One of the many areas in which Black creators have had a lasting impact is the great art of oratory. Oratory refers to the art of speaking in public. Public speech plays an important role in bringing people together, energizing movements, and affecting change. There is a long, powerful tradition of Black oratory.
Martin Luther King press conference / [MST]." Original black and white negative by Marion S. Trikosko. Taken August 26th, 1964, Washington D.C, United States (@libraryofcongress). Colorized by Jordan J. Lloyd.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) was a Baptist minister and a leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. King championed nonviolent acts of resistance. During the March on Washington in 1963, he gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, which imagined a future without racism. Though he was assassinated in 1968, King remains one of the most well-known Black leaders and orators in history.
“So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.” —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “I Have a Dream,” 1963
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