Our friend Sharase DeBouse said: I have to tell you, listening to Dr. King’s speeches have kept me at times that I felt I was in my darkest hours.

Martin Luther King Jr’s words spoken decades ago resonant more strongly today than ever. We look to his words keep us now, and guide us in navigating our often very dark world.

And we look to his friend and colleague, John Lewis’ memory of the nonviolent actions taken during Bloody Sunday in Selma to change the civil rights law:

There was no singing, no shouting—just the sound of scuffling feet. There was something holy about it, as if we were walking down a sacred path. It reminded me of Gandhi’s march to the sea. Dr. King used to say there is nothing more powerful than the rhythm of marching feet, and that was what this was, the marching feet of a determined people.