Monday holiday honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Monday is a national holiday in honor of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s vision and leadership stemmed from his strong belief in the power of nonviolence. It allowed civil rights protestors to avoid harsher legal charges, but it had a higher meaning than that as well. 

King detailed the six principles of nonviolence in his book, Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story.

"1. Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. It is active nonviolent
resistance to evil.

2. Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding. The end result of
nonviolence is redemption and reconciliation.

3. Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people. Nonviolence recognizes
that evildoers are also victims.

4. Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform. Nonviolence
willingly accepts the consequences to its acts.

5. Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate. Nonviolence resists violence to
the spirit as well as the body. Nonviolence love is active, not passive. Nonviolence love does not sink to the level of the hater. Love restores community and resists injustice. Nonviolence recognizes the fact that all life is interrelated.

6. Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice. The
nonviolent resister has deep faith that justice will eventually win."

King believed that nonviolence was an active rejection of the cruelty and tyranny of an opposing class, not just the avoidance of repercussions. This fundamental belief, borne out of the uniquely American experience of civil life after institutional slavery and racism, carried through King's influence all over the world.

From "How Did Martin Luther King's Vision Change the World?" read more here