40 Years Later: Martin Luther King, The Greatest American Of All Time

10:27 am EST April 4th, 2008 | News | 9 Comments

Yes, he did

And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?

Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop.
And I don’t mind.
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!
And so I’m happy, tonight.
I’m not worried about anything.
I’m not fearing any man!
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!

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9 Responses to “40 Years Later: Martin Luther King, The Greatest American Of All Time”

  1. Mike says:
    April 4, 2008 at 10:42 am

    Damn right.

  2. old white guy says:
    April 4, 2008 at 10:53 am

    I have recently read a few of Dr. King’s speeches given in less public forums and a few papers he wrote. Dr. King was brilliant and I had not known that before, not really. We would be living in a much better world if he had lived, I think.

  3. I'm a Hick says:
    April 4, 2008 at 11:49 am

    I think what made his career all the more remarkable is that he carried it out having to know, I imagine, how it would eventually end.

  4. Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle says:
    April 4, 2008 at 12:52 pm

    I’m a Hick:
    I forget whether it was King, or maybe Malcolm X, who indeed said they understood the risks they were taking. All the great ones face that though. Look at Gandhi.

  5. The Mantis says:
    April 4, 2008 at 1:51 pm

    The best part of that speech is that he was so drained and tired at the beginning, but you see him summon this otherworldly passion, this fire that comes out of nowhere, to the point that when he finally finishes, he practically collapses off the dias, and you half expect his colleagues to rush over and cover him in his training robe, a la James Brown. WATCHING this speech is an incredibly moving experience.

  6. I'm a Hick says:
    April 4, 2008 at 2:07 pm

    Calvin,

    Yep. And hundreds of soldiers, firemen, policemen, other civil rights activists, etc., willing to take that risk, whose names I’ll never know.

  7. anotherbozo says:
    April 4, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    Just checked Wickipedia and apparently it’s true: “He entered Morehouse College at age fifteen…” His speeches, aimed at Mr. and Mrs. Everybody, don’t reflect how bright he was. He must’ve had intellect to burn (cf. Letter from Birmingham Jail), but that was nothing compared to his heart and his courage… Half his life he walked around with a bulls-eye on his chest.

  8. Angry African says:
    April 4, 2008 at 5:30 pm

    I never noticed it before. It has been there for a while. This picture of Martin Luther King Jr on our fridge door. I hardly look at the fridge door, but there it was. Amongst all the fridge magnets and numbers and pictures of the kids. But what made me stop was that the picture was of a white Martin Luther King Jr. My young daughter made this great man white. And I couldn’t be prouder. I think he would be proud. I know she will continue to live his dream. http://angryafrican.net/2008/03/16/martin-luther-king-jr-is-white/

  9. jerry says:
    April 4, 2008 at 6:27 pm

    It’s probably an icky game to play on my part, but of all the assassinations in the sixties, if as time traveler, I could pick just one, JFK and possibly stop Vietnam (and thus stop Iraq and other “Vietnam redo”s), or MLK and try to end much earlier the american experience with racism? Really hard to say. Although I do think that MLK would have a bigger role to play post 60s as American Elder Statesman than JFK.

    Anyway, my idiocy aside, what a terrific speech and thank god and engineers for television cameras.