Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: ‘Give Us the Ballot’ Speech

May 17, 1957

nicholasflyer: Hoping to prod the federal government to fulfill the promise of the three-year-old Brown v. Board of Education decision, national civil rights leaders called for a rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Speaking last, King delivers the address “Give Us the Ballot.” Some twenty thousand people listen to three hours of speeches, music, and testimony from southern activists.