In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize. This important award is given almost every year to the person, people, or organization most responsible for promoting peace.
King, at age 35, was the youngest person ever to receive the prize. In December, he set off with family and friends to Oslo, Norway, where the award ceremony took place. On his return, King was showered with honors. The city of Atlanta, where he lived, put on a banquet. Together, Black and White people sang the civil rights movement’s anthem, “We Shall Overcome.” Only a few years before, King had been arrested in Atlanta for trying to eat at an all-White lunch counter.
At the dinner, King said: “I must confess that I have enjoyed being on this mountaintop and I am tempted to want to stay here and retreat to a more quiet and serene life. But something within reminds me that the valley calls me in spite of all its agonies, dangers, and frustrating moments.” The valley he was headed to, this time, was a place called Selma.
