There is no action more honourable than to give one’s life for the sake of another. When we reflect on this sentiment, we think of our firefighters and police force, who throw themselves to the forefront of life-and-death situations to save lives. We think of our military, who willingly step onto the battlefield, putting their lives in danger to protect our country and our people. But we might not think of free speech, the man we remember today. “What has he done for me?”, you may ask. Firefighters fight fires, police fight crime, and soldiers fight terror. But what has free speech fought? Apart from other people, with his loudmouthed personality and ugly verbal attacks? Well, I’ll tell you what he has fought. Injustice. All over the world, throughout all of history, and impacting all of us. He was the champion of change, the father of our freedom, but a prisoner to the powerful. As an unabashed campaigner for reform, and the courageous voice for those oppressed by authorities, free speech wilfully bore the assaults from those in power who wished to silence him. But in the face of adversity he thrived, and consequently, so did humanity. He was the mentor of history’s most impactful activists, giving them the artillery to convey their ideas and tackle injustice in its most violent forms. He sat alongside Rosa Parks on the bus when she famously spoke up against racial segregation, refusing to give up her seat for a white man. He inclined Martin Luther King to be the voice
Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. A Brief History with Documents written by David Howard-Pitney is a great history book that gives us an entry into two important American thinkers and a tumultuous part of American history. This 207-pages book was published by Bedford/St. Martin’s in Boston, New York on February 20, 2004. David Howard-Pitney worked at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University in 1986, and that made him a specialist on American civil religion and African-American leaders ' thought and rhetoric (208). Another publication of Howard-Pitney is The African-American Jeremiad: Appeals for Justice in America.
The 1st amendment “The First Amendment guarantees freedoms concerning religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition.” (First amendment, 1789) Which means that he has his own freedom of what to talk. Moreover, there was a case in taxes that a man called Gregory L. Johnson burned the USA flag as a way of his protesting. This time, the Supreme Court stated that “In a controversial decision, the Supreme Court, by the closest possible margin of a 5-to-4 vote, held that a person has a right to express disagreement with governmental policies by burning the American flag.”
African Americans were freed from slavery in 1865 and were granted civil rights in 1875. However, In the 1950s and 60s African Americans were restricted under Jim Crow laws, these laws segregated African Americans into “Separate but Equal” facilities and prohibited them from doing things we do normally today. On August 28th, 1955 a young African American boy was kidnapped, tortured and murdered for allegedly whistling at a Caucasian store owner. This young boy was known as Emmett Louis “Bobo” Till. Emmett Till’s murder outraged the African American community and aided the push for desegregation and equality amongst all Americans regardless of race on a national level.
Amidst the intense Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and put in solitary confinement for peacefully protesting racial discrimination and injustice in Birmingham, Alabama. It was during this time that Dr. King, refusing to sit idly by, wrote his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” one of the most inspiring documents in history. With his respectful nature, humility, compassion, optimism, and determination, King responded to a group of white Alabama clergymen who had condemned the civil rights protests as extreme in their open letter, “A Call for Unity.” Although his letter was directed towards a small group of eight men, his words eventually reached the minds and hearts of the entire country. Throughout the letter, Dr. King does a tremendous job of supporting his argument with the three elements of Aristotle’s rhetorical appeal.
In our cultural the task of gaining freedom is never easy to obtain. Stephen Rose, in his poem ‘The Stones Cried Out’, states, ‘How long will it be till a voice of liberty can speak so free’. The quote reflects on how long will it be till a brave prophet of the African- American community will testify their freedom with a voice of no chains or restraints openly without regard. This poem relates to the historical activist Martin Luther King Jr who was above all else a voice of liberty within the American-American community aiming for his people to have Equal rights. Furthermore, the journey during the Civil Rights did not go without tears and blood.
Martin Luther King Jr. inexplicably opened the eyes of Americans across the nation with his role in the movement and his use of resonating imagery, excellent emotional appeal, powerful voice, and evocation of logic in his “I Have a Dream” speech. With such an enthralling rhetoric he gained a vast amount of support and exponentially increased the pride in standing up for what’s righteous and just. Exemplifying the throes of being a colored person, King evoked sympathy whilst simultaneously applying the valid logic that no human should be subjected to lesser standards. His rhetoric wholly changed American history that day and thus conveyed his ability to maintain equanimity throughout all of the
He opposed the government by looking for fair laws for all people regardless of race. By participating in protests and giving speeches for non-violent civil disobedience he risked his own freedom and ultimately his life. Both figures represent resistance to the government and defiance to certain laws that even though accepted by many, are deemed unjust
He encourages many to fight against racism and earn equal rights. Freedom is worth fighting
Through the use of tone, first hand evidence, and allusion, Barack Obama achieves that we all have responsibilities as Americans to act on what we see and that we should live our lives in a way that exemplifies Rosa Parks’ life and values. The speaker of this speech is former President Barack Obama who is the first black president of the United States. Obama has a special connection to who he is commemorating which is Rosa Parks since he can relate to the discrimination and challenges people of color face everyday and realize that without her bravery and activism he wouldn’t be delivering this speech as a president. Through this speech Obama is using Rosa Parks’ life as an example to exemplify how one person standing up against injustice can
In order to achieve true freedom one must discover that you can break unjust laws through peaceful protest. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and “The Speech at The March Washington” by Josephine Baker each article passionately argues about the disadvantages of the black community, the equality and power of education. We must learn to act with patients and not guns we must protect are self’s with a pen and paper not violence. Dr. King once4 said “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. It is unique in history which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.
Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential leaders of his time and played a crucial role in the African-American Civil Rights movement. Luther was a charismatic leader who took a firm stand against the oppressive and racist regime of the United States (US), devoting much of his life towards uniting the segregated African-American community of the US. His efforts to consolidate and harmonise the US into one country for all is reflected in many of his writings and speeches spanning his career. As a leader of his people, King took the stand to take radical measures to overcome the false promises of the sovereign government that had been addressing the issues of racial segregation through unimplemented transparent laws that did nothing to change the grim realities of the society. Hence, King’s works always had the recurring theme of the unity and strength of combined willpower.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a strong leader in the Civil Rights movement, the son and grandson of a minister, and one heck of a letter writer. As he sits in a cell of Birmingham Jail in 1963, he responds to criticism from eight white clergymen. Though this letter was intended for the judgemental and condescending men of high faith, his response touched the hearts and minds of the entire U.S. population, then, and for years to come. In his tear-jerking, mind-opening letter, King manages to completely discredit every claim made by the clergymen while keeping a polite and formal tone. Metaphors, allusions, and rhetorical questions are used in the most skillful way to support his argument and ultimately convince his audience of the credibility behind his emotional, yet factual, claims.
Because of his skill in creating such pieces of writing, as well as his influential role within the Civil Rights Movement, and the reminder that Letter from Birmingham Jail provides of these trying times, his letter should continue to be included within A World of Ideas. Persuasion within writing is an important tool to be utilized in order to garner support for one’s position. During the 1960s, equality between different races was a very controversial issue which required a certain finesse when being discussed. Martin Luther King demonstrated precisely this sort of finesse when writing about the racial injustices faced by black Americans, as well as when refuting the criticisms he faced from white clergymen.
He was able to gather hundreds of people to help fight for civil rights for everyone in a nonviolent way. He led the March on Washington, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, he told inspiring speeches like the I have a Dream Speech and the Montgomery Bus Boycott speech. He never fought for civil rights using guns, swords, or any weapons. He used something that is stronger and sharper than any blade or weapon of this earth, this is the power of voice, and the power of peace, he was able to gather hundreds of people to help in the fight for civil rights and was able to stop people from using weapons to fight for civil rights. He led huge marches and even though Martin Luther King Jr was arrested several times that didn’t stop him.
He grew up with a deeply rooted determination to obtain equal rights for all American citizens. He led many protests and gave extremely motivating speeches that eventually made him the most known Civil Rights leader. “Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as the head of a movement for justice and equality that branched out from Montgomery and swept through the south” (ramsees7). This established the success in his accomplishments within the marches