King’s speech launched what had been a mostly black southern movement into a nationwide civil rights campaign.
In 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize and President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act outlawing racial segregation in public places. The following year, the Voting Rights Act banned practices that were used to keep blacks from participating in elections.
King’s final campaign came in 1968 in Memphis, Tenn. While supporting striking sanitation workers, he was assassinated at a local hotel. King was 39 years old when he died.
Civil rights activist and two-time presidential candidate Jesse Jackson was there when King died.
“And even in his death he became bigger,” said Jackson. “He was crucified in Memphis, but his resurrection has affected the whole world.”
King gave a speech the night before his death that foreshadowed his assassination.
“And I have seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get there,” King said in a speech at the Mason Temple in Memphis.
Thirty five years after his death, some of King’s dreams were realized, including the election in 2008 of Barack Obama as the first African American president of the United States.
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2013-11-25
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