I have seen this quote from Dr. King a lot lately: “The arc of history bends toward justice.” Wonderful quote. Our vision of the future should be formed by hope.

But here are a few other quotes from Dr. King we must remember:

“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

“[It is] a tragic misconception of time, [a] strangely rational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively.”

“Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this ‘hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.”

“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?” 

Freedom is a constant struggle. We must never forget that. And we must never stop struggling to gain and maintain freedom for those who suffer injustice, because:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”