--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Martin Luther King was a victim of…" description: "\"Martin Luther King was a victim of surveillance, and had great solidarity with victims of surveillance.\" — Cornel West" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/cornel-west-708_kings_martin-luther-king-was-a-victim-of-surve_1930905.jpg" --- # Martin Luther King was a victim of surveillance, and had… ![“Martin Luther King was a victim of surveillance, and had great solidarity with victims of surveillance.” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/cornel-west-708_kings_martin-luther-king-was-a-victim-of-surve_1930905.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/cornel-west-708_kings_martin-luther-king-was-a-victim-of-surve_1930905.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/cornel-west-708_kings_martin-luther-king-was-a-victim-of-surve_1930905.jpg) > “Martin Luther King was a victim of surveillance, and had great solidarity with victims of surveillance.” [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote links Martin Luther King’s experience with surveillance to broader solidarity with those monitored. **In simple terms:** King faced surveillance; we should support all surveilled individuals. Key Takeaway Recognize and oppose surveillance of activists. Themes civil rights surveillance solidarity Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical activist When to use this quote - activist gatherings - legal challenges to surveillance - human rights forums Key Concepts government monitoring privacy rights activist protection Questions to Reflect On - What are the ethical limits of surveillance? - How can solidarity be shown effectively? A Different Perspective Surveillance can also protect public safety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Kings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kings/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Solidarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solidarity/) [Surveillance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surveillance/) [Victim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victim/) ## Related quotes > [I think Martin Luther King would always keep track of collective insurgencies among poor and working people. He was concerned about the treatment of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-think-martin-luther-king-would-always-keep-track-of-collective/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Martin Luther King was a radical democrat, by which I mean someone who is a foe of wealth inequality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-was-a-radical-democrat-by-which-i-mean-someone-who/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Martin Luther King would celebrate the symbolic status (of having a black president), but he would examine what the real substance was. And if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-would-celebrate-the-symbolic-status-of-having-a/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Certainly Martin Luther King, in the mainstream perception of him, had a dream. Yes, he did. But the question becomes, what was that dream?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/certainly-martin-luther-king-in-the-mainstream-perception-of-him-had/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Martin Luther King Jr's agenda was not to help Negroes overcome American apartheid in the south. It was to make America democracy a better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-jr-s-agenda-was-not-to-help-negroes-overcome/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Martin Luther King wanted to be morally consistent and speak out against various things that were wrong, not just racism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-wanted-to-be-morally-consistent-and-speak-out/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The American Dream is individualistic. Martin Luther King's dream was collective. 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If he saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/if-martin-luther-king-looked-at-the-obama-administration-and-saw-an/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Anybody who takes Martin Luther King seriously has got to go beyond the standard understanding of who he was, has to connect those dots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/anybody-who-takes-martin-luther-king-seriously-has-got-to-go-beyond/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Martin Luther King's legacy is never to be measured by bricks and mortar, but rather by the kind of lives that we live, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-s-legacy-is-never-to-be-measured-by-bricks-and/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## More by Cornel West > [There has certainly been ugly, right-wing hatred targeting Barack Obama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/there-has-certainly-been-ugly-right-wing-hatred-targeting-barack-obama/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I feel as if I have been blessed to undergo a transformation from 'gangster' to 'redeemed sinner with gangster proclivities.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-feel-as-if-i-have-been-blessed-to-undergo-a-transformation-from/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [“Like King, we need to put on our cemetery clothes and be coffin-ready for the next great democratic battle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/like-king-we-need-to-put-on-our-cemetery-clothes-and-be-coffin-ready/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [ “You can't really move forward until you look back. \[From Remaking America panel discussion at George Washington University\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-t-really-move-forward-until-you-look-back-from-remaking/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [When we think of globalization we are thinking in part of structures and institutions that have been developed over time and that have allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/when-we-think-of-globalization-we-are-thinking-in-part-of-structures/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The challenge artists face today is whether to be an underground, unheard genius, or to dilute their art for the marketplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-challenge-artists-face-today-is-whether-to-be-an-underground/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The need of black conservatives to gain the respect of their white peers deeply shapes certain elements of their conservatism. 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I can't stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-don-t-draw-any-distinctions-between-forms-of-bigotry-or-forms-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Barack Obama has domesticated the left in such a way that we feel as if we have no alternative but him...I refuse to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/barack-obama-has-domesticated-the-left-in-such-a-way-that-we-feel-as/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's culture and working people's culture and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-history-of-arrogance-and-relative/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-greatest-gift-you-can-give-someone-is-the-gift-of-inspiration/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [You can see it in terms of the obsession on Wall Street with not just profits but greed, more profit, more profit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-see-it-in-terms-of-the-obsession-on-wall-street-with-not-just/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Anybody who takes Martin Luther King seriously has got to go beyond the standard understanding of who he was, has to connect those dots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/anybody-who-takes-martin-luther-king-seriously-has-got-to-go-beyond/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Explore all 400 Cornel West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## More Kings quotes > [Plenty of white space and generous line spacing,and don't make the type size too miserly. Then you will be assured of a product fit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giambattista-bodoni/plenty-of-white-space-and-generous-line-spacing-and-don-t-make-the/) Giambattista Bodoni > [“Kings don’t move mountains as a favor to a friend,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-whalen-turner/kings-don-t-move-mountains-as-a-favor-to-a-friend/) [Megan Whalen Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-whalen-turner/) > [I worked in a barbershop. I used to make the waves in the brother's hair, you know? Like, Nat King Cole, Sugar Ray Robinson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clinton/i-worked-in-a-barbershop-i-used-to-make-the-waves-in-the-brother-s/) [George Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clinton/) > [ I think it is worse \[in 2015\] for a mid-list author such as myself. You either have to sell like Stephen King or go… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-p-kinsella/i-think-it-is-worse-in-2015-for-a-mid-list-author-such-as-myself-you/) [W. P. 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You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [If Jesus is king in heaven then the Kingdom of God is in heaven. If Jesus is king, reign on earth then the Kingdom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/if-jesus-is-king-in-heaven-then-the-kingdom-of-god-is-in-heaven-if/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [ Steve \[King\] has been incredibly supportive. He's also really good about getting back to me when I have questions about plot or characterization. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-furth/steve-king-has-been-incredibly-supportive-he-s-also-really-good-about/) [Robin Furth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-furth/) > [As a sports fan, the Los Angeles Kings winning the Stanley Cup makes me feel very alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/five-for-fighting/as-a-sports-fan-the-los-angeles-kings-winning-the-stanley-cup-makes/) Five for Fighting > [Well, I don't want to be king, I want to be real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/well-i-don-t-want-to-be-king-i-want-to-be-real/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [The rights essential to happiness. . . . We claim them from a higher source - from the King of kings and Lord of all the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dickinson/the-rights-essential-to-happiness-we-claim-them-from-a-higher-source/) [John Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dickinson/) > [Here will be an old abusing of God's patience and the king's English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/here-will-be-an-old-abusing-of-god-s-patience-and-the-king-s-english/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Benny Carter came up to me and said to me, "You know, in the whole history of the alto, I think Phil is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-gordon/benny-carter-came-up-to-me-and-said-to-me-you-know-in-the-whole/) [Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-gordon/) > [My child, seek those things which make for peace. 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