Martin Luther King Jr.

"Give Us the Ballot," May 17, 1957. Delivered at the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom in Washington, D.C. to a large rally intended to pressure Congress to follow through with the desegregation promised by Brown vs. Board of Education.

Letter from the Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963. MLK was repeatedly jailed during the civil rights movement in the Deep South for violating laws against mass public demonstrations. From his prison cell in Birmingham MLK pens a letter in response to local religious leaders’ criticisms of the Montgomery desegregation campaign.

"I have A Dream," August 28, 1963. Delivered at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. MLK stresses the necessity for change and the potential for hope in the American society.

"Where Do We Go From Here?," August 16, 1967. Delivered at the 11th Annual SCLC Convention in Atlanta. The speech conveys King’s analysis of the state of American race relations and the movement after a decade of U.S. civil rights struggles.

Writing in the campus newspaper, the Maroon Tiger, King argues that education has both a utilitarian and a moral function. Citing the example of Georgia’s former governor Eugene Talmadge, he asserts that reasoning ability is not enough. He insists that character and moral development are necessary to give the critical intellect humane purposes.

"I've Been To the Mountaintop," April 3, 1968. Delivered at Bishop Charles Mason Temple, Memphis, TN to an overflowing crowd where a group of sanitation workers were striking. Less than 24 hours after later King was assassinated by James Earl Ray.