If I had a thousand tongues and each tongue were a thousand thunderbolts and each thunderbolt had a thousand voices, I would use them all today to help you understand a loyal and misrepresented and misjudged people.” These were the words of Joseph C. Price, founder and President of Livingston College in North Carolina, who in 1890 delivered an address to the National Education Association annual convention held in Minneapolis. Price’s words reflect on the long tradition of African American oratory. Listed below are some of the most significant orations by African Americans with links to the actual speeches.
On January 10, 2017, Barack Obama delivered his last farewell address in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. His speech is appears below: THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Chicago! (Applause.) It’s good to be home! (Applause.) Thank you, everybody. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you so much. Thank you. … Read More(2017) Barack Obama’s Farewell Address as President of the United States
On May 19, 2017, New Orleans, Louisiana Mayor Mitch Landrieu addressed an audience in his city as a backdrop and explanation of the city’s recent decision to remove statues of General Robert E. Lee and other Confederate military and political leaders from public squares in … Read More(2017) New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s Address on the Removal of Confederate Monuments in New Orleans
On January 6, 2023, New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries gave his first speech before the U.S. House of Representatives as the leader of the Democratic Caucus. He is the first African American to lead a major party in either house of Congress and if the … Read More(2023) Hakeem Jeffries’ First Speech as Leader of the Democratic Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives
On the night of June 16, 1966, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Chair Stokely Carmichael (Later Kwame Ture) proclaimed to the crowd, “We been saying freedom for six years and we ain’t got nothin’. What we got to start saying now is Black Power! We … Read MoreStokely Carmichael’s Black Power Speech (1966)
