The Overton Window, developed by Joseph Overton here at the Mackinac Center, describes the principle that at any given time, policies can fall within a window of possibility. This window is set not by politicians but by public opinion. To learn more about Joseph Overton or the Overton Window, you can visit this Overton page.

Today we remember a man who helped sway public opinion and moved the consensus in favor of civil rights for African Americans.

Most people are aware of Martin Luther King Jr.’s story: that he was arrested multiple times, that through peaceful protests he helped advance liberty for all, that he brought inclusive new meaning to the Declaration of Independence’s lofty phrases: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness...”

Thanks to King’s and others’ efforts, our nation enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, bringing an end to Jim Crow laws and other oppressive state policies. King took a stand and pushed these ideas into the Overton Window.

In honor of him, I want to provide some quotes and encourage you to take a few minutes to listen to King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

• “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

• “As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation — either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.”

• “If you can’t fly then run. If you can’t run then walk. If you can’t walk then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”

• “We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”

• “Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

With that, I encourage each of you to reflect on Martin Luther King Jr. and his devotion to the promise of liberty for all men.

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