Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have celebrated his 84th birthday today, and despite his assassination more than four decades ago, his speeches still resonate.
With an ongoing unemployment crisis, a divided government and a society that is far from post-racial, King’s words take on contemporary meaning.
Below are some of King’s most famous speeches in which he foresees great social progress, rails against the evils of war and warns that American freedoms guaranteed on paper are not granted to all.