On April 3, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech in Memphis, Tennessee. He spoke in support of striking sanitation workers who were protesting unsafe conditions and discrimination. In the address, King urged continued nonviolent protest and economic pressure as tools for justice. He also reflected on his own mortality, saying he had seen the “Promised Land” even if he might not get there with his audience. The speech captured both his determination and the tension of the moment. It became his final public address before his assassination the next day.
