the evil of legalized segregation because it violated both divine law and the principles of our founding documents. He called us to obey just laws and, when necessary, to peacefully resist unjust ones—not through violence or destruction, but through moral witness and love. As he wrote from that jail cell.

“In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action.”

This is very important. King was deeply rooted in Christianity, which makes for a much different movement than what we see today. In fact, did you know before you could march with Martin Luther King Jr., you had to join him in prayer. If you didn’t, you didn’t get to march with him. Why? Because King believed you must be clean and pure in soul, mind and your intent to be a part of his movement.

On this Martin Luther King Day, I wish I could tell you we have come along as a free society to be able to celebrate the progress made and the amazing success of so many black Americans, but unfortunately there is a new anger that has rekindled a growing and unwelcomed extremist radical racial divide. It teaches “White privilege” demands for reparations for white racism and is rooted in a movement that rejects God and espouses socialism and communism.

It was the Gospel-centered faith that drove Dr. King’s dream. It wasn’t atheism or communism or humanism. It was a deep abiding faith in a God who created us equally and demands justice.

King warned about such extremes of hate and evil and instead said be an extremist for love.

“You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At first, I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist. I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community.”

“One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self-respect and a sense of ‘somebodiness’ that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle-class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses.”

“The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best-known being Elijah Muhammad's Muslim movement. Nourished by the Negro's frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible "devil."

“I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need emulate neither the ‘do nothingism’ of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. For there is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest. I am grateful to God that, through the influence of the Negro church, the way of nonviolence became an integral part of our struggle. If this philosophy had not emerged, by now many streets of the South would, I am convinced, be flowing with blood. And I am further convinced that if our white brothers dismiss as ‘rabble rousers’ and ‘outside agitators’ those of us who employ nonviolent direct action, and if they refuse to support our nonviolent efforts, millions of Negroes will, out of frustration and despair, seek solace and security in black nationalist ideologies--a development that would inevitably lead to a frightening racial nightmare.”

“Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. Consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America and the Caribbean, the United States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice.”

“If one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place. The Negro has many pent-up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them.”

“So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides -and try to understand why he must do so. If his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of history.”

“So, I have not said to my people: ‘Get rid of your discontent.’ Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action.”

“And now this approach is being termed extremist. But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter, I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.’”

“Was not Amos an extremist for justice: ‘Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.’”

“Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: ‘I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.’"

“Was not Martin Luther an extremist: ‘Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.’ And John Bunyan: ‘I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.’ And Abraham Lincoln: ‘This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.’ And Thomas Jefferson: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal . . .’”

“So, the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”

Every one of us should pause and ask are the movements we are in today a movement of peace, unity and hope to uplift all or are we actively pinning others against each other to hate and divide hoping for ones conquer of the other? It’s something we should all think about.

The following is my favorite excerpt from King’s letter that tells us man’s laws are flawed, but God’s law is not. Man’s laws are flawed because the root of evil grows from the seed. The heart of mankind.

“Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.”

“I hope you are able to see the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.”

“Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience. In our own nation, the Boston Tea Party represented a massive act of civil disobedience.”

“We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." It was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws.”

In our time, we face new challenges to that same vision. Some would replace judgment by character with judgment by group identity. Some would substitute equal opportunity with engineered outcomes. Some would excuse lawlessness in the name of justice, forgetting that true justice requires order, accountability, and respect for the rule of law.

In December 1964, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In his acceptance he spoke against violence and its true atrocities that never lead to peace.

“I am not unmindful of the fact that violence often brings about momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones. Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding: it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.”

I believe if Dr. King was here today, he would remind us that real progress comes not from tearing down institutions, but from building them up through personal virtue and communal responsibility. He knew that strong families raise children who know right from wrong. He understood that faith in God gives us the strength to love our enemies and to seek reconciliation rather than revenge. He believed in the redemptive power of hard work, self-discipline, and the free enterprise that lifts people out of poverty—not government dependency, but opportunity earned through sweat and perseverance. We honor Dr. King best when we live out his principles:When we teach our children that character matters more than complexion. 

When we demand safe streets, secure borders, and laws enforced equally for everyone. 

When we defend religious liberty, free speech, and the right of conscience that Dr. King exercised so bravely. 

When we reject hatred in all its forms—whether racial prejudice or class warfare—and instead pursue unity through shared American values.

The arc of the moral universe is long, Dr. King often said, but it bends toward justice. That justice is not achieved by coercion or resentment, but by the steady, courageous application of truth, love, and personal responsibility. So on this day, let us recommit ourselves to the dream that is still alive: an America where every citizen—regardless of background—can rise as high as their talent, effort, and character will carry them.

May we go forward in that spirit, grateful for the sacrifice of Dr. King and all who marched, prayed, and bled for a more perfect union.

Transformational leaders must be driven by a set of inner values that fuel brave hearts of sometimes timid souls to stand up in the face of adversity with the moral courage to do the right thing. Their convictions, the emotional commitment they have to something bigger than themselves, moves and inspires others.

King marched peacefully for equal rights while hatefully being spit on, attacked, jailed and eventually assassinated, but it was his Christian faith and his transformational leadership skills that were put into action in a way that we honor him today, tomorrow and beyond.

I will leave you with this quote today and hope you will reflect on the importance of the greatness of Martin Luther King Jr.

"Use me, God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself." ~Martin Luther King Jr.

It's Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Lead by the example of the right thing this week and lets go do great things!