"I've Been to the Mountaintop" is the popular name of the last speech delivered by

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

Martin Luther King Jr.: "I've Been to the Mountaintop", delivered 3 April 1968, Memphis, Tennessee
at Stanford University, including transcript of audience responses. King spoke on April 3, 1968, at the

Mason Temple Mason Temple, located in Memphis, Tennessee, is a Christian international sanctuary and central headquarters of the Church of God in Christ, the largest African American Pentecostal group in the world. The building was named for Bishop Charles H ...

(

Church of God in Christ The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is a Holiness– Pentecostal Christian denomination, and the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi-ethnic religious organization, it has a predominantly ...

Headquarters) in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...

. On the following day, King was assassinated. The speech primarily concerns the

Memphis sanitation strike The Memphis sanitation strike began on February 12, 1968, in response to the deaths of sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker.Estes, S. (2000). `I AM A MAN A MAN?’: Race, Masculinity, and the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike. ''Labor ...

. King calls for unity, economic actions, boycotts, and

nonviolent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

protest, while challenging the United States to live up to its ideals. At the end of the speech, he discusses the possibility of an untimely death.

Excerpts from King's speech

Regarding the strike, King stated that He warned the protesters not to engage in violence lest the issue of

injustice Injustice is a quality relating to unfairness or undeserved outcomes. The term may be applied in reference to a particular event or situation, or to a larger status quo. In Western philosophy and jurisprudence, injustice is very commonly—but n ...

be ignored because of the focus on the violence. King argued that peaceful

demonstrations Demonstration may refer to: * Demonstration (acting), part of the Brechtian approach to acting * Demonstration (military), an attack or show of force on a front where a decision is not sought * Demonstration (political), a political rally or prote ...

were the best course of action, the only way to guarantee that their demands would be heard and answered. Regarding the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

, King demanded that the United States defend for all its citizens what is promised in the United States Constitution and the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

and stated that he would never give up until these natural rights were protected, saying Regarding economic boycotts, King advocated boycotting white goods as a means of nonviolent protest. He said that the individual Negro is poor but together they are an economic powerhouse, and they should use this power to stop support for racist groups and instead empower black businesses. Although the industries might not listen to protests, they would be forced to listen to boycotts lest they be driven out of business. King named several businesses as targets for the boycott: Toward the end of the speech, King refers to threats against his life and uses language that prophetically foreshadowed his impending death, but reaffirming that he was not afraid to die:

Biblical references

The '

prophetic In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or pret ...

' language used by King referred to events described in the Biblical book of Deuteronomy. In it, Moses, the leader of the people of Israel, leads them to life in the

Promised Land The Promised Land ( he, הארץ המובטחת, translit.: ''ha'aretz hamuvtakhat''; ar, أرض الميعاد, translit.: ''ard al-mi'ad; also known as "The Land of Milk and Honey"'') is the land which, according to the Tanakh (the Hebrew ...

. Before they reach it, however, Moses is informed by God that, because of an incident in which he did not follow God's directions, he will not reach the land himself, but will only see it from a distance. Shortly after, Moses dies, and his successor

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

leads them into the Promised Land.

References

External links

Martin Luther King Jr.: "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (Full text)
{{Martin Luther King , expanded=SWP 1968 in the United States 1968 in Tennessee Speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. April 1968 events in the United States 1968 speeches 1968 neologisms

Excerpts from King's speech

Biblical references

See also

References

External links