2015
This Day in History: Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.
Kelly Landers / 0 Comments /The following entry from Judge Milton Hirsch’s Constitutional Calendar includes an excerpt from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final public speech on April 3, 1968. In a crowded church in Memphis, King spoke of the injustice felt by the city’s sanitation workers, who were on strike protesting low pay and poor working conditions. Speaking just hours before he was assassinated, his speech touched on the subject of death and his own mortality.
On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King spoke in Memphis, TN. His remarks on that occasion are remembered as the “I have been to the mountaintop” speech. They conclude with these words:
“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.”
They were the last words Dr. King ever delivered to an audience. He was assassinated the next day.
Source: Judge Milton Hirsch’s Constitutional Calendar. Milton Hirsch is a judge of the Eleventh Circuit of Florida.
