Martin Luther King - March on Washington

The sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., comprise an extensive catalog of American writing and oratory – some of which are internationally well-known, while others remain unheralded and await rediscovery.

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 ...

was a prominent

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, a leader in 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 in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. King himself observed, "In the quiet recesses of my heart, I am fundamentally a clergyman, a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

preacher."

Speechwriter and orator

The famous "

I Have a Dream "I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, King called ...

" address was delivered in August 1963 from the steps of the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in the ...

in Washington, D.C. Less well-remembered are the early sermons of that young, 25-year-old pastor who first began preaching at the

Dexter Avenue Baptist Church Dexter Avenue Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, affiliated with the Progressive National Baptist Convention. The church was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1974 because of its importance i ...

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

, in 1954. As a political leader in 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 in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

and as a modest preacher in a Baptist church, King evolved and matured across the span of a life cut short. The range of his rhetoric was anticipated and encompassed within "The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life," which he preached as his trial sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in 1954 and every year thereafter for the rest of his life.

Sermons

* 1953 – "The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life" * 1954 – "Rediscovering Lost Values", Sunday February 28, Detroit, Michigan. * 1955 - "The Impassable Gulf (The Parable of Dives and Lazarus)", Sunday October 2, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama. * 1956 - "The Death of Evil Upon the Seashore", Wednesday May 17, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City * 1956 - "Living Under the Tensions of Modern Life", Sunday September (exact date unknown), Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama. * 1956 – "Paul's Letter to American Christians", Sunday November 4, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama. * 1957 – "The Birth of a New Nation", Sunday April 7, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama. * 1957 – "Garden of Gethsemane", Sunday April 14, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama. * 1957 – "Loving Your Enemies", Sunday November 17, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama. * 1960 – "Why Jesus Called A Man A Fool", Sunday May 15, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta **Possibly the first time King delivered a variation of this sermon, see 27 August 1967 below * 1963 – "Eulogy for the Martyred Children" (victims of

16th Street Baptist Church bombing The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was a white supremacist terrorist bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday, September 15, 1963. Four members of a local Ku Klux Klan chapter planted 19 sticks of dynam ...

), Wednesday September 18,

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

* 1966 – "Guidelines for a Constructive Church", Sunday June 5, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta * 1967 – "The Three Dimensions Of A Complete Life", Sunday April 9, New Covenant Baptist Church, Chicago. * 1967 - "Three Evils of Society" Address Delivered to the First Annual National Conference for New Politics * 1967 - "The Casualties of the War in Vietnam" Address delivered at the Nation Institute * 1967 – "Why Jesus Called A Man A Fool", Sunday August 27, Mt. Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church, Chicago **Possibly the last time King delivered a variation of this sermon, which started at least as early as May 15, 1960 (see above) * 1967 – "A Knock at Midnight", Delivered on several occasions, including the Installation Service of Ralph Abernathy at Atlanta's West Hunter Baptist Church February 11, 1962. * 1968 – "The Drum Major Instinct", Sunday February 4, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta. *1968 – "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution", Sunday March 31,

National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the ca ...

, Washington, D.C. **King's last Sunday sermon. * 1968 – "

I've Been to the Mountaintop "I've Been to the Mountaintop" is the popular name of the last speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr.

", Wednesday April 3,

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 ...

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-mos ...

. * 1968 – "Why America May Go to Hell", planned to be delivered on Sunday April 7, but never delivered due to his

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

Speeches

Notes

Speech given at McFarlin Auditorium
Southern Methodist University March 17, 1966, drawn from same sources as April 10, 1957 St. Louis, Mo. speech.

References

* Fuller, Linda K. (2004)
''National Days/National Ways: Historical, Political, And Religious Celebrations Around The World.''
Westport, Connecticut:

Greenwood Publishing Group Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG), also known as ABC-Clio/Greenwood (stylized ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), is an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which is today part of ABC-Clio. Established in 1967 as Gr ...

. * Lischer, Richard. (1997)
''The Preacher King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Word That Moved America.''
New York:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

External links

* "Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam" 1967 -- ''see'' * "A Knock at Midnight," 1967 -- ''see''
'"Beyond Vietnam,"
1967

Martin Luther King: His Triumphs
- a slideshow by ''

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Tavis Smiley on Rev. Martin Luther King and His Opposition to the Vietnam War
- video by ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...

''
"Episode 2 -- MLK: A Call to Conscience: -- Tavis Smiley Reports. The second episode of Tavis Smiley Reports examines Martin Luther King Jr.'s stand against the Vietnam War and the influence of his legacy today. Tavis speaks with scholars and friends of King, including Cornel West, Vincent Harding and Susannah Heschel."
March 31, 2010. * Valeria Franceschi
Remembering the Reverend: An Analysis of Obama's Speeches Commemorating Martin Luther King
(October 2016) {{Martin Luther King Civil rights movement Martin Luther King Jr. King, Martin Luther

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...