Lesson

Duration:
Three 50-minute class periods

Dr. King's Legacy and Choosing to Participate

Essential Questions

What is your vision for the kind of world in which you would like to live?
What responsibility do you have for bringing about that kind of world?

Learning Objectives

Students will express in a storyboard the main ideas in Dr. Martin Luther King’s
“mountaintop” speech  and apply them in discussion about the ways human respond in
the face of injustice.
Students will reflect on their visions for the kind of world in which they would like to live
and discuss how two historians’ perspectives shape their understanding of personal
responsibility and opportunity for enacting change.

Overview

In this lesson, students will examine the final speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on
April 3, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. Commonly referred to as the “mountaintop speech,” it
highlights many issues, such as unity, injustice, economic security, and our obligation to one
another, that continue to confront our communities, nation, and world today. After reading and
annotating the speech, students will deepen their understanding of the text by illustrating and
summarizing Dr. King’s main ideas and imagery. They will then respond to the speech by using
excerpts to create a class poem. Finally, students will apply ideas drawn from their personal
reflections, Dr. King’s speech, and his legacy to consider how they might “choose to
participate” in creating of a more just community, nation, or world.

Context

The final months of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and the immediate aftermath of his
assassination marked an intensification of the nonviolent struggle on two fronts: fighting
poverty and ending the Vietnam War. For Dr. King, these two issues became inseparable.

By 1967, the United States was deeply entrenched in the Vietnam War. Invoking the fear of
communist expansion and the threat it posed to democracy, President Lyndon B. Johnson
increased the number of US troops in Vietnam. In response, some civil rights leaders charged
that President Johnson’s domestic “war on poverty” was falling victim to US war efforts abroad.
Dr. King struggled with an internal dilemma about finding a proper way to publicly denounce
America’s involvement in Vietnam. In a speech delivered on April 4, 1967, at Riverside Church
in New York, King told the gathered clergy that it was “time to break the silence” on Vietnam.
Drawing connections between the resources spent on the war and the rampant poverty in
America, Dr. King warned that the objectives of the movement were undermined by the use of
force abroad. Many of Dr. King’s allies criticized his stance; they argued that it would split the
movement and weaken its support base. President Johnson, who supported civil rights, saw
Dr. King’s public stance on Vietnam as a personal betrayal. 

In addition to the nonviolent struggle to protest the Vietnam War, Dr. King also led efforts to end
poverty. The Poor People’s Campaign was the first national economic campaign led by the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Building on their experiences in Chicago
and other cities, the SCLC embarked on a drive designed to highlight the consequences of
entrenched poverty. The organization planned a multiracial campaign which would adapt
nonviolence to the struggle for economic equality in America. For Dr. King, the Poor People’s
Campaign was a bridge between civil rights and economics. The campaign was to end in a
massive demonstration of solidarity in Washington, D.C. 

While organizing the campaign, Dr. King received a call from his friend Reverend James
Lawson, the man who had organized the trainings in nonviolence in Nashville during the sit-ins.
Lawson invited Dr. King to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of a black sanitation workers’
strike. Dr. King, believing the strike would highlight the link between race and poverty, accepted
the invitation. On March 18, 1968, Dr. King delivered a speech to a crowd of seventeen
thousand; ten days later he led protestors in a march through the city. For the first time,
however, one of Dr. King’s marches descended into violence. Disturbed, he flew back home,
but vowed to return and lead a nonviolent march in Memphis. 

Two weeks later, Dr. King was back in Memphis. On April 3, 1968, the evening before his
assassination, he delivered his passionate and prophetic “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”
speech in Memphis at the Mason Temple Church in which he encouraged the crowd to stay
unified and maintain its focus on the issue of injustice and not focus on the violence that the
media highlighted in its reporting of the strike. The next day, during a meeting with Andrew
Young, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and other SCLC leaders at the Lorraine Motel, Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr., stepped out onto his balcony. Seconds later he was hit by a sniper’s bullet; he died an
hour later at a nearby hospital. The country was in shock: America had lost its most public
voice of moral conscience. Disbelief quickly became fury, and on April 5, riots broke out in
more than sixty cities across the US. For several days fires raged, leaving behind a desolate
urban landscape of burnt cars, broken storefronts, and scorched buildings.

Struggling to regroup after Dr. King’s death, the SCLC made the final arrangements for the
Poor People’s Campaign. Five weeks after Dr. King’s assassination, thousands of protestors—
the majority of them black—arrived in Washington, DC. There, in makeshift sheds and tents
and in drenching rain, they built Resurrection City on the Mall, the site of the March on
Washington five years earlier. In early June, the movement suffered yet another blow when
Senator Robert F. Kennedy—considered a close ally of the freedom movement—was
assassinated shortly after winning the California Democratic presidential primary elections. On
June 24, 1968, with Kennedy and Dr. King gone, a saddened and confused nation watched
police and public authorities raze Resurrection City.
Although a tragic loss to the movement, it is important for students to understand that social
movements are rarely embodied in just one individual and that history is not always linear. As
historian Timothy McCarthy notes, “For us to understand the forces of history that move history,
we need to be open to the possibility that history doesn’t move in neat line or forward
progression. And that is particularly true when we are talking about freedom, equality and
progress.” In the final activity of this lesson, students will place themselves within these forces
of history by reflecting on their vision for the world and how they might “choose to participate” in
order to strengthen their communities, nation, and world.

Notes to Teacher

1. Preparing to Read: Pre-Teaching Vocabulary

Before reading Dr. King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech with your students,
preview the text to see which, if any, biblical allusions, historical references, or
vocabulary terms, such as the Good Samaritan, Levite, Pharaoh, or injunction, you
might need to pre-teach in order for your students to understand the text.

 
2. Understanding Reconstruction

In the video Writing History’s Next Chapter that is used in this lesson, scholars Timothy
McCarthy and George Lipsitz discuss the connection between our responsibilities in the
world today and two historical eras: the civil rights movement of the 20th century and the
Reconstruction era of the 19th century. Students might not know much about the
Reconstruction Era, which lasted roughly from 1865 to 1877. Consider sharing these
basic facts about the era with students before showing the video:
During Reconstruction, the United States debated—and often fought violently
over—the rights and freedoms to which four million black Americans who had
been freed from slavery were entitled after the Civil War.
For a brief time, many states in the South achieved interracial democracy in
which thousands of black Americans held political office. Several African
Americans were elected to Congress in Washington, and one state (South
Carolina) had a black majority state legislature for a few years.
In the 1870s, a violent backlash by white supremacists reversed much of the
progress that had been made towards interracial democracy during the era, but
civil rights laws and three constitutional amendments (the 13th, 14th, and 15th)
survived and provided the legal framework for the civil rights movement of the
20th century. For this reason, some historians have referred to the movement as
“the second Reconstruction.”

Pacing

Depending on the length of your class periods and time spent discussing the texts, there are
options for dividing this lesson over two or three class periods. For a three-period lesson, you
could focus on the journal and close reading of Dr. King’s Mountaintop Speech on the first day
and then have students interact more closely with the text on the second day by completing
their storyboards, which they might start for homework, and closing with the second Extension,
a lifted line poem. That would leave the third day for “choosing to participate” and provide your
students with the time and space to reflect on Dr. King’s message and apply it to their own lives
and visions for the world. If you only have two class periods for this lesson, you might choose a
Read Aloud strategy rather than the close reading protocol so students spend a day and a half
with the reading and the final half of the second lesson connecting the material to their own
lives.

Materials

Reading: King’s Mountaintop Speech

Handout: Storyboard Template
Video: Writing History’s Next Chapter

Teaching Strategies:

Journals in a Facing History Classroom

Close Reading Protocol
Storyboard
Gallery Walk
Two-Column Note-Taking
Fishbowl
3-2-1
Exit Card

Activities

1. Warm up: Journal Response

Tell students that in this lesson they will read Dr. Martin Luther King’s final speech
entitled “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” which he delivered to an audience in
Memphis on the evening before his assassination. In this speech, Dr. King
imagines reasons why people might choose between helping and not helping
someone when they observe something that seems unjust or unfair.
Before reading the speech, ask students reflect in their journals on the choice
between helping or not helping in the face of an injustice. Tell them that they will
not be asked to share their responses: Write about a time when you observed
something you thought was unjust or unfair, and you were not sure how to
respond. What did you think and feel? What did you do?
Remind students that they don’t need to share what they wrote in their journals.
Ask them to help you make a list on the board or chart paper of why they think
people feel unsure about how to respond when they observe something that they
think is unfair or unjust. You might develop this idea by also asking students to
consider why people might choose to take action, choose not to take action, and
feel unsure about how to respond.

 
2. Understanding Dr. King’s Mountaintop Speech
Tell students that they will be reading Dr. Martin Luther King’s final speech, which
he delivered on April 3, 1968, at the Memphis Mason Temple Church on the
evening before his assassination. Dr. King was in Memphis to lend his voice and
support to the sanitation workers’ strike, which started on February 12, 1968,
 when about 1,000 of the city’s 1,100 sanitation workers began to strike for job
safety, better wages and benefits, and union recognition.
Pass out the reading King’s Mountaintop Speech from Eyes on the Prize Study
Guide. If you are using the close reading protocol, after you read the speech out
loud, ask your students to read it a second time to themselves, adding
annotations in the margins. You might ask students to mark places in the speech
where Dr. King talks about why people don’t always respond to injustice so they
can draw connections between their earlier journal responses and the text.

 
3. Create a Mountaintop Speech Storyboard and Discuss the Speech

Dr. King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech contains vivid imagery, biblical
allusions, and historical references. To help foster your students’ understanding of the
text, consider the Storyboard strategy, where they sketch the main idea or an image for
each paragraph and then either write a summary or select an important quotation to
write in the space provided on the handout. Consider having students work with a
partner or in small groups for this activity.
First, ask students to number the paragraphs 1–9 of the speech.
Pass out the Storyboard Template handout and tell students what they should
draw and write for each paragraph on the handout. Time allowing, students can
share their storyboards in a Gallery Walk and then discuss their observations
before moving to the class discussion of the speech.
Lead the students in a class discussion of the speech:
How did creating your storyboard help you understand Dr. King’s speech
in a new, different, or deeper way?
How did Dr. King justify his decision to violate the federal injunction
against the planned demonstrations? What democratic traditions did he
cite in defence of civil disobedience?
What did Dr. King mean by “a dangerous unselfishness” in paragraph 7 of
his speech? What did he try to teach his audience about empathy through
the story of the Good Samaritan? What does he mean by the Good
Samaritan’s ability to project the “I” into the “thou”?
What do you think it takes to see a situation from someone else’s
perspective? What advice might Dr. King give you about deciding how to
respond when you observe something that you think is unjust or unfair?
Cite examples from the text in your response.

 
4. Choosing to Participate: Writing History’s Next Chapter

In his mountaintop speech, Dr. King challenges his audience by declaring, “Let us
develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness.” For this final activity, students will take on
Dr. King’s challenge by sharing their vision for the world and considering what
responsibility and opportunity they might have to bring about that vision.
After providing historical context for Reconstruction if needed (see Notes to
Teacher), watch the video Writing History’s Next Chapter one or two times.
Consider using the Two-Column Note-Taking strategy. Students can take notes
during the video in the left-hand column and then add their questions,
interpretations, and connections in the right-hand column. If you don’t have time
 to show the video twice, you might pause it at minute 2:18 to allow students time
respond to Timothy McCarthy’s ideas about history and revolution before viewing
the second portion featuring George Lipsitz discussing social change and
responsibility.
Debrief the video and the students’ reactions in small groups or in a class
discussion.
Now ask students to respond to two of the following questions in their journals.
Let them know that they will be discussing their responses as a class. Consider
using the Fishbowl strategy so every student has the opportunity both to
participate and hear others’ voices in this final discussion.
What is your vision for the kind of world in which you would like to live?
What responsibility do you have for bringing about that kind of world?
Respond to George Lipsitz’s final question: “How are you going to write
the new chapter, not in your notebooks, but in society as men and women
with responsibility and opportunity?”
5. Use a 3-2-1 Exit Card Strategy

To assess your students understanding of this lesson’s content and to capture their
thinking, ask them to complete a 3-2-1 Exit Card in which they reflect on the following
three questions:
What are three ideas from Dr. King’s Mountaintop Speech and/or the video
Writing History’s Next Chapter that you hope to remember?
What are two questions that the speech, video, journal prompts, or class
discussions raise for you?
What one word best describes the kind of world you would like to live in?

Extensions

1. MLK50: The National Civil Rights Museum Youth Voices Project

To provide an opportunity for students to deepen their understanding of Dr. King’s

mission, as well as lend their own voice to the ongoing civil rights movement, have
students explore the Memphis Civil Rights Museum’s MLK50 Platforms webpage and
then submit their work to the Youth Voices online project, where students can share their
“creative expressions and ideas for action to advance Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s
platforms of poverty, jobs, housing, education, justice, and peace.” Your students could
choose one of the six issues that Dr. King identified to research in their community, or
they might choose a different civil rights issue that they feel is relevant for them now.
After exploring the issue on the MLK50 Platform, students could participate in this
national project by first creating a piece of writing, a video, or a work of art that answers
one of the project questions and then upload it to the Youth Voices page.

 
2. Dr. King’s Mountaintop Speech Lifted Line Poem

The Lifted Line Poem teaching strategy is a creative way for students to engage with a
text in a collaborative way after they have read and discussed it as a class. If you have
time after discussing King’s Mountaintop Speech, consider this strategy as one more
way that your students can interact with the text in a way that is intellectually engaging,
community building, and creative.
 Tell students that they will be working together to create a lifted line poem in
which they will each select a meaningful line from King’ mountaintop speech and
then work together to create a poem from those lines.
Instruct students to review the speech, select one line that is most meaningful,
important, or revealing to them and mark it with a star or underline it.
If you have time, you might ask students to write an explanation in their journals
for why they lifted the line they chose.
When everyone has selected a line, ask the students to stand and form a circle.
Next, pick one student to begin and a direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise).
Each student should read his or her line in succession in the direction you've
picked. Tell students that it doesn’t matter if more than one person shares the
same line.
Discuss with students any patterns they noticed in the lines they chose.
Were any lines repeated by multiple students? Why did those repeated
lines resonate with multiple students?
What ideas seemed most meaningful and important to the class? What
ideas were not represented in the lifted line poem?
How does the class’ lifted line poem extend or challenging their thinking
about the text?

  Previous Lesson

https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/memphis-1968/dr-kings-legacy-and-choosing-
participate

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