Say It Plain A Century of Great African American Speeches

These speeches start with Booker T. Washington and end with Barack Obama. They include Clarence Thomas who isn't on my list of great anythings. Missing conspicuously are W.E. B. DuBois, El Haj Malik Al Shabazz (Malcolm X), or any of the “Black Panthers.” It's a start, but it's far from comprehensive.

“The transcripts on this Web site were drawn from the accompanying recordings. In some cases, we were able to start with existing transcripts in the public domain and check them against the recordings. In other instances, we produced the transcripts ourselves with the help of dedicated colleagues.

On some occasions, the available text of a speech differed from the recording. Speakers commonly diverge from their written texts, which are sometimes speeches they give repeatedly, but no one takes the time to document the extemporaneous remarks. ”

Booker T Washington
A former slave and the most influential African American at the turn of the 20th century Listen to the speech

Marcus Garveys
A Jamaican immigrant who urged black Americans to form their own nation in Africa Listen to the speech

Mary McLeod Bethune
A prominent educator and leading civil rights figure in the New Deal era Listen to the speech

Dick Gregory
A popular comedian and activist in the 1960s involved in the 1963 marches in Birmingham Listen to the speech

Fannie Lou Hamer
Helped lead the fight for black voting rights in Mississippi Listen to the speech

Stokely Carmichael
A young civil rights organizer who popularized the slogan, "Black Power" Listen to the speech

Martin Luther King Jr.
The most prominent leader of the non-violent civil rights movement in the 20th century Listen to the speech

Shirley Chisholm
The first African American woman to be elected to Congress Listen to the speech

Barbera Jordan
U.S. Representative who made a historic speech during the 1974 Watergate hearings Listen to the speech

Jesse Jackson
A civil rights leader, disciple of Martin Luther King, Jr., and two-time presidential candidate Listen to the speech

Clarence Thomas
A Supreme Court Justice appointed by President George H. W. Bush Listen to the speech

Barack Obama
U.S. Democratic Senator from Illinois Listen to the speech

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/sayitplain/index.html