The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was born on this day in 1957 as a direct result of the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott in efforts in Montgomery, Alabama in 1956. Its longtime leader was the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Boxing great George Edward Foreman was born on this day in 1949 in Marshall, Texas. His exploits came to light in Mexico at the Olympics when he won the gold medal in the heavyweight division. He won the World Heavyweight title in short order, defeating everyone except Mohammed Ali.
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“… that before you can love other selves adequately, you’ve got to love your own self properly. You know, a lot of people don’t love themselves. And they go through life with deep and haunting emotional conflicts. So, the length of life means that you must love yourself. And you know what loving yourself also means? It means that you’ve got to accept yourself. So many people are busy trying to be somebody else. God gave all of us something significant. And we must pray every day, asking God to help us to accept ourselves. That means everything. Too many Negroes are ashamed of themselves, ashamed of being black. A Negro got to rise up and say from the bottom of his soul, "I am somebody. I have a rich, noble, and proud heritage. However, exploited and however painful my history has been, I’m black, but I’m black and beautiful." This is what we’ve got to say. We’ve got to accept ourselves. And we must pray, "Lord, help me to accept myself every day; help me to accept my tools."
MLK, Jr, ‘The three Dimensions of a Complete life’, 1967
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