{"id":4360,"date":"2026-01-16T16:41:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T16:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/oxford\/?p=4360"},"modified":"2026-01-16T16:42:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T16:42:51","slug":"king-week-at-oxford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/oxford\/alpha\/king-week-at-oxford\/","title":{"rendered":"King Week at Oxford"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 19th is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist minister, globally admired ethicist, and Civil Rights leader whose prominent work in the 1950s and 60s preaching and teaching on the equality of human persons was a significant factor in the passing of the Civil Rights Act\u00a0of 1964. As a Baptist minister, King\u00a0often preached on the power of love to change hearts and minds.\u00a0\u201cLove,\u201d proclaimed\u00a0King\u00a0in\u00a0<\/span>a 1956 sermon<\/a><\/strong>, is \u201cthe highest good \u2026 this principle stands at the center of the cosmos \u2026 He who loves is a participant in the being of God.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

King\u2019s leadership in the Civil Rights movement pointed to\u00a0non-violent\u00a0resistance\u00a0as the necessary means of putting love into\u00a0activism. Only through\u00a0activism\u00a0characterized by\u00a0non-violence\u00a0could\u00a0the universal principle of love be\u00a0demonstrated.\u00a0\u201cWhen you rise to love on this level, you love all [people] not because you like them, not because their ways appeal to you, but you love them because God loves them. This is what Jesus meant when he said, \u2018Love your enemies.\u2019\u201d\u00a0In his\u00a01967\u00a0\u201c<\/span>A Christmas Sermon on Peace<\/strong><\/span><\/a>,\u201d King expanded further on this impetus to love from Jesus\u2019s\u00a0Sermon on the Mount:\u00a0\u201cIf there is to be peace on earth and good will toward [people], we must finally believe in the ultimate morality of the\u00a0universe, and\u00a0believe that all reality hinges on moral foundations.\u201d\u00a0The Sermon on the Mount was a foundational text for King\u2019s\u00a0movement,\u00a0one he would return to\u00a0frequently\u00a0in his preaching and writing.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr. King worked for social justice at\u00a0local and national\u00a0levels, but by the end of his life King wrote often on\u00a0his hopes for an international\u00a0moral vision.\u00a0King\u2019s moral vision reached its fullest articulation in his\u00a0description\u00a0of the\u00a0great\u00a0\u201cWorld House\u201d,\u00a0an appeal for\u00a0shared\u00a0international social justice initiatives\u00a0because \u201call inhabitants of the globe are now neighbors\u201d (<\/span>Where Do We Go From Here?<\/i><\/a><\/strong>)<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Dr. King\u00a0left\u00a0a\u00a0legacy for\u00a0future activists\u00a0with a moral vision global in scope and grassroots in application.\u00a0King\u00a0reminds us that in our modern era,\u00a0the choices we make\u00a0in\u00a0our local communities\u00a0have\u00a0ripple effects across\u00a0international borders. In our pursuit of\u00a0large-scale\u00a0social justice initiatives, let us\u00a0not forget the essential first step of\u00a0loving our neighbors\u00a0well.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Be sure to stop by the Oxford Library to see our display dedicated to the life and writings of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year, King Week at Emory has a full calendar\u00a0of opportunities to engage with the work and legacy of Dr. King.\u00a0<\/span>Click here to see the scheduled list of events<\/strong>,<\/span><\/a>\u00a0including an Oxford Studies event on January 21<\/span>st<\/span>\u00a0at the Old Church.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

January 19th is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist minister, globally admired ethicist, and Civil Rights leader whose prominent work in the 1950s and 60s preaching and teaching on the equality of human persons was a significant factor in the passing of the Civil Rights Act\u00a0of Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":482,"featured_media":4361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,5,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alpha","category-exhibits","category-featured","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/oxford\/files\/2026\/01\/Oxford-MLK.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/482"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4360"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4367,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4360\/revisions\/4367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}