Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968) was one of the greatest champions of humanity the world has ever known. Civil rights was only part of the equation. He was an example of how to be a human being. We are strange and flawed creatures, but are also capable of compassion, respect, enlightenment, charity, and daring, because these are essential. Respect. Compassion. Enlightenment. Charity. And daring: The building blocks of a human soul.