‘I’ve been to the mountaintop’: 50 years ago today, MLK gave final speech

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SALT LAKE CITY — Fifty years ago Tuesday, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a powerful, and what turned out to be his final, impassioned speech calling America to social justice.

King gave what’s known as the “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee, April 3, 1968.

He was assassinated the next day.

The speech dealt primarily with a sanitation strike in Memphis at the time. In it, King called for unity, boycotts and peaceful protests.

“The issue is injustice,” he said regarding the strike. “The issue is the refusal of Memphis to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers.”

He also challenged the United States to live up to American ideals.

Near the end of the speech, King's references to his own life seemed to foretell the events of the following day.

“Well, I don't know what will happen now," he said. "We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live — a long life; longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now.

"I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. 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. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

FILE - In this April 22, 1965 file photo, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., center, receives applause after finishing a speech to the joint session of the Massachusetts Legislature in Boston, the day before he led a civil rights march to Boston Common. King's final speech before his 1968 assassination will be read aloud 50 years later on Monday, April 2, 2018, in downtown Boston. (AP Photo, File)

That speech, delivered decades ago, is still relevant today, social justice advocates say.

“The meaningfulness of the speech is its focus on social justice for all Americans,” advocate Kevin Peterson said at an event commemorating the speech in Boston, Metro News reported.