“On the Death of Martin Luther King” Speech Summary, Text, & Analysis

In the aftermath of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy gave a powerful and empathetic speech that continues to resonate today. Below is the historic “On the Death of Martin Luther King” Speech Summary, Text, & Analysis.

“On the Death of Martin Luther King” Speech Summary

We ran Kennedy’s speech through Yoodli, the free AI powered speech coaching platform. You can get started at www.yoodli.ai and view results for Kennedy here. Here’s a summary of his speech:

• Martin Luther King was shot and killed in Memphis
• We must ask what kind of nation we are and what direction we want to move in
• In response to this tragedy, we must not be filled with bitterness and hatred, but rather with understanding and compassion
• Even in pain and despair, we must look for wisdom and understanding
• We must strive for unity and justice for all, regardless of race
• We must use love and wisdom to tame the savages of man and make gentle the life of this world
• We should pray for our country and our people

“On the Death of Martin Luther King” Speech Text

The Yoodli AI-powered speech coach provides this “On the Death of Martin Luther King ” speech text:

"Did they know about Martin Luther King? Could you lower those signs please? I have some very sad news for all of you, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis. Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died and the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it’s perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are, in what direction we want to move in.

For those of you who are black, considering the evidence evidently is that there were white people who were responsible. You can be filled with bitterness and with hatred and a desire for revenge, we can move in that direction as a country and greater polarization. Black people amongst blacks and white amongst whites filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that is spread across our land with an effort to understand compassion and love for those of you who are black and are attempted to filled with, be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act against all white people.

I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man. But we have to make an effort in the United States. We have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond or go beyond these rather difficult times. My favorite poem, my my favorite poet was ESCOs. He once wrote, even in our sleep pain, which cannot forget falls dropped by drop upon the heart.

And until in our own day, despair against our will comes wisdom through the awful grace of God. What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred, but we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but his love and wisdom and compassion toward one another, feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.

We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times. We’ve had difficult times in the past, but we will and we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence. It is not the end of lawlessness and is not the end of disorder. But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land with and what dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago to tame the savages of man and make gentle the life of this world that has dedicate ourselves to that and say a prayer for our country and for our people.

Thank you very much."

“On the Death of Martin Luther King” Speech Analysis

Kennedy’s speech on the death of MLK featured heartfelt emotion and a call for unity. We ran this speech through Yoodli’s AI-powered speech coach, and got back an analysis on various aspects of word choice and delivery. You can view the full results here.

Word Choice

Kennedy’s speech on the death of MLK employed eloquent and inclusive language to inspire unity and action. Yoodli’s analysis reflects this, showing no filler words, very few weak words (just 1%), and that some of his top key words were “difficult”, “people”, “white”, and “black.”

Delivery

In the Delivery category, Yoodli provides scores on Centering, Pacing, Pauses, and Eye Contact. The highlight metric to look at here is pace. Kennedy spoke in very relaxed manner, at about 123 words per minute.

Wrapping Up

If you like this “On the Death of Martin Luther King” speech summary, text, and quick analysis, sign up to Yoodli for free and see how you can get the same kind of feedback on any speech you upload or record. It’s a great way to practice your own public speaking skills as you learn to inspire your audience, just as Kennedy did!