Martin Luther King, Jr., "What Is Your Life's Blueprint?"

Summary

In this empowering speech at Barrett Junior High School, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. emphasizes the importance of having a life blueprint for students, urging them to believe in their own dignity and strive for excellence in their chosen fields. He encourages embracing one's heritage, not being ashamed of one's color, and setting high standards for oneself. He also highlights the achievements of notable African Americans, advocating for nonviolent struggle for justice and the pursuit of beauty, love, and justice in life.

Takeaways

• 🎓 **Educational Importance**: Emphasizes the importance of education and staying in school despite difficult circumstances.
• 🏆 **Excellence**: Encourages striving for excellence in whatever field one chooses to pursue.
• 🖌️ **Self-Worth**: Promotes a deep belief in one's own dignity and worth, regardless of societal stigmas.
• 🌟 **Pursuit of Dreams**: Inspires to dream big and work hard to achieve those dreams.
• 👥 **Role Models**: Highlights the stories of successful African Americans as examples to follow.
• 🌈 **Color Pride**: Encourages pride in one's race and not to be ashamed of one's color or features.
• 💪 **Determination**: Stresses the need for determination and the will to overcome obstacles.
• 🌎 **Global Impact**: Suggests that excellence in one's work can have a global impact and inspire others.
• 🤝 **Unity and Struggle**: Calls for unity in the struggle for freedom, justice, and equality.
• ✊ **Non-Violence**: Advocates for non-violent methods in the fight for civil rights and social change.

Q & A

Who is the speaker addressing in the transcript?

The speaker is addressing the students of Barrett Junior High School in Philadelphia.

What is the main theme of the speech?

The main theme of the speech is the importance of having a life's blueprint that includes self-worth, excellence, and commitment to justice.

What does the speaker suggest should be the first thing in one's life's blueprint?

The first thing in one's life's blueprint should be a deep belief in one's own dignity, worth, and value.

Why does the speaker emphasize not being ashamed of one's color?

The speaker emphasizes not being ashamed of one's color to counter societal stigmas and to promote self-acceptance and self-love.

What is the significance of the phrase 'I am black but beautiful' mentioned in the speech?

The phrase 'I am black but beautiful' is significant as it promotes self-affirmation and pride in one's racial identity.

What does the speaker mean by 'doors of opportunity'?

The speaker refers to 'doors of opportunity' as the increasing chances and possibilities for success that were not available to previous generations.

Why does the speaker urge students to stay in school despite difficult circumstances?

The speaker urges students to stay in school because education is a pathway to seize the opportunities that are opening up for them.

What is the importance of striving for excellence according to the speaker?

Striving for excellence is important because it allows individuals to achieve their full potential and make significant contributions to society.

What role models does the speaker mention to inspire the students?

The speaker mentions figures like Booker T. Washington, Marian Anderson, Roland Hayes, George Washington Carver, Ralph Bunche, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Jesse Owens, Joe Louis, and Muhammad Ali as role models.

What is the speaker's stance on nonviolence?

The speaker advocates for nonviolence as a method of struggle that can be militant without destroying life or property.

How does the speaker conclude his speech?

The speaker concludes his speech by quoting Langston Hughes' poem 'Mother to Son', encouraging perseverance and continuous progress despite life's challenges.

Outlines

00:00

🎤 Introduction and Invitation

The speaker begins by warmly welcoming the guests and expressing gratitude to the principal and administration of Barrett Junior High School for inviting him to speak. He mentions his busy schedule in Philadelphia and highlights an upcoming event at the Spectrum featuring renowned artists like Harry Belafonte and Aretha Franklin. The speaker encourages the students to attend the event to support the civil rights movement. He then transitions to address the students directly about the importance of having a life blueprint, comparing it to the architectural blueprints used in construction.

05:03

💪 Embracing Self-Worth and Excellence

In the second paragraph, the speaker emphasizes the importance of self-respect and dignity, encouraging students to take pride in their racial identity and not to be ashamed of their color or features. He advises against conforming to societal pressures that may lead to self-hatred. The speaker also stresses the need for excellence in whatever field the students choose to pursue, highlighting the opportunities that are opening up for them and urging them to be prepared to seize these opportunities. He quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson to motivate the students to excel and not just settle for being 'a good Negro' in their chosen professions.

10:06

🌟 Pursuing Excellence in All Roles

The speaker continues to inspire the students by urging them to strive for excellence in their chosen roles, using the analogy of a street sweeper to illustrate that any job can be done with passion and skill. He encourages the students to be the best they can be, regardless of their circumstances, and to take pride in their work. The speaker then provides examples of successful African Americans who have overcome adversity to achieve greatness, such as Booker T. Washington, Marian Anderson, Roland Hayes, George Washington Carver, Ralph Bunche, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Jesse Owens, Joe Louis, and Muhammad Ali.

15:07

🕊️ Commitment to Beauty, Love, and Justice

In the fourth paragraph, the speaker discusses the importance of committing to the principles of beauty, love, and justice. He advises the students not to let anyone make them hate or lose their self-respect. The speaker emphasizes the responsibility of the youth to work towards making their nation better and to be involved in the struggle for freedom and justice. He advocates for nonviolent methods in the struggle, quoting Langston Hughes' poem 'Mother to Son' to encourage perseverance and continuous progress.

20:11

👏 Closing Remarks

The final paragraph consists of applause, indicating the end of the speaker's address. It signifies the audience's appreciation for the message delivered.

Keywords

💡Blueprint

A blueprint in the context of the video is a plan or a design for achieving a particular goal. It is used metaphorically to describe the foundation upon which one builds their life. The speaker emphasizes the importance of having a solid blueprint for one's life, suggesting that it should include principles of dignity, self-worth, and excellence. In the script, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses the analogy of constructing a building to illustrate the necessity of having a well-thought-out plan for one's life.

💡Dignity

Dignity refers to the inherent value and worth of every individual. In the video, Dr. King encourages the students to have a deep belief in their own dignity, regardless of societal stigmas or discrimination. He implores them not to be ashamed of their race or features, highlighting that dignity is an essential part of one's life blueprint.

💡Excellence

Excellence is the quality of being outstanding or extremely good. Dr. King stresses the importance of striving for excellence in whatever field one chooses to pursue. He urges the students to not settle for mediocrity but to aim high and to do their work well, using examples of successful African Americans to illustrate the potential for greatness.

💡Integration

Integration in the video refers to the process of ending racial segregation and bringing different racial groups into a society that treats all members with equal rights and opportunities. Dr. King discusses the importance of not just being a 'good Negro' in one's field, but being so good that it transcends racial barriers, thereby contributing to the integration of society.

💡Nonviolence

Nonviolence is the practice of resolving conflicts without using violence. Dr. King was a strong advocate for nonviolent methods in the civil rights movement. He believed in militant but non-destructive approaches to achieve social change. In the script, he contrasts nonviolence with violence, advocating for a constructive struggle for freedom and justice.

💡Self-respect

Self-respect is the feeling of self-worth and self-esteem. Dr. King advises the students not to let anyone or any situation cause them to lose their self-respect. He sees self-respect as a crucial element in the fight for justice and equality, as it empowers individuals to stand up against oppression.

💡Freedom Festival

The Freedom Festival mentioned in the video is an event that celebrates freedom and supports the civil rights movement. Dr. King encourages the students to attend the festival, highlighting it as an opportunity to support the movement and experience a gathering of influential artists and activists.

💡Struggle

Struggle in the video refers to the ongoing fight against racial injustice and for civil rights. Dr. King uses the term to describe the continuous effort required to achieve equality and justice. He emphasizes the importance of persisting in this struggle, even in the face of adversity.

💡Achievement

Achievement is the act of accomplishing a task or reaching a goal. Dr. King talks about the determination to achieve excellence as a fundamental principle in one's life blueprint. He encourages the students to set high goals for themselves and to work diligently to achieve them.

💡Race

Race in the video is a reference to the social construct used to categorize individuals based on physical characteristics. Dr. King addresses the stigma associated with being black and encourages the students to embrace their race with pride. He uses the concept of race to discuss the importance of racial pride and the fight against racial discrimination.

💡Justice

Justice in the video refers to the principle of fairness and the rights which all members of a society are entitled to. Dr. King calls for a commitment to the principles of beauty, love, and justice in one's life blueprint. He sees the struggle for justice as a collective responsibility and a necessary part of creating a better society.

Highlights

The importance of having a life's blueprint and how the decisions made in youth can shape one's future.

The necessity of a deep belief in one's own dignity, worth, and significance.

The message of not being ashamed of one's race or biological features, embracing the phrase 'I am black but beautiful'.

The encouragement to strive for excellence in one's chosen field and to take advantage of new opportunities.

The advice to study hard, stay in school, and pursue one's life's work with dedication.

The metaphor of life as not being a crystal stair, implying that progress may be difficult and uneven.

The call to be the best in whatever one does, regardless of the size or perceived importance of the job.

The examples of notable African Americans who overcame adversity to achieve greatness, such as Booker T. Washington and Marian Anderson.

The emphasis on the importance of self-respect and the struggle for justice in the face of oppression.

The advocacy for nonviolent methods in the struggle for civil rights and social change.

The call to action for young people to be involved in the fight for freedom and justice.

The use of the slogan 'Learn baby learn, so that we can earn baby earn' to encourage education and economic empowerment.

The vision of transforming dark yesterdays of injustice into bright tomorrows of justice and humanity.

The closing words, a quote from Langston Hughes' poem 'Mother to Son', urging perseverance and continued progress despite life's challenges.

The importance of commitment to eternal principles of beauty, love, and justice in one's life's blueprint.

The reminder that human nature cannot be catalogued and that individuals can rise above oppression to achieve greatness.

The encouragement to not measure oneself by race but by the content of one's character and achievements.

Transcripts

and help welcome our honored

distinguished guests the Reverend dr.

Martin Luther King

[Applause]

thank you very kindly principle for nazy

mr. Williams

members of the faculty and members of

the student body

barrett junior high school ladies and

gentlemen i need not pause to say

they're delighted I am to be here today

and to have the opportunity of taking a

brief break in a pretty busy schedule in

the city of Philadelphia to share with

you the students of Barrett junior high

school and I want to express my personal

appreciation to the principal and the

administration for inviting me and for

giving me the opportunity to see this

very fine than enthusiastic group of

students here at Barrett I guess I ought

to start out with a commercial and that

is tonight we're gonna have a great

night in the city of Philadelphia after

spectrum I know you've heard of that new

impressive structure called the spectrum

and I know you've heard of Harry

Belafonte and Aretha Franklin and nipsey

Russell and Sidney Poitier and all of

these other great and outstanding

artists well they're going to be here

tonight at the spectrum and I hope that

each of you will go home and tell your

parents to be that a night for this

great freedom festival and I hope you

will come also

it will be a great experience and by

coming you will be supporting the work

of the civil rights movement now that

I've gotten the commercial out of the

way move on and say some things that I

want to say very briefly and I'm being

brown honest I'm going to be brief

because I have other engagements I don't

have a tradition of being briefed all

the time you know I'm a Baptist

preaching we can talk a long time but

I'm gonna really be brief today I want

to ask you a question and that is what

is in your life's blueprint

this is the most important and crucial

period of your lives for what you do now

and what you decide now at this age may

well determine which way your life shall

go and whenever a building is

constructed you usually have an

architect who draws a blueprint and that

blueprint serves as the pattern as the

guide as the model for those who are to

build the building and a building is not

well erected without a good sound and

solid blueprint now each of you is in

the process of building the structure of

your lives and the question is whether

you have a proper a solid and a sound

blueprint and I want to suggest some of

the things that should be in your life's

blueprint

number one in your life's blueprint

should be a deep belief in your own

dignity your own Worth and your own

somebody nice don't allow anybody to

make you feel that you are nobody always

feel that you count always feel that you

have Worth and all always feel that your

life has ultimate significance now that

means that you should not be ashamed of

your color you know it's very

unfortunate that in so many instances

our society has placed a stigma on the

Negroes color and you know there are

some Negroes who are ashamed of

themselves but don't be ashamed of your

color don't be ashamed of your

biological features somehow you must be

able to say in your own lives and really

believe it I am black but beautiful and

[Applause]

and therefore you need not be loved into

purchasing cosmetics advertise to make

you lighter neither do you need to

process your hair to make it appear

straight and it as good as anybody

else's have in the world

[Applause]

now in your life's blueprint be sure

that you have there a principle of

somebody 'no secondly in your life's

blueprint you must have as a basic

principle the determination to achieve

excellence in your various fields of

endeavor you're going to be deciding as

the days and the years unfold what you

will do in life what your life's work

will be and once you discover what it

will be set out to do it and to do it

well and I say to you my young friends

that doors are opening to each of you

doors of opportunity opening to each of

you that were not open to your mother's

and to your father's and the great

challenge facing you is to be ready to

enter these doors as they open Ralph

Waldo Emerson the great essay has said

in a lecture back in 1871 that if a man

can write a better book of preach a

better sermon I'll make a better

mousetrap than his neighbor even if he

builds his house in the woods the world

will make a beaten path to his door that

hadn't always been true but it will

become increasingly truth and so I would

urge you to study hard to burn the

midnight oil I would say to you don't

drop out of school and I understand all

of the sociological reasons why we often

drop out of school but I urge you in

spite of your economic plight in spite

of the situation that you are forced to

live so often with intolerable

conditions stay in school and when you

discover what you're gonna be in life

set out to do it as if God Almighty

called you at this particular moment in

history to do it

and just don't set out to do a good

Negro job but do a good job that anybody

could do don't set out to be just a good

Negro doctor or good Negro lawyer good

Negro school teacher a good Negro

preacher a good Negro bar bar beautician

a good Negro skilled laborer for if you

set out to do that you have already flux

your matriculation exam for entrance

into the university of integration

central to do a good job and do that job

so called at the living the dead of

unborn couldn't do it any better

Falls you'll love to be a streetsweeper

sweep streets like Michelangelo painted

pictures sweep streets like Beethoven

composed music sweep streets like Liam

teen pricings before the metric

Metropolitan Opera and sweep streets

like Shakespeare wrote poetry sweep

streets so well that all the hosts of

heaven and earth will have to pause and

say here lived a great street sweeper

who swept his job well

if you can't be a pine on the top of the

hill be a scrub in the valley but be the

best little scrub on the side of the

real be a bush if you can't be a tree if

you can't be a highway just be a trail

if you can't be the Sun be a star for it

isn't my size that you win are you fail

be the best of whatever you are

[Applause]

we always we already have some noble

examples of black men and black women

who demonstrated to us that human nature

cannot be catalogued they and their own

lives have walked through long and

desolate nights of oppression and yet

they've risen up in plunged against

cloud field nights of affliction new and

blazing stars of inspiration and so from

an old slave cabin of Virginia's heels

Booker T Washington rose up to be one of

America's grid leaders he lit a torch in

Alabama and darkness flared in that

setting yes you should know this because

it's in your own city from a

poverty-stricken area of Philadelphia

Pennsylvania Maren Anderson rose up to

be the world's greatest contralto so

that a Toscanini could say that a voice

like this comes on to once in a century

and sibelius of Finland could say my

roof is too low for such a voice from

the Red Hills of Gordon County Georgia

and the harms of a mother who can

neither read nor write

roll and haze rolls up to be one of the

world's great singers and carried his

melodious voice into the palaces and

mansions of kings and queens from

crippling circumstances there came a

George Washington Carver to carve for

himself an imperishable niche in the

annals of science

there was a start in the diplomatic sky

and then came Ralph Bunche the grandson

of a slave preacher and he reached up

and grabbed it and allowed it to shine

in his life with all of its

scintillating beauty there was a star in

the air

sky then came Jackie Robinson in his day

and Willie Mays in his day with that

powerful bats in that calm spirits in

came Jesse Owens with his fleet and

dashing feet then came Joe Lewis and

Muhammad Ali with intoxicated fists all

of them came to tell us that we can be

somebody and to justify the conviction

of the port flee salats and black

complexion cannot forfeit nature's claim

skin may differ but affection dwells in

black and white the same and if I was so

tall less to reach the pole to grasp of

the ocean at a span I must be measured

by my soul the mind is a standard of the

man finally

and finally in your life's blueprint

must be a commitment to the eternal

principles of beauty love and justice

don't allow anybody to pull you so low

as to make you hate them don't allow

anybody to cause you to lose your

self-respect to the point that you do

not struggle for justice

however young you are you have a

responsibility to seek to make your

nation a better nation in which to live

you have a responsibility to seek to

make life better for everybody and so

you must be involved in the struggle for

freedom and justice now in this struggle

for freedom and justice there are many

constructive things that we all can do

and that we all must do and we must not

give ourselves to those things which

will not solve our problems you heard

the word nonviolent and you've heard the

word violent I happen to believe in

non-violence we struggled with this

method with young people and adults

alike all over the south and we have won

some significant victories and we've got

to struggle with it all over the North

because the problems are as serious in

the north as they are in the south but I

believe as we struggle with these

problems we've got a struggle with them

with a method that can be militant

but at the same time does not destroy

life of property and so our slogan must

not be burn baby burn

it must be big Oh baby bill

yes our slogan must be learn baby learn

so that we can earn baby earn

[Applause]

and with a powerful commitment I believe

that we can transform dark yesterday's

of injustice and to bright tomorrow's of

justice and humanity let us keep going

toward the gold of selfhood to the

realization of the dream of brotherhood

and toward the realization of the dream

of understanding goodwill let nobody

stop us I close by quoting once more the

man that the young lady quoted that

magnificent black bard who is now passed

on Langston Hughes one day he wrote a

poem entitled mother to son the mother

didn't always have a grandma right but

she uttered words of great symbolic for

fun dirty well son I'll tell you life

for me ain't been no crystal stared it's

had tax in it

boards torn up places with no carpet on

the floor bare but all the time I've

been a climbing on and reaching landings

and turning corners and sometimes going

in the dark but ain't been no light so

boy don't you stop now don't you set out

on the steps because you finds us kind

of hard but I was still going boy I

still climbing and life for me ain't

been no crystal stair well life for none

of us has been a crystal style but we

must keep moving we must keep going if

you can't fly run if you can't run walk

if you can't walk crawl but by all means

keep moving

[Applause]