Pick Up I Have A Dream: Writings And Speeches That Changed The World Designed By Martin Luther King Jr. Available As Online Book
Luther King was a great speaker, This "I Have a Dream" speech was just vivid and eloquent, so that anyone with normal brain was to be touched,
I'm sure everyone, again, with a normal Human brain, would agree with my feedback to his speech, So I'd like to talk about something different that his speech also helps us think about,
I've realized that Martin Luther King Jr, in his own speeches, always called the AfricanAmericans "Negros, "
Negro just meant black color just like "noir" in French, and Kepi Noir Black Cap is the symbol of leadership in French armed forces only the Officers and NCOs wear the black one.
Besides, as far as I know there are at least two rivers called Negro in Latin America, meaning Black River,
We dont feel offended either when we hear somebody talking about the “Black Knights, ” Actually the Marine aviation “Black Knights” squadron leader was an AfricanAmerican Captain, who made me join the Marine Corps he was my dream It wasn't just in the movie "Independence Day", but the squadron really existed in El Toro, CA, where I grew up, until.
However, today the word "Negro" is demeaning and tabooed, just like "Josenjin", which simply meant Chosuniin the Koreans from the Kingdom of Chosun in Japanese, but Koreans hate that word like the AfricanAmericans today hate Negro calling that the "N" word.
See how things change in our language lives
I think reading the speech once again turned out very meaningful after all,
with this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope, With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood, With this faith, we will be able to work together, . .
Martin Luther King, Jr, in his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at Lincoln Memorial on August,It's almost sad at how relevant Dr, King's words still are. His words should speak of a bygone era, but at least you look at what the civil rights movement tried to accomplish and make a path forward.
Since a young age I've been fascinated with history, I was in "gifted" programs in elementary and middle school, I have a BA in political science with a minor in history, I have an MA in education, I taught English and even used Dr, King's "I have a Dream" speech,
You hear a lot about the downfall of American education, Of course, the criticisms are often levied at math and science, You hear people fret about international testing scores and our rank, Sadly, the one thing you never hear about is the atrocious quality of our history education in this country, I contend that the core of many of our cultural problems lie in the fact that we don't know our history,
How can I say something so definitively
Go back and reread paragraphagain, And after you read it a second time realize this, I'myears of age. I read pretty much every day, Those were my educational experiences, By all culturally accepted definitions, I'm well "educated, " And here's the pathetic reality, I was never ONCE asked to read anything other than the "I Have a Dream" speech,
How many other Americans who are presumably "educated" have no clue what this man said, How many supposed experts today blather on about our past, but sadly, really are no more "educated" than I was/am,
I loved this book, If half of American society was as well read as Dr, King America would be a much different place today, If half of the supposed Christians that live in our society were as well read today, our foreign policy would be a little better, and our society would behave differently.
I was blown away by King's brilliance and ability to communicate ideas, I'm fascinated how he was able to stand firm on nonviolence with such evil staring him in the face on a daily basis,
My favorite piece in the entire book was actually "A Time to Break Silence, " Yeah, that high quality public history education I received basically omitted the fact that Dr, King ever spoke so passionately against the Vietnam war, I'd encourage many of my warloving conservative, Republican, Christian friends to read this one, Much of America's security problems today lie at the feet of your neoconservative, warmongering political figures,
Dr. King wasn't a God. He wasn't a perfect man, I could tell through his writings that despite his brilliance, he never studied economics, He was a selfdescribed democratic socialist, There's no more sense to democratic socialism than there is to endless wars in the Middle East, But, he was a man of courage, and he is someone whose writings should be required of all Americans to receive their high school diploma.
I await the outrage from our citizens sadly, I'm realistic, I know it'll be a long wait, Goodness, I've always held Martin Luther King Jr as a hero but after reading this book that belief is solidified, I didn't realize how many standards I shared with this great man until reading his words in war, equality, nonviolence, peace, love, and unity, He was not just a man of great words but one who sealed them with his blood, Great collection of MLK speeches and writings, It gets a little repetitive if you read too much at once, but I'll analyze that in terms of the "I can't believe we still have to protest this shit" memes of thes.
The intros to each piece are solid contextualization, The final bit of the final piece is wonderful, I read Kings words little by little over the last few weeks, and I am all the better for it, What a wise, courageous, loving soul he was, I recommend that everyone read “Letters from a Birmingham Jail, ” Although King addressed issues and struggles of the past, many of his words still ring true today, He inspires me to work so that the words dont apply so strongly in the future, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's words are grounded in the civil rights era of his time, and they remain all too relevant now as our country continues our centuries long battle against racial injustice.
I foresee myself rereading this collection of Dr, King's essays, speeches, and sermons many times in the future, Full of motivation ! ! If there was any other reason to read this book and there are many, just to read the "I Have A Dream" speech would be worth it all.
I always loved MLK Jr and what he stood for, He's a true inspiration and I wish there were more people like him, There are definitely people trying to be like him and steal his stories but no one will ever compare,
I originally read this book because I was looking for a particular speech, A lot of individuals love to take quotes and misuse them to further their points and agendas, Last year a lot of people were throwing around an MLK Jr quote and I'm pretty certain it was misused considering he was all about nonviolence for a reason.
That speech wasn't in this book but I'm not even mad about it because I got to read so much more and enjoyed it.
My love solidify reading his words,
I highly recommend this book for everyone to read at some point, We read this for a peace and justice class I took this semester at Eastern Mennonite University, and out of the books Ive seen on King, this one does perhaps the best job of including the entire significance of his message in just overpages.
All sides, from the most quoted and convenient, to the most grating and uncomfortable are included, You will recognize many quotes as they have been repeated ad infinitum in our media for decades, Some of the lesser known quotes are understandably left out of the media as they dont coincide with our historical national agenda such as this one concerning the Vietnam War: “God didnt call America to do what shes doing in the world now.
God didnt call America to engage in a senseless, unjust war, such as the war in Vietnam, And we are criminals in that war, We have committed more war crimes almost than any nation in the world, and Im going to continue to say it, And we wont stop it because of our pride, and our arrogance as a nationBut God has a way of putting nations in their place” Its quite clear to me how King would feel about many of our current endeavors.
I am unsure of the source, but someone once said: “Dead men make such convenient heroes: They cannot rise to challenge the images we would fashion from their lives.
” One wonders what would be the reaction if we quoted the King that uttered prophetic messages like that oneinstead of the
same “I have a dream” speech that we hear every year on his token holiday.
For those unfamiliar with this side of King, and the COMPLETE transcripts of his major speeches and essays, this is a must read, Great collection of Dr. King's most important speeches and writings, I plan to revisit his Letter from a Birmingham Jail in the future, This is the BEST BOOK by Martin Luther King Jr, The book title is "I HAVE A DREAM", This title is so important because it talks about how Martin Luther King JR has a dream thatday racism will stop, That blacks and white will get along together and form a perfect Union, Thatday is children will grow up to be important people in the world, That they will be remembered forever, This book is about how the speeches that Martin Luther King Jr made changed the world that made racism stop and made blacks and whites together to make a more perfect Union.
And guess what,hes dream was accomplished, SO martin Luther king Jr will be remembered for ever and eternity, Every person that loves history should read this book, Once they read the whole book it is going to be theirfavorite book, I think that,that will happen because that is what happened me, Martin Luther King Jr is the most important person that made history in the world, A beacon of morality, a scalpel of social analysis, and a subtly deft use of words, One of the most inspiring and insightful books Ive ever read, Reading this collection of speeches and writings, I've finally come to see why Martin Luther King Jr, has been deemed one of the most profound and influential civil rights, Evangelical and sociopolitical leaders of our time,
I can't even begin to point out each of the elements that I most appreciated about King's writings You could write dozens of essays on the Letter from a Birmingham Jail alone.
What I will say is that King found a way to contextualize the Gospel message of Jesus of Nazareth within the era of thess segregated south.
And he was unrelenting and allencompassing,
He not only challenged the white supremacist political and corporate power structure of the south, but he challenged the entire nation's foreign policy and involvement in Vietnam.
He challenged the Christian moderate, He rallied Blacks and Whites together in a fight for unification and strategic empowerment, He advocated equal access to first class education, He spoke up for labor unions and the unemployed, He encouraged Blacks to strive for political and economic influence, He spoke truth to power, and all of it was couched in the language of love, Agape love.
My favorite piece of this book is "The Drum Major Instinct, " It's King's second to last speech, and it really feels like his attempt to pull all of his spiritual, sociopolitical and socioeconomic ideas together into a single sermon.
If you haven't read/heard any of these speeches, I would highly recommend you take the deep dive, As an American citizen, the content of these writings is essential in understanding what our nation ought to be, Profound works of Dr. MLK, a prolific writer and speaker, The editor provides good background context before each speech and the chronological arrangement helps follow the historical timeline, A must read! Also, I may be biased, but my favorite piece was the one about his visit to India, MLK is one of the names that got thrown around a lot when I was in school, both in and out of context, For this, I think it was easy for me to caricaturize him as that guy who had a dream, went to jail a few times for it, and eventually was killed.
Part of my motivation inspired by Toni Morrison, actually for reading this book was to get a little closer to MLK the man, to see what his thoughts were in detail, his motivations.
One thing I didn't realize was how methodical King was, In "Pilgrimage to Nonviolence" he mentions how in seminary he became serious about looking for "a method to eliminate social evil", That's a hell of a quest, but he went for it and as we know he was inspired by Gandhi's work in India,
Faith was at the center of King's career as a leader, and maybe this is why nonviolence made so much sense to him.
He started off as a minister, the son and grandson of preachers, In his writings you can see the influence of the Bible on his definitions of love and morality, greatness and power,
Another thing about King is that he was just so young, He got nominated appointed called to lead the bus boycott at! At the time he was already leading a small congregation, And from there he kept going and writing with such tenacity, All the way up until hisnd birthday when he was killed, At forty two, man.
Beyond just MLK himself, the editor does a really good job of giving the speeches context, A highlight of the book as a whole, the speeches and the context given, is that it really paints a picture of the time period.
"Letter From a Birmingham Jail" was so fascinating to read because King addresses a lot of criticisms which gives a view of what a variety of people were thinking of the movement.
I recommend this speech if not the whole book,
Most of us know that quote "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, " I didn't realize it was born out of trying to persuade the country that the racial problem in America was national and not sectional, In other words, that it wasn't just a black people problem, but everybody's problem, I can't believe that King even had address that fact in thes! Were we really that disconnected from history then
I also found a few of the speeches to be psychologically astute.
King refers often to the inner lives of black peopletheir levels of dignity and esteemand tells the story of the ebbs and flow,
The book disrupted my sense of history, What kind of world calls for an MLK What kind of people I just wonder what he'd say today, I'm encouraged by my own tendency to see history as this static thing in the past to believe we've reached "the promised land" by now.
That's how it all feels in my experience, But what if whatever they were fighting against back then is still alive and wandering around
Overall, I recommend the book, especially if your looking to flesh out/enliven/enrich your sense of history.
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