Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" Speech Analysis Essay

A Persian poet by the name of Rumi once said, “Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder,” (Economy 2015). Words can be forceful and influential. Words can trigger change. The power of words has been prominent in history and continues to be powerful to this day. People throughout history have sparked change through their words. American poet and writer, Margaret Walker invoked and drew attention to the issue of racism through one of her powerful, captivating poems known as “For My People”. Activists like Martin Luther King Jr and Robert F. Kennedy inspired change through their potent speeches being the “I Have a Dream” speech and Kennedy’s remarks on Martin Luther King’s assassination. Words that are spoken with great force have the absolute, definite power to invoke change in society.

In the short poem, “For my People” by Margaret Walker, she uses repetition to emphasize her message about racism and to intensify the mood of the piece. By doing this, she creates a hopeful and ardent feeling. Walker wrote, “For my people thronging 47th Street in Chicago.. For my people walking blindly spreading joy, for my people blundering and groping and floundering in the dark,” (Walker 315). Walker’s incessant use of the phrase “For my People” adds rhythm and importance to the poem provoking a call for change. The repetition intrigues the readers and draws attention to the author’s main point about racism.

Furthermore, in Martin Luther King Jr’s, “I Have a Dream” speech, King references the significant historical event of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation along with the use of strong word choice to concisely communicate to his audience. Using a major event in history and powerful words that invoked a variety of emotions in his audience, King prompts a change in society. King expresses, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation... But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination,” (King 261). Martin Luther King’s genuine, in-depth, and thoughtful way of communicating to his audience is what inspired a change in United States laws. He took the issue of racism, which was most prominent in the Southern United States, and addressed it publicly to the whole nation. King’s powerful speech paved the way to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, and gender. His powerfully spoken words encouraged a change in society.

In addition, in Robert F. Kennedy’s speech addressing the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, Kennedy speaks to the audience in a way that appeals to their emotions and elicits certain feelings. Kennedy executes the speech thoroughly by revealing a more vulnerable, emotional side of him and relating to his audience. Kennedy declares, “..we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love,” (Kennedy 295). Thereafter, Robert F. Kennedy mentions how his own brother was killed by a white man, (Kennedy 295). His heartfelt way of disclosing King’s assassination and empathy towards his audience is what awoke a peaceful approach to racism just as what Martin Luther King Jr would have wanted. Words that are spoken from the heart always have the ability and vigor to invoke a change in the world. Words motivate people to make an impactful change. Words have the power to change our beliefs, lives, and views on the world positively and negatively.