The power of words

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.” The history of United States of America is filled with such powerful speeches; in their quest for freedom, American Men and Women have risen to the occasion and delivered inspired words of hope and change. One such speech was given on August 28, 1963. In his speech entitled “I Have a Dream”, Martin Luther King Jr. tried to persuade white people all across America to end racism by filling his speech with imagery that helped people visualize the pain and suffering of the African American Race.

In order for his speech to truly have the power to persuade, convert, and compel, Martin Luther King needed to paint a clear visual picture of how America was being effected by racial discrimination; he needed to help all people see that racism was not only hateful, but was an evil that was currently afflicting pain upon thousands of lives. The most impacting uses of imagery are found in the middle of his speech when he said, “The Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality… children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating ‘for whites only’… our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cites. ” This one example of imagery used by Martin Luther King Jr. causes one to immediately visualize the scene of police brutality and racism. These images then draw deep emotions from within that cause one to feel sympathy, remorse, and even guilt. Though Dr. King does mention that not all white people were racist towards African Americans, these uses of imagery would definitely cause White People to feel guilty for such unthinkable crimes suffered by African Americans.

The dream of racial freedom and equality continues to draw closer to reality as more and more people are touched by the words and actions of such Civil Rights leaders as Martin Luther King Jr. It was through speeches filled with imagery such as the “I have a dream” speech that Dr. King was able to paint a clear visual picture to all people that it was time African Americans be treated equal.