I've Been to the Mountaintop

I've Been to the Mountaintop is the name of the last speech Martin Luther King, Jr. gave before he died.

King gave the speech on April 3, 1968.  He was in Memphis, Tennessee for the Memphis Sanitation Strike.  The sanitation (garbage) workers in Memphis were on strike because they got paid very little, and their work was dangerous.  King wanted to support them.

The speech talks mostly about the Strike.  King talks about the best ways to get the workers what they needed.  At the end of the speech, he talks about the possibility that he might be killed.

The next day, King was murdered.

Parts of the speech

The Memphis Sanitation Strike

Non-violence
When talking about the Strike, King focuses on the importance of non-violence.  At a protest on March 28, some protesters had become violent and started breaking windows.  King says:

King thought that if protesters or the people on strike were violent, other people would only pay attention to the violence.  They would not pay attention to how badly the sanitation workers were treated.

Boycotting

King suggested boycotting things sold by white businesses as a nonviolent way of protesting and getting people's attention.  He explains that one black person might be poor, but all together, they spent a lot of money.  This gave them power.  If they stopped buying things from businesses owned by white people, then those businesses would lose a lot of money.  Then they would have to pay attention, or else they could go out of business.  Meanwhile, black people could use their money to buy things from businesses owned by other blacks.  King says:

The Civil Rights Movement

King then talks about the Civil Rights Movement.  He says:

King promises that civil rights activists will not stop until they get their basic human rights.

Possible death
At the end of the speech, King says that as soon as he got to Memphis, he began to get threats.  However, he says he is not afraid of death.  This is the most famous part of the speech, and also its ending:

The Bible in the speech
King was a Baptist pastor.  He often mentioned stories from the Bible in his speeches.

In the end of this speech, King is talking about a story from the Old Testament.  Moses was the leader of the Israelites (the people of Israel).  The Israelites followed Moses because they thought he would lead them to a Promised Land.  In this Promised Land, they could live in peace. 

However, before the Israelites got to the Promised Land, God spoke to Moses.  God said he would let Moses see the Promised Land with his eyes.  However, God would not let Moses enter the Promised Land.  The Bible says: 

Soon after this, Moses died. Joshua replaced him as leader, and led the people of Israel into the Promised Land.

King is saying that like Moses, he has "been to the mountaintop" and seen the Promised Land  a society where black people have peace and equal rights.  He knows that he may not get to this Promised Land with them, because he might die first.  However, he tells his listeners that, like the people of Israel, African-Americans as a people will get to the Promised Land.

Notes

References

Other websites
 "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (Full text of the speech)

Martin Luther King Jr.
1968 in the United States
American civil rights
Speeches
April events
History of Memphis, Tennessee
1960s in Tennessee