The Summit
- Now there's a weird break. "And they were telling me" (43.1) says Dr. King, possibly thinking back to the doctors who treated him after the stabbing.
- But then he stops. The sentence is unfinished. Cut short. This is the beginning of the speech's eerie, prophetic close.
- Whatever Dr. King was going to say (likely something about his health or his mental state), he decides, "Now it doesn't matter now. It really doesn't matter what happens now" (43.2–3). Wait—what? What doesn't matter? How can that be? Hasn't this whole speech been about how important it is what happens now—how important it is not to give up the fight? Has Dr. King built up this whole sand castle just to kick it down?
- We'll find out shortly; this is the speech's final cliffhanger. First, we hear about the difficulties King and friends endured earlier in the day: the bomb threat against their plane in Atlanta, rumors that some white people in Memphis would try to hurt or kill Dr. King. And maybe, he says, that will happen. Who knows what struggles are yet to come? MLK says he sure doesn't.
- Dr. K would like to be there for those difficult days: Like anyone, he'd prefer to live a long life. But there's something more important than living a long life: doing what's right.
- Remember how, when he was talking about Birmingham, MLK said the marchers' spirit could transcend the harm being done to their bodies—the "fire that no water could put out" (17.11)?
- That's precisely the reason he isn't concerned about longevity. He's absolutely certain at this point that, no matter what happens to his body, the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement will live on and eventually succeed.
- God's allowed him to go to the mountaintop and see the Promised Land of racial equality.
- He knows he might not get there himself, but the people certainly will.
- "And so," he says, "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" (45.11–12).