Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Compilation Tape of speeches made by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE & NON-VIOLENT STRUGGLE, 1956-1962. Also contains much great footage of the civil rights movement.
Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
MS/MCUs of African-Americans singing, clapping on sidewalk during protest.
Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
DO NOT USE Archival stills of black men posing with protest signs outside segregated public pool; another still shows a shirtless white man swinging a stick at group of black men. "I don t have but one speech. I don t have but one message of our journey around this country."
Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
MS of white male hotel owner pouring hydrochloric acid into a pool where African-Americans are swimming. MS Rev. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. speechifying about the weapon of non-violence. "And it is a message, which says that I am convinced; the most potent weapon available to oppressed people, as they struggle for freedom and justice is the weapon of nonviolence."
Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
MS blacks & whites linked arm in arm during protest. MCU of MLK, wearing suit and fedora, standing on street, speaking about non-violent protest. "For several weeks now, we the Negro citizens of Montgomery, have been involved in a nonviolent protest against the injustices, which we have experienced on the buses for a number of years. This is a nonviolent protest we re depending on moral and spiritual forces using the method of passive resistance." C/As of a black family walking along sidewalk, black people crossing street. MS young black women singing in church.
Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
MCU of Dr. King at press conference. "At which time the Chief said to us, that we had been released. In other words our fine had been paid. I said, Well chief, we want to serve this time. His only response then was, God knows Reverend, I don t want you in my jail. " MSs of Dr. King coming from police station after being released. "I m under orders to keep walking."
Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
MSs of Dr. King speaking in Selma, Alabama. "I m here to tell you tonight, that the businessmen, the mayor of this city, the police commissioner of this city and everybody in the white power structure of this city, must take a responsibility for everything that Jim Clark does in the city. It s time for us to say to these men, that if you don t do something about it, we will have no alternative, but to engage in broader and more drastic forms of civil disobedience in order to bring the attention of a nation to this whole issue in Selma, Alabama."
Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
MS of several African-Americans leaning against bars of prison cell.
Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
DO NOT USE Still photos of Rev. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. being arrested, behind bars. Audio of MLK: "I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was well timed. In the view of those who have not suffered unduly, from the disease of segregation. For years now I ve heard the word wait . It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This wait has almost always meant never, we must come to see with one of our distinguished jurist, that justice too long delayed is justice denied."
Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
MLK: "Now the other thing that we must see about this struggle is that by large it has been a nonviolent struggle." MSs of white police officers breaking up a lunch counter sit-in, shuttling African-American males away. "Let nobody make you feel that those who are engaged or who are engaging in the demonstration in communities all across the South are resulting to violence. These are few in number. For we ve come to see the power of nonviolence. We ve come to see that this method is not a weak method." MSs civil rights demonstrators, all black, under arrest, being hauled into paddy wagons, their placards taken away. "For it s the strong man who can stand up amid opposition, who can stand up amid violence being inflicted upon him and not retaliate with violence." (Applause) MSs white police officers using police attack dogs (German Shepherds) on demonstrators in Birmingham, 1963. "You see that this method has a way of disarming the opponent. It exposes his moral defenses, it weakens his morale and at the same time it works on his conscience and he does not know what to do. If he doesn t beat you, wonderful, if he beats you, you developed a quiet courage of accepting blows without retaliating." MS firefighters hooking fire hose to fire hydrant; TLSs demonstrators being hosed down. "If he doesn t put you in jail, wonderful. Nobody in his sense likes to go to jail, but if he puts you in jail, you go in that jail and transform it to a dungeon of shame, to a haven of freedom and human dignity." MSs demonstrators, including MLK, under arrest, being taken away by police. MS broken windshield of car. MS smashed sign for First Baptist Church; TLSs remains of building that was burned-down. "Even if he tries to kill you, you will develop the inner conviction, that there are some things so dear, some things so precious, some things so eternally true, that they re worth dieing for. And I submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn t fit to live." MSs police using attack dogs and force to break up demonstrations. MS young black men on stretcher being loaded into ambulance. MS three white cops forcing black women to ground during arrest procedure. MS two black women hugging. MS white cop striking young black man with butt of rifle. MSs black men carrying wounded man on stretcher to ambulance. "This method has brought wonders. As a result of the nonviolence Freedom Ride Movement segregation in public transportation has almost passed away, absolutely in the South. As a result of the sit in movement at lunch counters, more than 285 cities have now integrated their lunch counters in the South. I say to you, there s power in this method." MSs non-violent civil rights march under watch of the National Guard; both black and white marchers carrying signs. "And so if you want to help us in Alabama and Mississippi and over the South, do all that you can to get rid of the problem here, and then we also need your support in order to get the Civil Rights Bill, that the President is offering, passed. And as a reality, let s not fool ourselves this bill isn t going to get through if we don t put some work in it and some determined pressure. And this is what I ve said. That in order to get this bill through we got to rouse the conscience of a nation." TLS/MSs trains arriving in Washington DC for March on Washington, 1963: civil rights supporters disembark, board buses, make way to Washington Mall.