Delivered 3 April 1968, Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters), Memphis, Tennessee
I remember watching either a PBS or History Channel special on Dr. King, several hours worth. What struck me the most was the fact that many of his associates did not want him to go out that night and give this speech, and Dr. King himself was torn. In the videos that were provided for the show, you can see the torn and pained look on his face and in his eyes. Personally, I felt that Dr. King knew it would be his last speech and he knew he was going to be killed.
When I listen to this speech, (full text here) and he says he has seen the promised land, and he tells his audience he might not get there with them, my eyes well up with tears and I break down sometimes and cry so hard I'm embarrassed. Knowing the history behind the speech, and knowing that he was assassinated the next day, and that he knew it was going to happen, but put himself out there anyway, for the cause (as they say), just blows me away.
It saddens me that 1968 saw two of our most ardent civil rights leaders shot down in cold blood --- Dr. King, and Robert Kennedy (June 1968).
Forty years later, and are we better off? On the one hand, we do have a black presidential candidate, which in my lifetime I never thought I would see, let alone be a reality ever for this country. But how ironic is it that we are once again mired in an unnecessary war, that the country is divided, only this time not by the generation gap but by the right and left ideological gap.
Even though we celebrate Dr. King's birthday as a national holiday, his assassination was far more embedded in my psyche and I never forget this day. Never will.
1 comment:
I can't say it enough, that both Dr King & Bobby were killed after they formed broad coalitions for economic justice & opposed a war that was sacrificing America's underclass youth to make the corporate fatcats even richer.
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