Of course, in turn, JFK's rhetoric in his Civil Rights Address carries the unmistakable thrust of this famous and eloquent 1963 letter.

Seriously: take a second to check out the whole thing. To say it's a "must-read" is a massive understatement.

In a response to a newspaper article penned by eight clergymen condemning King, King lays it out flat: that there is no patiently waiting for Civil Rights to be handed over. The time for patience is way past.

Unless challenged, condemned, and openly resisted, the powers that be aren't going to bother to make a lick of progress. While nations in Asia and Africa were moving at jetlike speed towards political revolution, African Americans are still "creep[ing] at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter."

And they've been creeping at this pace for the last 340 years.

This delay is unconscionable, and those who sit back and condemn protesters for causing disruptions are even more baffling than those who oppose them outright. At least, with them, you know where they stand.

Want more? Check out our complete guide to the letter here.