Today happens to be Martin Luther King Day in the US. His actual birthday was January 15 and the third Monday in January is the day designated to celebrate the famous civil rights leader who was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968, aged only 38. Martin Luther King has entered the pantheon of great American orators, up there with Abraham Lincoln and in a different league from modern leaders acclaimed for their eloquence, such as Barack Obama.
Some of this status comes from the manner of his death, cruelly struck down at the height of his powers. Some comes from the style of his discourse, as a Southern Baptist preacher and deeply committed Christian, with its powerful Biblical echoes. And some comes from his patent courage and nobility, as a natural leader in the civil rights campaign in the US.
