UN SPEECHES
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Civil Rights Leader

Martin Luther King Jr.

American civil rights leader

1929 – 1968

48
Total Mentions
3
Direct Quotes
1968
First Mention
2024
Latest Mention

Most Frequent Citing Countries

USA(3)Saint Lucia(3)Saint Kitts and Nevis(3)Belarus(3)United States of America(2)Ireland(2)Venezuela(1)United Kingdom(1)

Direct Quotations (3)

"The time is always right to do what is right."

2011Belarus
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"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly"

2007Sao Tome and Principe
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"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed."

1996Pakistan
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All Mentions (44)

2024·Saint Lucia
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Distinguished Mr. President, I begin my address to the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly by invoking the authority of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Quote: “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of l
2024·Trinidad and Tobago
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d, we continue to encourage all States that have not yet done so, to ratify and fully implement the Rome Statute of the ICC. It was the late Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, who once said, “It is not possible to be in favour of justice for some people and not be in favour of justice for all people.” For this reason, M
2023·Saint Kitts and Nevis
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for reparatory justice, and I encourage all to work together constructively as partners in the pursuit of justice and of respect for justice. For. as Martin Luther King. Jr., said. “[T]he arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice”. We must maintain our focus on the climate challenge. The behemoth
2023·Burkina Faso
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e Emery Lumumba of the Congo. Modibo Keita of Mali. Ruben Um Nyobe and Felix Mournie of Cameroon. Sylvanus Olympic of Togo. Che Guevara of Argentina. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X of the United States of America. Nelson Mandela of South Africa. Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya. Amilcar Cabral of Guinea-Bissau and Cabo Verde
2022·Serbia
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elopments, which Serbia experienced and continues to experience, I am convinced that I am fully entitled to quote in this Hall the words of the great Martin Luther King: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Those words are carved like a reminder, but also as a warning to all of us. Regardless of th
2022·Belarus
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Our present state of mind was well captured by Martin Luther King Jr. more than half a century ago when he said: “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of n
2021·Belarus
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successive year. The participation of civil society in the work of the United Nations should be based on existing procedures. In one of his speeches, Martin Luther King very wisely said something that is more relevant than ever: “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools”. More than ever,
2020·South Africa
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ica calls on the United Nations to spare no effort to end prejudice and intolerance in all its forms and wherever it may be found. In the words of Dr Martin Luther King Jr: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” As we mark the 25th Anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action, we mu
2019·Republic of Namibia
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ountry that can attest to the effects of climate change, as it is indeed a reality in our country. Let us draw inspiration from the poignant words of Martin Luther King, Jr., who said, “If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must ... transcend our race, tribe, class and our nation; and this means we must dev
2019·Belize
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ly regrets that an organization founded on the rule of law should allow such exceptionalism to the rule of law to fester. The immortal declaration of Martin Luther King, Jr., could not be more appropriate: an injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere. We call on the world community to redouble its efforts to put
2019·Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
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rnance based on transparent rule-making and equitable enforcement, irrespective of power disparities; and an unshakeable conviction, as enunciated by Martin Luther King, Jr., that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a country with a small population,
2017·Belarus
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t is high time that we all came together to act urgently for the sake of peace and prosperity. I would like to conclude with a fitting quotation from Martin Luther King, Jr., who once said, “Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: ‘Too late’.” We can still
2017·Saint Kitts and Nevis
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othesized. We have studied and analysed. We must now act. In that regard, I can find no more elegant prose than that of American civil-rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr., who said: “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum
2016·Senegal
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f their own prejudice to embrace the light of wisdom. It is a message of humanity that is reminiscent of the eloquent words delivered by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. 53 years ago in front of the Lincoln Memorial, that people “will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their characte
2016·United States of America
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our worst impulses and embrace those who appeal to our best, for we have shown that we can choose a better history. Sitting in a prison cell, a young Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote: “Human progress never rolls on the wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with G
2016·Antigua and Barbuda
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rld cannot be free from poverty, conflict, terror, inequity and injustice while the powerful take advantage of the weak. In the words of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” It is time that the global order recognize that self-evident truth.
2016·Venezuela
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nited States has about 800 military bases around the world, whose maintenance costs about $100 billion a year. It was not without reason that in 1968 Martin Luther King said that the United States is the largest exporter of violence in the world. The death totals in conflicts over the past five centuries reveal the i
2015·Grenada
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isgraces to humankind. Their stories remind us of our interconnectedness as a global village and of our common humanity. In the words of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Grenada condemns the atrocities and crimes against humankind. Human dignity must be main
2014·Malta
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years ago that Malta became an independent State. That was the year when Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in South Africa, and when Martin Luther King received the Nobel Peace Prize. For a small, nascent State such as Malta, it was a year of promise and new beginnings as it took its place among the
2014·Saint Lucia
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ion to support the national and regional development efforts of SIDS. Without that, the Samoa Conference could be construed, in the words of the late Martin Luther King, Jr., “as a meaningless drama on the stage of history ... shrouded with the ugly garments of shame”. Eighth, Saint Lucia stands for freedom, democrac
2013·Jamaica
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pivotal moment in history, let us revitalize the partnership on which this great institution is built. I draw on the words of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., when he said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of chall
2013·USA
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d people have shown a capacity to change, to live up to humanity’s highest ideals, to choose a better history. Last month, I stood where 50 years ago Martin Luther King Jr. told America about his dream, at a time when many people of my race could not even vote for President. Earlier this year, I stood in the small ce
2012·Andorra
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k of ambition. We should move on from dreaming about change to exerting the ambition to change. We should move on from “I have a dream”, as stated by Martin Luther King, Jr., to speaking about the ambition that we all share. In his statement at the opening of the general debate (see A/67/PV.6), Secretary-General Ban
2012·Canada
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ue that the business is our common humanity, and our mandate is the strengthening of humanity’s bonds. It is difficult to fault their logic. The late Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting agai
2012·Madagascar
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low, the Republic of Madagascar is determined to contribute to achieving our shared goals. The peace accord is fragile and needs to develop. To quote Martin Luther King, Jr., “All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem”. It is our duty and responsibility to
2011·Ireland
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far too much effort and resources over the past decades not to do all it can now to assist a return to direct talks by the two sides. In the words of Martin Luther King, we cannot ignore the fierce urgency of now. I again urge the Government of Israel to halt all settlement expansion. I also call on it to end the unj
2010·Libyan Arab Jamahiiya
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Al-Qadhafi, also raised the question of the political assassination of many personalities, including Dag Hammarskjöld, John Kennedy, Patrice Lumumba, Martin Luther King, Maurice Bishop and many Palestine Liberation Organization leaders. Those assassinations shocked the conscience of the world and created anger and ra
2009·Macedonia
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world. When it comes to the reasons for the constant crises besetting our world, or certain parts of it, allow me to seize this opportunity to quote Martin Luther King, who in 1967 uttered a recipe for overcoming bilateral, regional and global crises. He said: “Let us be dissatisfied until from every city hall, just
2009·Kazakhstan
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acks: revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, reform of the Security Council and coherence of the United Nations system. Fifty years ago, Martin Luther King Junior said: “Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they do not know each other; they do not know each
2009·Paraguay
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eat solidarity of human beings. I believe in the dreams of great leaders who defiantly changed the world. I believe in Jesus Christ, in Gandhi and in Martin Luther King. Before ending my comments, I would like to take this opportunity to set out some clear positions on pressing matters that affect us. First, I would
2009·Libya
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That is why we should open this file. Then there is the assassination of Martin Luther King, the black reverend and human rights activist. His assassination was a plot, and we should know why he was killed and who killed him. Then Khalil Waz
2007·Georgia
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will, countless lives in that part of Georgia are being wasted. And inaction has its costs. One of the greatest voices for peace in the last century, Martin Luther King, captured the essence of the problem when he said: "Man's inhumanity to man is not only perpetrated by the vitriolic actions of those who are bad. It
2007·Marshall Islands
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ess are needed. In saying this, I am proud to announce the new alliance that my Government established earlier this year with the local government of Martin Luther King Jr. County, in Washington State in the United States, aimed at confronting the threat posed by global warming. The unwavering faith I have in this Or
2006·The Republic of South Africa
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perished because of his belief in equality and justice for all human beings and whose civil rights movement is currently marking its golden jubilee. Martin Luther King Jr. warned that “As long as there is poverty in the world I can never be rich, even if I have a billion dollars. As long as diseases are rampant and
2000·Saint Kitts and Nevis
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, not only to generate wealth for themselves but also to advance the economic and social well being of the citizens of the world. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, “Through our scientific genius we have made the world a neighbourhood; now, through our moral and spiritual development, we must make it a brotherho
2000·USA
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say that Aung San Suu Kyi and her party are responsible for their own repression, I can only reply that much the same was once said about Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Václav Havel. The world is not fooled, and we must not be silent. Some argue that speaking out in defence of human rights constit
1998·USA
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widening between the world’s haves and have-nots. We must work harder to treat the sources of despair before they turn into the poison of hatred. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., once wrote that the only revolutionary is a man who has nothing to lose. We must show people they have everything to gain by embracing cooperat
1997·Brazil
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me more than a key concept; it has become the order of the day for the United Nations in 1997. Let us do it with that "fierce urgency of now" felt by Martin Luther King, a symbol of political leadership and of the forces of change in our century. "This is no time", said King in his most famous speech, "to engage in t
1992·Ireland
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rights is to respect conscience itself, whose power for good has been illustrated many times in the course of this century by a Mahatma Gandhi, by a Martin Luther King, or, in the past few years, by a Vaclav Havel or a Nelson Mandela, who, from a prison cell - "enduring the most" changed his country's history. By up
1991·Haiti
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Honour to Mandela! If the memory of Mandela evokes such applause as I am hearing now, applause is surely due the memory of another truly great man - Martin Luther King. The Haitian Government has noted with satisfaction the cease-fire recently arrived at between the parties in conflict in Western Sahara. We reaffirm
1986·United Kingdom
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his own speech, has added a new dimension to exchanges between East and West. Let us hope that the lessons of that accident will be well learned. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, in a different context: "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." For us in Europe, as for the rest of the
1982·United States of America
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Ham¬murabi, the Bible, the Analects of Confucius, the teachings of the Buddha, the Koran, the insights of Shakespeare, the creed of Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King—all these were arrangements of words. 201. Is it not profoundly revealing that the first victims of tyrants are words? No people better know the mean
1969·Sierra Leone
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ation that the philosophy of non-violence, as stated and exemplified by winners of the Nobel Prize of African origin such as Chief Albert Luthuli and Martin Luther King, which we should have chosen to pursue is not practicable in the face of armed force and condonation by nations which declare themselves democratic.
1968·Belgium
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ecipes — the balance of forces, power, desire to dominate. Then come violence and discouragement. Then the men who embody a great ideal—the Kennedys, Martin Luther King — are sacrificed; then armies march again and their noise precedes the silence of death for hundreds of thousands of innocent people, today in Viet-N