Martin Luther King Jr. Speech

Martin Luther King Jr.

By Jena Youngflesh

Martin Luther King’s Speech at UCLA

Martin Luther King and Chancellor Murphy

It is incredible that such an amazingly revolutionary man came and spoke at UCLA on April 27 th, 1965. Over 4,500 students gathered to hear the words of this Civil Rights leader. Chancellor Murphy introduced Martin Luther King. The legend spoke on the topic of voter registration. He told the students about 200 African American citizens that were been fired from their jobs in Selma, Alabama because they tried to register to vote. He spoke about the ridiculous literacy tests the blacks were forced to take. The tests in the South were so impossibly challenging that even the most trained scholar would have trouble passing them. He also informed the crowd that these tests were aimed toward and administered solely to those in the back community, creating illegal segregation.

King spoke to those at UCLA in order to inform and persuade the students to participate in SCLC’s summer program. He wanted 2,000 students from colleges and universities in the Northern and Western United States to come down to 120 counties in the South over the summer to help with registration of black citizens. He told the students that black registration in the South was only 750,000 in the year 1950, and was 2 million in 1965. This was a great improvement, however at the time there were still around 4 million qualified of-age voters who were still not registered. He shocked students with the fact that 42% of southern blacks made less that $2,000 a year, while only 17% of white people fell this low on the poverty line. King showed UCLA students that rights granted by the Constitution of the United States of America were being denied on the premise of race. King stressed that much advancement had been made for southern blacks, but that much more needed to come. The work had just begun to reach equality.

Martin Luther King was paid $2,500 for his appearance. King applied this money towards his cause to further aid the African Americans of the South in gaining political power. The crowd present on the 27 th of April proved that the money from the UCLA Speakers Organization was well worth it. Students crowded in the heat hours before King even arrived. When he spoke, his voice was the only sound that filled Janass Steps and Bruin walk. Several students were driven to tears and were in awe of the articulate orator and his message. It was even reported that one African American woman was so moved she asked, as tears running down her face, if she could simply shake his hand. King granted her wish. Police guarded the area heavily, but no violence broke out. The UCLA students of 1965 were enthralled and enchanted by the brilliance of the man before them.

Students in line for Martin Luther King

It was often wondered why such amazing, yet radical speakers appeared at UCLA in the 1960s. The dean of students, Byron Atkinson, stated after a speech by Eldridge Cleaver, that “students want to hear speakers with extreme position”(Burt Wuttken). The students liked the extreme points of view to broaden their horizons and expose them to new ideas. Whether one agrees with the positions of those who spoke at UCLA or not, the number and names of the speakers during this time period are extraordinary and impressive.

To listen to a recording of Martin Luther King's speak at UCLA, visit the UCLA center for student programming.

To see more pictures of Martin Luther King Jr. or to read more about other speeches he made, click here.

To read about Lyndon B. Johnson and Adolfo Mateos's speech at UCLA, click here.

To read about speakers at UCLA from 1966 to 1967, click here.

Biography

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke on Janss Steps at UCLA on April 27 th 1965. When attempting to understand the significance of such an impressive and important speaker, it is necessary to review his journey and his life’s accomplishments.

Early Life

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929. He was the son of Alberta King, a schoolteacher, and Martin Luther King Sr., a Baptist minister. King was one of three children. King was originally named Michael and later renamed Martin around the age of 6. King grew up in the Sweet Auburn district and attended Booker T. Washington High School. Remarkably, King was accepted to Morehouse College when he was only 15 years old. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1948 and moved on to Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. At the incredibly young age of 19, Martin Luther King Jr. became a Baptist minister. King also attended Boston University in 1951 to pursue graduate work. On June 18, 1953 King married Coretta Scott and in 1954 they moved to Montgomery, Alabama where King took a job preaching at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. In the same year, the Brown vs. Board of education trial took place, and segregation in public school became illegal.

Becoming Active

In 1955 Martin Luther King Jr. received his doctorate degree of Philosophy in Systematic Theology. He also joined the bus boycott that was launched when Rosa Parks was arrested because she would not give her seat on the bus to a white person. The boycott proved to be successful on December 21 of 1956 when the segregation of Montgomery buses was deemed illegal. In January of 1957 many black ministers united and formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference or SCLC. King became the first president of the organization and made 208 speeches in that year alone. One of these speeches was on May 17 th in front of 15,000 people in Washington DC. Kings popularity began to increase around the country and the world.

Fame and Danger

Martin Luther King Speaking

In 1958, Congress finally passes a Civil Rights Act. This was the first one passed since reconstruction. Martin Luther King published a book in this year called Stride Toward Freedom. This book was about King’s memories and details about the Montgomery bus boycott. King went on tour in order to promote his book, and in Harlem, an African American woman stabbed him. He was injured badly and almost died. King also met with President Eisenhower, Lester Grange, and Roy Wilkins in 1958 to discuss the problems and possible solutions for blacks in America.

In 1959 Martin Luther King traveled to India to study the ideologies of Mohandas Gandhi. King had always been an admirer of Ghandi's work. He used his first hand experience in India to shape the tactics of nonviolent, peaceful civil disobedience to a form that would work in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Martin Luther King remained loyal to his philosophies throughout his entire life, even when violence seemed tempting and would have been the easy route.

More Activism

In 1960, Martin Luther King moves to Atlanta to become the co-pastor at his father’s church, the Ebenezer Baptist Church. Also, lunch counter sit-ins began in 1960. They started in Greensboro, North Carolina at a Woolworth’s in February and rapidly spread across the country. King was even arrested during a sit-in at a restaurant. He was sentenced to serve four months in jail for his act of civil disobedience, however John and Robert Kennedy both intervened, and he was released. The action of such famous white political figures shows just how respected Martin Luther King and his nonviolent tactics were.

The freedom Rides began in 1961 in Washington DC. The Congress on Racial Equality started the first freedom rides on a greyhound. King was instrumental in this movement and rode throughout the South with blacks and whites alike, trying to destroy the segregation on interstate buses. The Interstate Commerce Commission banned segregation in interstate travel late in 1961. In 1962, King met with President John F. Kennedy to discuss the civil rights movement and the president’s support.

1963 was a huge year of activism for Martin Luther King jr. King led protests regarding the desegregation of stores and fair hiring for jobs. He also led the March on Birmingham where adults and children alike were sprayed with fire hoses and attacked by dogs. “Bull” Connor arrested King and others for the protest on the claim that they were demonstrating without a permit. King was productive in jail and wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. Later, on the 23 rd of June, Martin Luther King led 125,000 people on a Freedom Walk in the city of Detroit. The March on Washington also occurred in this year. It was on August 28 th and was the largest civil rights demonstration of the time. 250,000 people were there. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial.

Awards

On the 3 rd of January 1964, Martin Luther King was displayed on the cover of Time magazine as The Man of the Year. This is very important because it proved that King crossed over the racial boundary. Whites also appreciated his work and his method. Later, on the second of July, President Lyndon B, Johnson signed the civil Rights Act of 1964 and Martin Luther King is invited to the ceremony of the signing of the act at the White House. On the 10 th of December 1964, King won the Nobel Prize for Peace. He was the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the age of 35.

Although 1964 was a very successful year for Martin Luther King, it did have its down sides. King experienced rejection in the summer of this year. Angry Black Muslims in the city of Harlem through stones at King. They believed his peaceful method had accomplished all that it could, and now King was simply holding back the movement from making further progress.

King in 1965

In January of 1965, King registered to vote in Alabama. This was a huge achievement because it showed that blacks were finally seeing and experiencing the rights that they deserved and had won for themselves. However, King was assaulted in 1965 by a man named James George Robinson, demonstrating that hatred and violence were still very prevalent. In February, King protested against the discrimination dealing with voter registration and was arrested and jailed. King met with President Johnson to discuss the voting rights in America and how to ensure that everyone who wanted to vote was given a fair chance. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

The Watts Riot

Despite the advances that were taking place, the Watts Riot broke out in Los Angeles on August 11, 1965. 34 people we killed, thousands where injured, and hundreds of buildings were burned and destroyed. This event happened a few months after King spoke at UCLA when a white cop pulled a black man over for a traffic violation. The racial tensions and increased support for black power and black violence sparked the event. This event went against everything King had worked and proved that Black Power was not the answer, especially in his mind.

King’s Late Life

In 1966, King began to draw attention to the sad socioeconomic state of black slums in the U.S. He began the March Against Fear in the South and started a campaign to halt discrimination in everyday life, whether it be in housing, employment, or schooling. In 1967, King concentrates on the poor of all races.

In 1968, King worked on the Poor People’s Campaign and supported the strike of sanitation workers in Tennessee. King led a march that turned out to be violent. This went against his will and ideals. This was the first time his nonviolent ideas had failed him and his followers.

On the 4 th of April 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray. He was shot on the balcony of Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee. Riot broke out in over 130 cities around the country due to the loss of such a great leader and hero. King’s funeral was an international event and King later had a national holiday named after him due to his outstanding work and progress in Civil Rights through nonviolence.

King Quotations

"We are not makers of history. We are made by history."
From Strength to Love, 1963

"The question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be."
From "Letter from Birmingham Jail," April 16, 1963

"There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love."
From "Letter from Birmingham Jail," April 16, 1963

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
From Strength to Love, 1963

"Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them."
From a speech given to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Aug. 16, 1967

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."
Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, Dec. 10, 1964

"Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will."
From "Letter from Birmingham Jail," April 16, 1963

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