A Negro who does not vote is ungrateful to those who have already died in the fight for freedom. ... Any person who does not vote is failing to serve the cause of freedom - his own freedom, his people's freedom, and his country's freedom.

King consciously steered away from legal claims and instead relied on civil disobedience.

My parents never told us that our great-grandmothers had been slaves.

I never thought I would live long enough to see the legal profession change to the extent it has.

Columbia Law School men were being drafted, and suddenly women who had done well in college were considered acceptable candidates for the vacant seats.

A Negro who does not vote is ungrateful to those who have already died in the fight for freedom. ... Any person who does not vote is failing to serve the cause of freedom - his own freedom, his people's freedom, and his country's freedom.

I was born and raised in the oldest settled part of the nation and in an environment in which racism was officially mooted.