The sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., comprise an extensive catalog of American writing and oratory – some of which are internationally well-known, while others remain unheralded, and some await re-discovery.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a prominent African-American clergyman, a civil rights leader, and a Nobel laureate.
King himself observed, "In the quiet recesses of my heart, I am fundamentally a clergyman, a Baptist preacher."
Speechwriter and orator
The famous "I Have a Dream" address was delivered in August 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Less well-remembered are the early sermons of that young, 25-year-old pastor who first began preaching at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama in 1954. As a political leader in the Civil Rights Movement and as a modest preacher in a Baptist church, King evolved and matured across the span of a life cut short. The range of his rhetoric was anticipated and encompassed within "The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life," which he preached as his trial sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in 1954 and every year thereafter for the rest of his life.
1953 – "The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life."
1954 – "Rediscovering Lost Values," February 28, 1954.
1956 - "The Death of Evil Upon the Seashore"
1956 – "Paul's Letter to American Christians," November 4, 1956.
1957 – "The Birth of a New Nation," April 7, 1957.
1957 – "Loving Your Enemies," November 17, 1957.
1963 – "Eulogy for the Martyred Children," September 18, 1963. (Birmingham, Alabama)
1965 – "How Long, Not Long," also known as "Our God Is Marching On!" March 25, 1965 . (Montgomery, Alabama)
1966 – "Guidelines for a Constructive Church", Delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, on 5 June 1966.
1967 – "The Three Dimensions Of A Complete Life", Delivered at New Covenant Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois, on April 9, 1967.
1967 - "Three Evils of Society" Address Delivered to the First Annual National Conference for New Politics
1967 - "The Casualties of the War in Vietnam" Address delivered at the Nation Institute
1967 – "Why Jesus Called A Man A Fool," also known as "A Knock at Midnight," Delivered at Mt. Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois, on August 27, 1967. (Chicago, Illinois) -- see Video on YouTube
1968 – "The Drum Major Instinct", February 4, 1968. (Atlanta, Georgia)
1968 – "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution", March 31, 1968. Delivered at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
1968 – I've Been to the Mountaintop," April 3, 1968. (Memphis, Tennessee)
1968 – "Why America May Go to Hell", planned to be delivered on April 7, 1968 but never delivered due to his assassination.
