On this day in 1968, Dr Martin Luther King Jr delivered an legendary address, known today as 'I've been to the mountaintop'. The following day, the Baptist minister and iconic activist was assassinated.
The speech was delivered to at Mason Temple in Memphis Tennessee, and was focussed on the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike, a response to the racial discrimination faced by black sanitation workers at the time.
In his speech, Dr King appealed to the American ideals of liberty and equality, and calls for unity, courage and action in the cause of the Civil Rights Movement.
His words are also soaked in Christian scripture, referencing the Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan, the oppression of slaves in Exodus, and the Israelite's journey to the promised land. Two excerpts from the speech can be watched below.
He implored his audience: 'Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God, once more, for allowing me to be here with you.'
At the end of his speech, Dr King, who faced many threats on his life, addressed the possibility of an untimely death. Just as Moses did not enter the promised land, but was able to see it, Dr King suggested he may face a similar fate.
'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!'
King was shot and killed the next day. Days after his death, Congress passed the 1968 Civil Rights Act, and landmark piece of equality legislation in America.
