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Of all the poetic truths that the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke during his tragically short life, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice” is one of the best. It doesn’t give us an excuse to not work hard toward an improved world. Everything won’t just get better on its own. Still, the quote widens our perspectives and provides hope that the fruits of our labor may finally be enjoyed tomorrow by our children.
That arc is indeed very long. Sometimes it feels like we’ve had to work twice as hard, for twice as long, to only get half as far as we should be when creating a more equal society. To be blunt, the internet does a lot of damage radicalizing and organizing the resurgent forces of white supremacist violence.
Still, the internet also gives us a previously impossible connection to MLK and his righteous work if you know where to look. Those of us who never got the chance to join King’s historic march on Washington, like my grandfather did in 1963, can now easily receive the good word from this African-American icon with just a few clicks.
Here’s how to watch and listen to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches online.
Where to Watch MLK Online
Most online platforms are a wild west for racists, grifters, and teenagers screaming at video games, so you should subscribe to the official Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change channel on YouTube for relief from that garbage. There, you can watch archival recordings of King’s speeches, as well as current conversations with King’s family and other modern civil rights leaders.
Where to Listen to MLK Online
Prefer to listen to King’s words in audio form? Perhaps his dream of a better world will inspire you to run right to the top of that mountain during a vigorous workout. Fortunately, many of the best music streaming services include MLK speeches, usually for free. At last! They treat MLK like an artist, with his speeches categorized like songs or albums, so you should find them if you just key his name into the services' search boxes. Here are some handy links for your convenience.
You can find MLK speeches and radio specials on:
Where to Find More MLK
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great man, but he was more than that. He has ascended into legend. After all, he has a holiday. When that happens, your myth and image become larger than yourself. Those myths then inspire new works that seek to convey the message despite being fictional.
One of the best recent examples of MLK fiction is Ava DuVernay’s Oscar-winning biopic Selma. This historical drama captures the lofty beauty of King’s rhetoric (with newly written speeches!), and the cunning, pragmatic, political gamesmanship required to enact tangible. positive change in such a hostile environment. You can stream Selma online with one of our recommended streaming video services.
For a less politically correct, but still very potent, take on King, we must shout out The Boondocks episode “Return of the King.” The classic cartoon translated Aaron McGruder’s incendiary comic strip into an equally radical Adult Swim sitcom about a Black family in a white suburb. In this alternate reality, Dr. King only fell into a coma after being shot. He reawakens decades later, Captain America-style, into an unfamiliar, new Black cultural landscape. The episode leans a bit too hard on respectability politics, but trust me when I say you’ve never seen MLK like this. You can watch The Boondocks on Max.
Additional African-American Excellence
You should familiarize yourself with MLK online, but don’t let that be the beginning and end of your journey into Black history. With a little help from the internet, there are plenty of other ways to expand your unconscious.
Check out the best video streaming services for celebrating Black art. Learn why the video game industry owes Black players more than just talk. And see how historians are preserving Black internet culture.