Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have a Dream
Speech
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a driving force in
the push for racial equality in the 1950s and
60s. Fighting for civil rights, King and his
followers marched and protested non-violently
across the U.S. (but mainly focusing their
demonstrations in Alabama). His most famous
speech is the I Have a Dream speech, given on
August 28, 1963.
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Martin Luther King, Jr. A Timeline of Major
Events in his Life

• January 15, 1929 MLK, Jr. born in Atlanta, GA.

• 1944 Attended Morehouse College in Atlanta

• 1948 Ordained and appointed assistant pastor
  Ebenezer Baptist Church

• 1953 Married Coretta Scott

• 1955 Received his doctorate (Ph.D.) in
  theology from Boston University

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Timeline continued

• December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks is arrested for
  refusing to vacate her seat on AL. bus, and
  Dec. 5 King becomes president of Montgomery
  Improvement Association.

• Dec. 1956 U.S. Supreme Court declared
  Alabamas segregation laws un- constitutional.

• 1957 King toured India and develops greater
  understanding of Gandhis nonviolent strategies.

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Timeline continued

• 1957 King and other black ministers founded the
  Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

• 1957-1963 King meets President Eisenhower,
  Kennedy, Johnson, and (later) Nixon. He also
  writes many books during this time.

• Spring 1963 King and SCLC lead mass
  demonstrations in Birmingham, AL, where local
  white police officials were known for violent
  opposition to integration.

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Timeline continued
August 28, 1963 The March on Washington for
Jobs and Freedom, Washington D.C. (Lincoln
Memorial)

• Organized by A. Philip Randolph and Bayard
  Rustin.

• More than 250, 000 protesters gathered.

• King delivered his I Have a Dream speech.
  (His most famous speech.)

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I Have a Dream Speech
Dr. Kings speech is an important text. It
discusses history, society, racial, and social
issues. King also provided hope and belief in
what we often call the American Dream. He
called for change to rise above the economic
conditions and prosper in the land of opportunity
for all Americans regardless of color. This
change was advocated through nonviolence.
Handout I Have a Dream speech
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Passages from I Have a Dream

• Five score years ago, a great American, in
  whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the
  Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree
  came as a great beacon light of hope to millions
  of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames
  of withering injustice. It came as a joyous
  daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

• But one hundred years later, we must face the
  tragic fact that the Negro is still not free.

• Now is the time to lift our nation from the
  quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock
  of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice
  a reality for all of Gods children.

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Passage from I Have a Dream
I say to you today, my friends, that in
spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the
moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream
deeply rooted in the American dream. I
have a dream that one day this nation will rise
up and live out the true meaning of its creed
"We hold these truths to be self-evident that
all men are created equal. I have a
dream that my four 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. I have a dream that one day
every valley shall be exalted, every hill and
mountain shall be made low, the rough places will
be made plain, and the crooked places will be
made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
Excerpt from King's most famous speech. "I have a
dream," 1963. (693 K) 8-bit WAVE file (Microsoft
Windows) (http//seattletimes.nwsource.com/mlk/ma
n/MLKsound.html)
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Timeline of Kings Life continued

• 1963 - After the March on Washington, King was
  named Man of the Year by Time magazine

• December 10, 1964 Received Nobel Peace Prize

• 1965-1966 King experienced increased resistance
  from political leaders like Malcolm X, who
  advocated self- defense and black nationalism
  and Stokely Carmichael, a proponent of Black
  Power

• April 4, 1967 King delivers public criticism of
  U.S. invention in Vietnam War.

• April 3, 1968 King leads peaceful march in
  Memphis, TN. He delivers his final speech
  Ive Been to the Mountaintop.

• April 4, 1968 Dr. King is shot and killed in
  Memphis, TN.

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Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. established himself
as the national leader of the civil rights
movement, leading boycotts, advocating
nonviolence, and staging protests against
segregation in the South. It is for this
reason that we celebrate his legacy and his
ideals once a year.
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(Reference http//www.stanford.edu/group/King/)