Are we really listening to what MLK had to say?

Opinion by Peniel Joseph

Updated 7:43 PM ET, Sat January 18, 2020

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was best known for his role in the civil rights movement and nonviolent protests. His life's work has been honored with a national holiday, schools and public buildings named after him, and a memorial on the National Mall in Washington. Take a look back at the late civil rights leader's defining years. Here, King speaks in Washington in 1968, the year he was assassinated.
Photos: The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was best known for his role in the civil rights movement and nonviolent protests. His life's work has been honored with a national holiday, schools and public buildings named after him, and a memorial on the National Mall in Washington. Take a look back at the late civil rights leader's defining years. Here, King speaks in Washington in 1968, the year he was assassinated.
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King outlines boycott strategies to his advisers and organizers on January 27, 1956. Seated are the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, left, and Rosa Parks, center, who was the catalyst for the protest of bus riders.
Photos: The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
King outlines boycott strategies to his advisers and organizers on January 27, 1956. Seated are the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, left, and Rosa Parks, center, who was the catalyst for the protest of bus riders.
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King sits for a police mugshot after his arrest for directing a citywide boycott of segregated buses on February 24, 1956.
Photos: The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
King sits for a police mugshot after his arrest for directing a citywide boycott of segregated buses on February 24, 1956.
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King stands in front of a bus at the end of the Montgomery bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, on December 26, 1956.
Photos: The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
King stands in front of a bus at the end of the Montgomery bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, on December 26, 1956.
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King speaks during the Prayer Pilgrimage near the Reflecting Pool in Washington on May 17, 1957.
Photos: The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
King speaks during the Prayer Pilgrimage near the Reflecting Pool in Washington on May 17, 1957.
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Accompanied by his wife, Coretta Scott, King leaves Harlem Hospital after being stabbed near the heart on September 20, 1958. The near-fatal incident occurred when he was autographing copies of his book at a Harlem bookstore.
Photos: The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Accompanied by his wife, Coretta Scott, King leaves Harlem Hospital after being stabbed near the heart on September 20, 1958. The near-fatal incident occurred when he was autographing copies of his book at a Harlem bookstore.
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King delivers a sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta in September 1960.
Photos: The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
King delivers a sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta in September 1960.
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King, his wife and children, Yolanda, 5, and Martin Luther III, 3, play the piano together in their living room in Atlanta in 1960.
Photos: The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
King, his wife and children, Yolanda, 5, and Martin Luther III, 3, play the piano together in their living room in Atlanta in 1960.
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Moderator John McCaffery, left, segregationist editor James J. Kilpatrick and King debate segregation in New York on November 11, 1960.
Photos: The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Moderator John McCaffery, left, segregationist editor James J. Kilpatrick and King debate segregation in New York on November 11, 1960.
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King addresses a crowd of demonstrators outside the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in Washington on August 28, 1963. He delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech to more than 250,000 people.
Photos: The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
King addresses a crowd of demonstrators outside the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in Washington on August 28, 1963. He delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech to more than 250,000 people.
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President Lyndon B. Johnson talks with King and civil rights leaders at the White House. On July 2, 1964, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law.
Photos: The legacy of