Robert F Kennedy Announcing The Death Of Martin Luther King - A Great Speech

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April 4th 1968 Martin Luther King was shot and killed On that night Robert F Kennedy New York's senator back then wanted to deliver the news to the people of Indianapolis IN Local police warned him they won't be able to provide protection if the people wold riot because he was in the heart of the African-American ghetto He wrote his notes on his ride and started the speech without any drafts or prewritten words before his assistance would give him their proposed draft This speech was delivered on a back of a Flatbed truck Although all major cities had riots Indianapolis remained calm after RFK's speech 63 days after this speech RFK got assassinated I reproduced the video creating this version after adding the above mentioned details to it so the speech can be put into context for everyone who watches it The reason I labeled it as The Greatest Speech Ever was simply the fact that it was never written it wasn't read from a piece of paper while there are numerous speeches that are life-changing and timeless they were almost all written and thought of much more than this one This one was only written in his heart The speech I have some very sad news for all of you and I think sad news for all of our fellow citizens and people who love peace all over the world and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis Tennessee Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings He died in the cause of that effort In this difficult day in this difficult time for the United States it's perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in For those of you who are black - considering the evidence evidently is there were white people who were responsible - you can be filled with bitterness and with hatred and a desire for revenge We can move in that direction as a country in greater polarization - black people amongst blacks and white amongst whites filled with hatred toward one another Or we can make an effort as Martin Luther King did to understand and to comprehend and replace that violence that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land with an effort to understand compassion and love For those of you who are black and are tempted to fill-be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act against all white people I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling I had a member of my family killed but he was killed by a white man But we have to make an effort in the United States we have to make an effort to understand to get beyond and go beyond these rather difficult times My favorite poem my favorite poet was Aeschylus He once wrote Even in our sleep pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until in our own de-despair against our will comes wisdom through the awful grace of God What we need in the United States is not division what we need in the United States is not hatred what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness but is love and wisdom and compassion toward one another feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country whether they be white or whether they be black Applause We can do well in this country We will have difficult times We've had difficult times in the past And we will-we will have difficult times in the future It is not the end of violence it is not the end of lawlessness and it's not the end of disorder But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together want to improve the quality of our life and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land With- Interrupted by applause Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world Let us dedicate ourselves to that and say a prayer for our country and for our people Thank you very much Applause Robert F Kennedy - April 4 1968

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