Civil Rights period
One of the leading figures during the civil rights movement in the twentieth
century was Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968). He was an American
clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights
movement, and raised public awareness of the movement partly by his oratorial
skills. In 1964 he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work toward ending
racial segregation and discrimination. As a result, many people came to see him
"as a modern Moses," and he was known to use the Exodus story in his
speeches. In 1957, when he was 28 years of age, he gave a sermon in
Montgomery, Alabama, entitled "The Birth of a New Nation," in which he used
the "struggle of Moses" to symbolize the new civil rights struggle then taking
place:
I want to preach this morning from the subject, 'The Birth of a New Nation.' And I
would like to use as a basis for our thinking together, a story that has long since
been stenciled on the mental sheets of succeeding generations. It is the story of
the Exodus, the story of the flight of the Hebrew people from the bondage of
Egypt, through the wilderness and finally, to the Promised Land. . . The struggle
of Moses, the struggle of his devoted followers as they sought to get out of Egypt. This is something of the story of
every people struggling for freedom.(King)
He continued to use the symbolism of the Exodus story up until his last speech in 1968, entitled "I've Been to the
Mountaintop," the day before he was assassinated:
And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know
tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.
Moses in American History
Moses in American History