the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution was Dr. Martin Luther King, the iconic leader of the civil rights movements during the 1950s and 1960s.
One person who was greatly influenced by both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution was Dr. Martin Luther King, the iconic leader of the civil rights movements during the 1950s and 1960s. On August 28, 1963, in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, Dr. King gave his memorable “I have A Dream” speech, considered by many to be one of the greatest speeches ever given in our country’s history.
As you listen carefully to his speech, it’s clear that there are several important themes he addresses. His speech is about harsh discrimination and unrelenting violence, especially police brutality, against African Americans, yet at the same time, Dr. King believed that our nation was almost ready in 1963 to promote freedom, justice, hope, equality, and dignity to all people of color. He mentions freedom and justice countless times in his speech. He makes references to the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation, and to the Bill of Rights.
Dr. King was an excellent student of American Political Documents. He mentions these documents to show that the words they promote have never applied to people of color, especially to African Americans. He also recognizes the great number of White people who are in the crowd, and about how many White people have fought alongside people of color for freedom and justice. Finally, he says that social change should be nonviolent and not violent. These are important themes he articulates throughout his speech. Other themes between Dr. King’s speech and Black Lives Matter are civil rights, oppression, justice, voting, protesting in the streets, call to action, unity/togetherness.
Another important theme in his presentation is the sense of social and racial change. He says over and over “Now is the Time,” and “I Have a Dream,” and “Social Justice can and will be changed,” and he ends his speech saying that one day all of God’s children will be equal and when that day comes, he says, let freedom ring it every state, every town, and every neighborhood. Of course, this speech was not perfect. As you will hear, he refers only to men and never mentions women, and talks about brotherhood but not sisterhood.
There are two required videos below for you to review. Please watch Dr. King’s video second and the video on Black Lives Matter first.
Please number five (5) similarities between Dr. King’s speech and the current Black Lives Matter movement. Here are some helpful hints. Before you watch the Dr. King video list down as many of the issues and themes being promoted by the Black Lives Matter movement (you can go online to find additional information on BLM to help you). After you have written down the information of BLM, then watch the I Have A Dream Speech video and you will find many similarities.
This is not easy assignment. Again, it requires critically thinking, Discover the COMMON THEMES in the page. You must provide specific information from the videos in your answers. You cannot make general statements or vague observation. When I read your answers, the specific information will tell me if you watched the videos carefully based on the detailed information you provide. Below is a sample answer so you have a clear understand of the content and format. In each of your 5 answers, the last sentence is the theme of the similarity and please bold and underline and larger font than the rest of the answer. All of the information before the last sentence is providing specific information from the videos to reaffirm the theme.
The Format:
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Video 1: https://youtu.be/vP4iY1TtS3s
Video 2: https://youtu.be/YG8GjlLbbvs