But maybe it's my fault as I didn't give you enough instruction.
So this time read and listen to Dr. King's speech on that day. Read actively and pick a part of the speech that means the most to you. Take some quotes from it to share in your Comment and tell us why this part of the speech stands out to you.
This way we will have something specific in our comments, and in writing, specific is almost always better!
Okay, here are the links and I look forward to your specific comments on this great historic speech by Dr. King.
http://www.archives.gov/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyR8h9iimw4
The I have a dream speech by Martin Luther King Jr. was a very influential part of our history. The part that gave me chills and that really caught my eye was during his speech when he mentioned his children. He said "I have a dream that my four little 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." Not only was he dealing with segregation towards himself but his little children also were. He had to watch them get bullied and treated badly just because they were a different color, instead of others getting to know their personality. Bringing his kids into the speech, whether he meant to or not, was important and just like it touched my heart, im sure it had the same affect on others.
ReplyDelete"In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check." Then continues onto.. "America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds'. But we refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation."
ReplyDeleteThis really stuck out to me because I love his use of figurative language. Martin Luther King Jr. really put this in perspective comparing their freedom (and how they aren't receiving it) to cashing an insufficient check at the bank.
Martin also mentions in his speech how under the Declaration of Independence states that all men are guaranteed the unalienable rights of life. He's basically saying read the fine print, over 100 years ago this was signed and yet not ALL men are free.
Martin used his words very well and because of him and the March on Washington things are different today.
"But 100 years later the negro still is not free. One hundred years later the life of the negro is still badly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later the negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later the negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land."
ReplyDeleteThis short passage taken from the 2nd paragraph of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have A Dream" speech deeply expressed the anguish that African Americans were still experiencing after all those years. His use of repition was perfect for what he needed to convey to his audience. By using repition here, King made it known that the past 100 years, and years before, of discrimination were unacceptable.
Also, his use of imagery throughout this statement was quite remarkable. He truly dipicted a picture of the torment that African Americans had been experiencing for years. I found that the last sentence of the passage was most profound. Even 100 years after the emancipation proclamation, African Americans found that they were in fact exiled in their own land, their own country, their own home.
King, without a doubt, revealed a society that needed to be changed. His inspirational words will live on forever, hopefully never to be forgotten.
"But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is
ReplyDeletebankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient
funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation."
This statement really spoke to me; the way that Dr. King describes the universal passion and belief of the Blacks in America was =really powerful. It also shows a lot of his faith in our nation; in it's values and beliefs. He trusted the leaders in America to fall back on what our nation was founded on. For me, it would have been really hard for me if I was in his position to have faith in people that have treated me so poorly to realize their mistakes and give me a chance.
Dr. King was able to do something that not many people are capable of doing. He was able to express his feelings in a way that motivated and inspired millions of people; a trait that ultimately changed the course of our nations social structure forever.
"I have a dream today ...I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places wild be made plain, and the crooked places 'will be made straight." (Copyright 1963, MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.)
ReplyDeleteThis exert really struck me because it highlights something that Martin Luther King Jr. saw that no one else before him did. He understood why there was racism and why it was not getting fixed. He saw that it would never work if the white community was forced to accept the black population as equal. Throughout the entirety of the speech, you can pluck multiple examples of King's none bias behavior. No blame is put on either race, instead he provides a solution to a problem. He realized that every great debate or conflict is not resolved with one solution, rather multiple solution or compromises. In the text above he uses valleys and mountains as metaphors for blacks and whites. Then he proposes to raise every valley and lower every mountain, essentially both are now on equal elevations. This implies that both the white and black races must put equal effort into undoing so much wrong.
“Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”
ReplyDeleteThese few sentences from Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech are incredibly powerful. Not just because of how they are written, but how Dr. King expresses them. Also, the amount of passion, strength, and willpower he puts into the delivery of his speech is staggering. Martin Luther King Jr. uses repetition, alliteration, metaphor, and imagery in just a few sentences. These words weave together to make an impact on an audience whether it was then or now. The idea of “the quick sands of racial injustice” juxtaposed with “the solid rock of brotherhood” only deepens Dr. King’s address to the people.
“One day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”
Lastly, I love this closing statement. It makes me wish I could have been there on that day of the March on Washington.
"There will be neither rest nor tranquility In America,
ReplyDeleteuntil the Negro is granted his fiitizenship rights. The
whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the fouda-
tiom of our nation until the bright dqs of justice merge."
This quaote really stood out to me that they were willing to go to extreams and not give up on what they believed in until it was accomplished. This quote also makes me wish i could have been apartof such a strong group of individuals who stood up to adversity and never strayed from what they thought was right.
"We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protests to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny."
ReplyDeleteThis quote really stood out to me because of how he wanted a peaceful protest and not a violent one, I know that Gandhi was an influence on Martin Luther King, and how he wanted to peacefully protest reminded me of Gandhi. I believe that a peaceful one will make a greater impact rather than a violent one because it shows how they don't have to use force to try to get what they want, but rather a voice, an opinion, to eventually get people on their side, but if you use force on people who doesn't like it, they will never come to agree with you, because it was against their will. I also believe in one of the things Dr. King says, that we must not distrust all white people, it goes with one of my values of how you shouldn't judge a group as a whole because of a single person.
"But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
Although this didn't stick out the most, I had also found the use of imagery for the bad check to be amazing, it gave me a mental imagine of what he said. I also liked how it's something they fight for, that they're not going to simply give up because something was taken from them that shouldn't be, they won't give up.
"I say to you today,my friends, though, even though
ReplyDeletewe face the difficulties of today and tomorrow,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, live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
This part of Martin Luther King Jr speech really stood out to me. He was addressing the people in a different way. This time it was a way of we must do it this way or else it will never work. They could not put it off any more days. They had to fight the battle and be strong against the racism if they wanted anything to change. I believe this is so powerful because when people want something to change they need to make an impact not stand in the back and hope things change. If they wanted a change they had to be the change.
"Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the negro people a back check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds'. But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice."
ReplyDeleteMartin Luther King is the king of metaphors. This whole thing about insufficient funds and cashing the check stuck out to me because it provides a great image of the situation in a way that is relatable to everyone. It also reminds me of a show I've been watching on Netflix called "Hell on Wheels" which takes place just after the Emancipation Proclamation is signed and the Civil War has ended. The freed slaves are working on the railroad but don't get the same freedom they expected. They are paid half as much as the white men and are still not allowed in most of the buildings.
Martin Luther King's i have a dream speech is one of the most insporational speeches in American hstory. Dr. King is undoubtably famous for this speech and when i found out that he gave this part of his speech without writing any of it down had me at a real loss of words. Reading through this speech it is truly hard to believe that the man delivered such powerful words and spoke so gracefully to his audience. At this point in his speech Dr. King says " I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood." He could have came out and said i want blacks and whites in this country to get along, instead he use his words to explain what is right aand what is important for this country to understand so that it really can be the land of the free. Dr. King used his words in this speech to explain to everyone what america should be like and he did so in an extremely powerful way, not to mention not writing a single thing down. I feel that everyone in America should read and listen to this speech not only because of its significance to our nations history, but because of the power behind these words.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of this speech has always been when King is at his most powerful during the speech. King is the most powerful during the speech when he says:
ReplyDelete"Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, 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 one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little 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."
King is really trying to get his point across here by using southern states that are very racist and do not want to rid away the segregation to say that even in the worst places there will be change. He wants them to know that even though it is awful right now it will improve and things will get better. He uses the phrase " we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal" as a way of saying even though he is black he can have the American Dream, he can fight for it and he can have a dream of success just as any white man can because they are equal, regardless of their race. This section of King's speech has always been my favorite because of the pure power you feel hearing it. It sends chills down my spine. You can really tell how passionate King is by hearing this part of the speech. The power and passion is truly remarkable.
“In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.“
ReplyDeleteThis line stood out as I read King’s “ I have a dream speech.”
With all the hatred and injustices aimed at the blacks in those days, King vehemently opposed any sort of violence. His point is very clear that in order to change the hatred in people you need to show them kind heart and love. And as we saw this speech was a turning point in the fight against discrimination and racism in America.