Oppression of Civil Liberties: “I Have a Dream” Speech

Oppression

With these pieces, I wanted to talk about the stories of oppression of civil liberties around the world. The “I have a dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr., fights for the oppression African Americans faced in America. “Speechless” represents the women that face legal oppression even today in the Middle East. “Burmese Monk” symbolizes the oppression and violation of human rights and civil liberties in Burma that millions of Burmese suffer from. “Liberty Leading the People” demonstrates the oppression of the French peasants from the nobility. “The Chinese People’s Liberation Army is the great school of Mao Zedong thought” shows the methods China use to oppress its people. These pieces all reveal forms of oppression that humanity has faced around the world.

Friday, May 13, 2011

“I Have a Dream” Speech

After the freedom rang for all African Americans from the Emancipation Proclamation, America still suffered from racism, a prejudice so deep that lasted for the next hundred years. African Americans were oppressed by the Whites, earned lower wages and were treated unfairly. Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist during the Civil Rights movement. This piece is one of the most prominent speeches that King delivered. Martin Luther King Jr.‘s electrifying “I have a dream” speech was delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. On this day, Martin Luther King Jr. inspired thousands through his vision of freedom and equality for all races("Martin Luther King, Jr."). Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech fought for the freedom of the Africans Americans and was able to liberate them from a nation filled with social injustice and lead them towards a brighter future without oppression based on skin color.

The “I Have a Dream” speech uses numerous different types of literary techniques. One major literary device King used in his speech is repetition. For example in paragraphs 16 to 24 he repeats “I have a dream….” 8 successive times ("American Rhetoric: Martin Luther King, Jr. - I Have a Dream."). Other phrases such as “Let freedom ring…” is also used multiple times ("American Rhetoric: Martin Luther King, Jr. - I Have a Dream."). In addition, King alludes to other famous works to evoke a sense of awe. King began his speech with “Five scores ago…” This is an allusion to the famous Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln. Other works that he alluded to are the Bible and the Declaration of Independence. Furthermore, in this speech, King repeated words that related to the theme of the speech. King used the word “freedom” twenty times in the entire speech. In addition, King provides specific examples to stress his main points. In this speech, the example Mississippi is used four times. This is not accidental because Mississippi was an extremely racist state that would arouse a strong sense of emotion. These are all techniques that King used in this glorious speech that marked the beginning of the end of public discrimination in America.

The “I Have a Dream” speech demonstrates how King fought the oppression that the African Americans faced during this time period. African Americans were publically discriminated against. They were not allowed to work in certain jobs, and they earn lower wages than the Caucasians that work with them ("Martin Luther King, Jr."). This period of racial oppression is clearly reflected in the “I Have a Dream” speech.

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Revolution: A Violent Solution

Kevin's blog, pertains to the violent revolutions in history. The first piece is "Guernica" by Picasso, is about the Spanish civil war where millions of innocents were killed. Guernica was a little village which had almost no strategic value. Hitler made bombing runs over the houses of the innocents utilizing his new method of Blitzkrieg. The people had their voices taken away by Hitler. This blog also talks about Russian propaganda in the time of the October Revolution. The Bolsheviks revolted against the provisional government for to end suffering of the people of Russia due to the Russian participation in WWI. The spirit of '76 is about the American Revolution where the Americans faced oppression from England. Americans staged a revolution and defeated the British to earn their freedom and liberty. The "Tank Man" photograph was taken by Jeff Widener, when the Chinese government reacted violently against the protests from Chinese students in Tiananmen Square. This image is censored by the Chinese government, demonstrating the methods which the Chinese government uses to oppress its people. All of the works in Kevin's blog relates to my overall theme because all the works show some form of oppression that the people faced.

Fight For Liberty

Thomas's blog is about the injustices that humans have faced in history. The first piece, Korean Independence Movement, is about the liberty that Koreans demanded freedom from the oppressive Japanese government. During this movement, a declaration of independence was created by thirty representatives of the Korean people. The Korean Independence Movement has a direct correlation to my blog's topic of oppression of civil liberties. The Egyptian Revolution of 2011 marked the end of the oppression of Egyptian President, Mubarak. Millions participated in labor strikes and violent demonstrations. Mubarak eventually cracked under the pressure and was forced to resign. "Washington Crossing the Delaware" by Leutze, glorified Washington's leadership in the American Revolution where the Americans that were oppressed by the British fought for freedom, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. "The Death of Marat" by David, pertains to the French Revolution where the civilians of Paris staged a revolution because the French elites suppressed their voice in the government. In addition, the French working class suffered from wide spread famine. King Louis XVI did not try to save his people, but continued to live his lavish lifestyle. The French working class successfully rebelled against in the face of oppression. All of these pieces correlate to my blog because they all have the message of oppression embedded in them.

Oppression of Civil Liberties