Our poster examines Martin Luther King Jr.’s advocacy of the nonviolent method to achieve civil rights. King’s philosophy is complex, and goes beyond “don’t fight back”; it had to do with creating a friendship with an old enemy. King believed building this friendship would be more effective than defeating the oppressor, as he thought that using violence would lead to bitterness, not brotherhood. King was convinced that only when a brotherhood was established would true peace be a reality. King stated that “True peace…is the presence of some positive force-justice, goodwill and brotherhood”. True peace cannot be achieved through violence, because fighting with physical force creates a loser, not an understanding between different people. King preached the nonviolent method to all who would listen, and he admired others, like students, who protested nonviolently. Actions speak louder that words, and King’s tactics expressed a desire for understanding and a desire for friendship.

The quotes and pictures we chose to include in our poster highlight the key points of King’s philosophy. The pictures of protesters represent his methods of nonviolent protests, and they depict the diversity and quantity of the people that worked with him and worked to achieve equality using his methods. The pictures also represent those that he did not work with but admired because of their use of nonviolence. The quotes we used express his ideas about why nonviolence was necessary and why nonviolence is a good tactic. Dr. King believed that nonviolence was the only way to achieve the true peace mentioned above, as it did not punish or hurt the oppressive whites. King’s ideas about nonviolent protest were deeply complex and were designed to achieve goals the of true peace, brotherhood, and friendship.