Vinson’s Variety: MLK was one of the great orators
If I had to choose right now, I would say the two greatest speakers, orators, I’ve ever heard, live or on film, are Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Adolph Hitler.
Now before launching off on a tirade that could land you on Mars with the “Rover” mission robots “Spirit” and “Opportunity,” allow me to expound a bit: I’m not talking about human morality, nor good versus bad intent. Rather, I’m talking about the ability to affect and sway the masses by way of the spoken word.
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. rose from mere clergyman to national notice when he became the spokesman for Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956, which resulted in desegregated public busing in Alabama, a monumental achievement for the civil rights movement. No longer was it mandatory for African-Americans to sit in the back on public buses. They could sit wherever they desired. However, it wasn’t until the summer of 1963 that King made the quantum leap from national recognition to international recognition and influence.
On Aug. 28, 1963, in an attempt to persuade U.S. Congress to use its resources toward helping in the termination of bias and poverty, King led a mixed multitude of some 250,000 – termed the Poor People’s March – to the Lincoln Memorial, near our nation’s Capitol in Washington, D.C., and delivered his immortal “I Have a Dream” speech. Arguably, it is one of the most revered, studied, and repeated speeches ever performed by a human. However, King was not without competition.
Drawing deep from her soul and the hymnals handed down to her from her enslaved ancestors, gospel singer/civil rights activist Mahalia Jackson, with her powerful singing voice, stirred the minds and souls of those listening. Other musicians/activists, such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and the trio Peter, Paul & Mary also voiced their sentiments by way of song on that historical day. Products of the then trendy Greenwich Village-Dust Bowl themed folk music, those sincere poets made it quite clear to the crowd they weren’t merely blowing in the wind, but that the times needed changing, indeed. However, after all was said and done, it was King’s “I Have a Dream” speech that completely hushed, captivated, and moved the crowd. It is the moment that still is talked about and will continue to be talked about.
As the years passed, King’s oratorical skills grew, as did his popularity and his ability to affect those who followed and listened. So much so, that he was planning to lead a second Poor People’s March on Washington, D.C. There were guesstimates as many as 750,000 would be involved in this one. Some feared such a gathering could end up in a small-scale civil war, which could prompt one of a much larger scale.
This second Poor People’s March was scheduled to take place the latter part of April, 1968. Busy as he was planning the second march, King took enough time to go to Memphis and assist in leading a march designed to help the embattled Memphis garbage workers. On April 3, 1968, at the Masonic Temple in Memphis, King delivered his final speech. Prophetically, he assured the listeners he might not make it to the Promised Land, but he feared no man.
“I’ve been to the mountaintop ? Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming the Lord!” King shouted eloquently, leaving the crowd trembling with hope and joy!
April 4, 1968, at approximately 6 p.m., as he stood in front of room 306 of the Lorraine Hotel & Motel in Memphis, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally struck by a sniper’s bullet. While King’s vast oratorical skills greatly contributed to his ascension as a historically prominent figure, the same could have been the very reason for his premature death, ironically enough.
(Mike Vinson is a Warren County columnist who can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].)