Where it is truthfully said that the pen is mightier than the sword, the ability to give voice to the written word makes one voice more powerful than a nation of arms. All the power of the United States could not silence the cry for justice from the lowliest members of society.

The African American community has produced generations of powerful orators. Some names stand out above others: Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, and of course, Martin Luther King.

No words so resonate as those spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr. In two speeches he planted words so deep, so powerful that only the soulless could ignore them.

- "I have a Dream" given in Washington DC on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial August 28th 1963.

- "I've been to the Mountain Top" given at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee April 3rd 1968, the night before his assassination.

It never ceases to amaze me how many White have fully absorbed the messages of King. My best friend from high school told me how often he was motivated to change the world after listening to a recording of "I have a Dream" at my parent's home.

Recently I received these words from Thomas Johnson, a White correspondent I have just connected to and a fellow writer at Helium.com. He wrote,

"That he [Martin Luther King] loved America so much, even though America did not love him, is what amazes me the most about Dr. King. His I Have a Dream' speech is nothing short of a love song written to his beloved country. He saw America as her founders had intended her to be and as her Constitution promised that she would be.
"It is so sad that most White Americans do not even recognize what a patriot Dr. King was. Well, I guess a good number of Black Americans don't either."

The tradition of using words as an instrument of change in America is as old as the beginning of the nation itself. One of the earliest protests against the American government was an essay, "Civil Disobedience" by Thoreau in 1849.

Abraham Lincoln tapped the bible for his "House divided" speech in 1858. He declared the "Government cannot permanently endure being half free and half slave."

These speeches provided a legitimate foundation for African Americans to speak out for change in American policies towards Negroes.

Frederick Douglas gave his "The Hypocrisy of American Slavery" Speech in Rochester, New York July 4th, 1852. He questioned the reason he was invited to speak at the celebration of American freedom when neither he nor his people were partakers in the blessings of liberty.

On September 30th, 1896 Booker T. Washington addressed the injustice and price of under-educating African Americans in the South. He eloquently informed the wealthy, remote upper classes of Rochester, New York that their prosperity is limited by the ignorance of their Southern brethren.

The previous year in Atlanta Georgia he addressed the Atlanta Cotton States and International Expo of 1895. Where he explained how Oppressor and Oppressed are inextricably bound immobile. In essence, if you stand holding a man down it then becomes impossible for either to take a step in any direction.

More words have been spoken, more are needed today. Some pretend to have the gift but their self-serving words soon fade from memory. Where will America find the next great African American Orator who brings Truth to light so powerful that the world MUST change?

Learn more about this author, Morgan Johnson.
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