mlk

Vox has a good roundup of the Martin Luther King quotes that often go unheard. 

You hear them every year around this time: The famous, feel-good Martin Luther King Jr. quotes about looking over the mountaintop, about judging people by the content of their character and not the color of their skin, about children in cross-racial friendships holding hands.

Of course, America’s favorite civil rights sound bites don’t represent King’s entire life or worldview. By 2015, it’s no secret that he was more revolutionary than his most famous quotes suggest, and that he talked about a lot more than just his famous “dream.” And the quotes that do outline his broader vision tend to get ignored — because they’re more sobering than inspiring, or because they’re too specific to be deployed by commentators seeking to invoke King in support of their own opinions.

That’s too bad. Because many of the sentiments that are less quotable — that don’t lend themselves to mugs or t-shirts — are the very same ones that demonstrate King’s most interesting and impressive qualities: he was insightful, edgy, funny, bold and not at all shy with the criticism— plus, he was pretty good at predicting the future.

Read the quotes at Vox.