King’s final speech framed Black freedom as a worldwide human rights struggle

Evidence

Apparently, King knew. The night before, he gave quite possibly the most bone-chilling, hope-inspiring, courage-inducing speech of his legendary speaking career at the Mason Temple in Memphis. He spoke of the “human rights revolution,” of impoverished “colored peoples of the world” rising up demanding “to be free” in the Promised Land. “I may not get there with you,” he said, his voice arresting. “But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land!” — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 1021

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to reader’s interest in how King evolved from civil rights to a global human rights and poor people’s framework — relevant to testing Kendi’s scheme on whether late King moved toward antiracist or stayed in assimilationist framing.