Grade 9: Unit 3

One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations.

You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham.

Then it occurred to us that Birmingham's mayoral election was coming up in March, and we speedily decided to postpone action until after election day.

Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.

One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self respect and a sense of "somebodiness" that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle-class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses.

The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro.

They have languished in filthy, roach infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of policemen...

Speeches given on formal, serious, or ceremonial occasions are often examples of oratory.

Delivery involves all aspects of a speaker’s presentation: his or her voice, tone, emotional expressiveness, use of gestures, and overall personality.

Gestures play an important role in oratory, helping to emphasize the speaker’s ideas or emotions.

Cadence may have different rhythms, from slow and steady to smooth and flowing.

point of view
A media creator’s perspective includes his or her attitudes and assumptions as well as his or her knowledge of a topic.

Newspaper articles are one type of written primary source.

Information from eyewitnesses is often seen as more credible than content from other sources.

Secondary sources include history books, documentary films, and other works.

For the cramped bewildered years we went to school to learn
to know the reasons why and the answers to and the
people who and the places where...

For my people blundering and groping and floundering in
the dark of churches and schools and clubs
and societies...

At the cross trussed like a Christmas tree,
a few men gathered, white as angels in their gowns.
We darkened our rooms and lit hurricane lamps,
the wicks trembling in their fonts of oil.

Many people will tell you of his wonderful qualities and his many accomplishments, but what makes him special to me, the truth many people don't want you to remember, is that Dr. King was a great activist, fighting for radical social change with radical methods.

Many people will tell you of his wonderful qualities and his many accomplishments, but what makes him special to me, the truth many people don't want you to remember, is that Dr. King was a great activist, fighting for radical social change with radical methods.

He once stopped an armed mob, saying: "We are not advocating violence. We want to love our enemies. I want you to love our enemies. Be good to them. This is what we live by. We must meet hate with love."

A white man was standing right beside her, but on the other side of the invisible absolute racial border. Of course, she couldn't accept my seat.

So, to my surprise, but obviously out of sheer exhaustion, she disengaged the child from her body and placed him on my lap.

In the next couple of weeks, we continued to talk about our mother, the way she was principled, adamant, and at the same time so shy.