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Mrs. Rosa Parks protest also helped create a new leader, a minister named Martin Luther King. He accepted the stewardship of Montgomery's Movement against segregated bus seating, and his eloquent voice propelled him into the leadership of a growing national movement, a position he held until his assasination in 1968.

The modern civil rights movement,[illegible] ^was constructed on a series of actions and events stretching back into the beginning of African slavery on American soil; from then until now, from Gabriel Prosser ^{and Nat Turner and Denmark Vesey} through Martin Luther King and our times today, there has been a certain continuity in this struggle.

Think if you will ^{for a passing moment} of the magnitude and cruelty of American slavery. 60 million live souls sailed from West Africa in chains - only 15 million survived the Holocaust of the Middle Passage. Once here, the African quickly revolted against being another man's property - Hispanola in 1522; Cuba in 1533; Mexico in 1537 - a steady, bloody stream of revolt.

Overcoming that awful heritage and remembering those revolts ought to be part of today's [illegible] ^{rememberances} as well.

Martin Luther King would have been56 58 ⁵⁹ years old had he been able to celebrate his birthday in 1985, 1984 ¹⁹⁸⁸

Had he lived until today, there's no doubt our world would be different than it is.

Because he did live, when he did, we live in a world a little better than we might have, a world a little less filled with fear and hate.