Say It Plain: Great African American Oratory

Martin Luther King, Jr. was part of generations of African Americans who have been demanding justice and equality. These orators, and the very act of speaking out, played a crucial role in the long struggle for equal rights.

Resources in this Collection

Say It Plain: Great African American Oratory

SHOW: American RadioWorks | Length: 60:16 | Audio Format: MP3
Martin Luther King, Jr. was part of generations of African Americans who have been demanding justice and equality. These orators, and...more
Lesson Plans Transcript

Speech to Atlanta Cotton States Expo (1895)

SHOW: American RadioWorks | Length: 3:21 | Audio Format: MP3
He was a former slave and the most influential African American as the 20th century began. One of the first African American speeches ever recorded...more
Transcript

Explanation of the Universal Negro Improvement Assoc. (1921)

SHOW: American RadioWorks | Length: 3:39 | Audio Format: MP3
A Jamaican immigrant who urged black Americans to form their own nation in Africa, Garvey created the largest black organization in America as well as...more
Transcript

Mary McLeod Bethune: "What Does American Democracy Mean to Me?" America's Town Meeting of the Air, New York City (1939)

SHOW: American RadioWorks | Length: 5:46 | Audio Format: MP3
A prominent educator and leading civil rights figure in the New Deal era, Bethune said that African Americans had always been willing to die for American democracy but were...more
Transcript

Civil Rights speech after Birmingham arrest (1963)

SHOW: American RadioWorks | Length: 21:29 | Audio Format: MP3
Despite a lucrative career as a nationally acclaimed comedian, Dick Gregory was ready to go to jail in Birmingham, Alabama. May 6, 1963...more
Transcript

Democratic National convention Credentials Committeee testimony (1964)

SHOW: American RadioWorks | Length: 8:14 | Audio Format: MP3
Fannie Lou Hamer, a leader of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, helped lead the fight for black voting rights in Mississippi...more
Despite a lucrative career as a nationally acclaimed comedian, Dick Gregory was ready to go to jail in Birmingham, Alabama. May 6, 1963...more
Transcript

"Black Power " speech at UC-Berkeley (1966)

SHOW: American RadioWorks | Length: 53:21 | Audio Format: MP3
Stokely Carmichael was a civil rights leader who popularized the phrase "Black Power" in the 1960's. Though choosing nonviolent protest, Carmichael...more
Despite a lucrative career as a nationally acclaimed comedian, Dick Gregory was ready to go to jail in Birmingham, Alabama. May 6, 1963...more
Transcript

"I've Been to the Mountaintop" (1968)

SHOW: American RadioWorks | Length: 43:25 | Audio Format: MP3
King had been living with death threats for years. No one in King's circle thought this was his final address...more
Transcript

"The Black Woman in Contemporary America" (1974)

SHOW: American RadioWorks | Length: 27:27 | Audio Format: MP3
Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to Congress, and in 1972, the first black woman to...more
Transcript

Watergate Hearings, House Judiciary Committee (1974)

SHOW: American RadioWorks | Length: 13:05 | Audio Format: MP3
Barbara Jordan marked history using the power of her speech and the clarity of her mind to break down barriers of race and gender. She was a U.S. Representative who...more
Transcript

"Keep Hope Alive" Democratic National Convention (1988)

SHOW: American RadioWorks | Length: 50:35 | Audio Format: MP3
A civil rights leader, disciple of Martin Luther King, Jr., and two-time presidential candidate, Jackson's 1984 and 1988 campaigns made him, for a time, a powerful figure in Democratic politics...more
Transcript

"Be Not Afraid" American Enterprise Institute (2001)

SHOW: American RadioWorks | Length: 47:57 | Audio Format: MP3
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been one of the most controversial African American figures of the past century...more
Transcript

Barack Obama: at the Democratic National Convention (2004)

SHOW: American RadioWorks | Length: 16:13 | Audio Format: MP3
During his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama introduced himself to the country. He was elected to the U.S. Senate three months later...more
Transcript