Hopeful, Bittersweet, Hortatory

The ending of "I've Been to the Mountaintop" is so rousing and so firmly linked to Dr. King's assassination that the feelings it evokes can sometimes overpower the rest of the speech. We come to the end feeling both hopeful—"we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land" (45.10)—and bittersweet: "I may not get there with you" (45.9).

But, although there are lots of other hopeful moments (10.5, etc.), the bulk of "Mountaintop" is hortatory. That means it encourages people to do stuff. Over and over, MLK gets all bossypants (we mean that in the most flattering possible way, like really nicely tailored bossypants) and tells people what to do:

• "We've got to stay together and maintain unity" (14.3)
• "Now we're going to march again […] we've got to march again" (16.1)
• "Now we've got to go on in Memphis just like that" (19.1)
• "Now the other thing we'll have to do" (22.1)
• "And when we have our march, you need to be there" (26.4)
• "Be concerned about your brother" (26.6)

There are tons of places just like this, where Dr. King talks about either what "we" need to do or what "you" need to do.

All this exhorting suggests that, although Dr. K is hopeful, he doesn't think hope means loafing around in our underwear, watching Survivor reruns, and feeling optimistic. (We 100% did not choose that example based on what we're doing right now. Okay, fine, 79%.) Rather, it means being the hope we see in the world.

In short, hope isn't something you have—it's something you do.