I denne study guide kan du få hjælp til at analysere talen "I've Been to the Mountaintop" af Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Du kan også finde et grundigt summary, information om den historiske kontekst, samt inspiration til diskussion og perskektivering af talen.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) var baptistpræst og en af de centrale medlemmer af Borgerrettighedsbevægelsen. Han modtog Nobels fredspris i 1964, fordi han opfordrede til ikke-voldelige protester. Han blev myrdet dagen efter han havde holdt talen "I've Been to the Mountaintop" den 3. april 1968, under renovationsarbejdernes strejke i Memphis. Hans drabsmand, James Earl Ray, gik ind for segregering og havde racistiske holdninger.
Nedenfor kan du se et kort uddrag fra vores analyse af talen, så du kan få en lille smagsprøve på produktet:
The speaker of “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” is civil rights activists Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
When the speech was delivered, King was already an established leader of the Civil Rights Movement and had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for advocating nonviolence during the struggle for equal rights in the US.
The speaker alludes to his involvement and achievements in the Civil Rights Movement on several occasions, particularly when he relates the story of when he nearly died several years ago: “If I had sneezed – If I had sneezed I wouldn't have been here in 1963, when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation, and brought into being the Civil Rights Bill.” (ll. 408-411); “If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been down in Selma, Alabama, to see the great Movement there.” (ll. 415-416)
Furthermore, the speaker gains legitimacy and credibility by alluding to “I Have a Dream”, his most famous speech delivered during the March on Washington in 1963: “…I wouldn't have had a chance later that year, in August, to try to tell America about a dream that I had had.” (ll. 412-414)
To show the audience that he understands the challenges of a protest and has experience with the way African-American protesters are treated by authorities, the speaker describes his experience during the Birmingham protests: “I remember in Birmingham, Alabama, when we were in that majestic struggle there, we would move out of the 16th Street Baptist Church day after day…” (ll. 133-136)
Martin Luther King was not only a Civil Rights Activist but also a Baptist Minister. Consequently, most of his speech resembles a sermon, using multiple religious allusions that are meant to create ethos, to remind the audience that he is a clergyman with religious authority and understanding of Christian ways: “…God's preacher must talk about the new New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do.” (ll. 213-215)
The speaker also talks about his wife and their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This personal story shows that the speaker is both a man of faith and a family man: “I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho.” (ll. 317-319)
At the same time, King is not afraid of showing that he is vulnerable by admitting his life is in danger. First he talks about almost dying a few years before when he was stabbed by a fanatic: “And the next minute I felt something beating on my chest. Before I knew it I had been stabbed by this demented woman. I was rushed to Harlem Hospital.” (ll. 359-361)
Then, he talks about the extra security measures that were taken on the way to Memphis: “ ‘And we've had the plane protected and guarded all night.’ And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out.” (ll. 428-433). This is meant to show the speaker’s resilience and determination to continue fighting for his dream of equal rights, regardless of the challenges ahead. It also helps him to appear humble and more concerned for the progress of the Civil Rights Movement than for his own life.
At the same time, King unintentionally foreshadows his own death, as he was killed the day after he made this speech: “Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now…” (ll. 435-437)
