Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in His Own Words
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/20/special_dr_martin_luther_king_jr
SPECIAL: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in His Own Words
January 20, 2014 was a federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was born January 15th, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People’s Campaign to address issues of economic justice. Dr. King was also a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War. We play his “Beyond Vietnam” speech, which he delivered at New York City’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, as well as his last speech, “I Have Been to the Mountain Top,” that he gave on April 3, 1968, the night before he was assassinated. [includes rush transcript]
TRANSCRIPT – This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Today is a federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King. He was born January 15th, 1929. He was assassinated April 4th, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old.
More than four decades after Dr. King’s death, Barack Obama took his oath of office to become the 44th president of the United States and the first African-American president in U.S. history.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed, why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man, whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant, can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
