Princeton University Martin Luther King Jr. Day
2006 Journey Award Introduction

“What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”

“When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”

— Excerpts from “Where Do We Go From Here?”
Martin Luther King Jr., 1967

Martin Luther King Jr. was a powerful advocate for human rights who became one of the most noted African Americans in history. Yet even King acknowledged that his work represented the continuation of a journey started by others before him, including some of his personal mentors and heroes such as Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, Jesus Christ, A. Philip Randolph and Mahatma Gandhi. King also predicted that the journey would not end with his own death. In his last speech, on the eve of his assassination, he said: “I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”

King often warned that this journey was not an easy path but a courageous one. In his 1967 address, “Where Do We Go From Here?” King said: “I must confess, my friends, the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will be still rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there. There will be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dreams will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted. … Difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future.”

The MLK Day Journey Award has been created to recognize annually a member of the Princeton University faculty, staff or student body who best represents the continued journey. Nominees should be people who support King’s philosophy and teachings and who have actively contributed to the improvement of civil rights and/or human rights. Preference will be given to candidates who have positively affected the Princeton University campus and/or community.

The Journey Award will be presented during the University’s King Day celebration, which is held on the national King Holiday, the third Monday of each January. A panel of judges will select the award recipient from among the nominees submitted. This year’s deadline is Nov. 16, 2005. While only faculty, staff or students are eligible to win this award, any member of the campus community, including alumni, may nominate candidates.  Nominations must be submitted using the accompanying form. Nomination materials must arrive by 5 p.m. Nov. 16, 2005, at the Office of Communications, 22 Chambers Street, Suite 201, Princeton, New Jersey 08542.