“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:

"I have bad news for you, for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and killed tonight.

Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice for his fellow human beings, and he died because of that effort.

In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black–considering the evidence there evidently is that there were white people who were responsible–you can be filled with bitterness, with hatred, and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, in great polarization–black people amongst black, white people amongst white, filled with hatred toward one another.

Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love.

For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust at the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I can only say that I 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 go beyond these rather difficult times.

My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He wrote: “In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own 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; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.

So I shall ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, that’s true, but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love–a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke.

We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times; we’ve had difficult times in the past; we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; it 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 who abide in our land.

Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.

Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people."

“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!