Dec. 10, 1964 - Dr. Martin Luther King accepted the Nobel Peace Prize today on behalf of the civil rights movement and “all men who love peace and brotherhood.”
The Baptist minister, in a ceremony at Oslo University, said the award came “at a moment when 22 million Negroes of the United States are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice.” Nevertheless, he said that he had an “abiding faith in America” and refused to believe that mankind was “so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.”
Dr. King’s sermon‐like acceptance speech was delivered before an audience that included King Olav V of Norway, Government and diplomatic leaders, members of Dr. King's family, and his associates in the civil rights movement. He spoke in English, and the ceremony was televised throughout Europe.
The award carried a money prize equivalent to about $54,000. The 35‐year-old minister, the youngest person ever to win the coveted award, said he recognized that he led a movement “which has not won the very peace and brotherhood which is the essence of the Nobel Prize.”
Why, then, award this prize to a movement “which is beleaguered and committed to unrelenting struggle?” Dr. King asked.
He said that “after contemplation” he had reached this conclusion: “This award, which I receive on behalf of that movement, is a profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time — the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression.”
Speaking for 10 minutes in a slow, deep voice that filled the marble hall at Oslo University, Dr. King said he had come to Oslo as a “trustee” for the “humble children” of the civil rights movement “who were willing to suffer for righteousness’ sake.
“I think Alfred Nobel would know what I mean when I say that I accept this award in the spirit of a curator of some precious heirloom which he holds in trust for its true owners—all those to whom truth is beauty and beauty truth—and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds, or silver or gold.”
The Negro leader is the third of his race to win the award. The first was Dr. Ralph Bunche, for his work as a United Nations Under Secretary, and the second was Chief Albert Luthuli of South Africa.
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