Originally published on January 21, 2019 7:10 am
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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Martin Luther King Jr. would have been 90 years old this year. And on today's holiday, the nation takes time to commemorate his legacy.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
And, of course, a big part of that legacy stems from how King was able to touch so many people with his oratory.
MARTIN: And on this day, we take the opportunity to remember some of his words. This, from the "I Have A Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR: Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time.
(APPLAUSE)
GREENE: And King's call for justice extended beyond America's shores. In a 1967 speech in New York City, he spoke out against the war in Vietnam.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
KING JR: We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of our nation, for those it calls enemy.
MARTIN: We've come to honor Martin Luther King Jr. by coming together for acts of service on this day. It's the kind of unity that King called for.
GREENE: And what gave him hope, even when progress toward the America he envisioned seemed slow.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
KING JR: 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.
(SOUNDBITE OF CRAIG ARMSTRONG'S "IF YOU SHOULD FALL") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
