Introduction
Effective social movement leaders play an important role in helping to achieve specific objectives. They inspire commitment, create and recognize opportunities, mobilize resources and followers, frame specific demands, devise strategies, and influence foreseeable outcomes (Greenberg, 2018). Martin Luther King Jr. was a charismatic and influential leader in American history. Alicia Garza is such a modern example as she is a charismatic social movement leader. Although the two individuals have emerged at different times, comparing their speeches reveals that they can use power, passion, charisma, and leadership to capture their audiences.
Summary of Speeches
In “I Have a Dream,” Martin Luther King Jr. says that black people are still not free because of discrimination and segregation. He motivates his audience to fight for freedom and justice. King advocates for nonviolent resistance, calling Americans of all races to unite against discrimination and segregation (VanderHaagen, 2019). His dream is to have a country where all people will be treated equally without discrimination and judgment based on skin color but by the content of their character. Alicia Garza speaks about the experiences of black people, particularly women, in a continuously discriminative society. She praises the persistence of black women in laying the foundation for modern activism (Finley, 2017). She states that their actions have birthed campaigns against extrajudicial killings by the police, mostly perpetrated against black people.
Comparison of the Speeches and Body Languages
Martin Luther King Jr.’s charisma is evident in his body language and powerful oratory. He demonstrates inspiration and magnetism, explaining the history of the issues affecting the audience. Moreover, he applies legitimate divine power to influence his audience, which he obtains by invoking the scriptures (Aliu, 2019). King uses the Biblical story of Moses, applying the term “let my people go” to the prevailing situation in America.
Unlike Dr. King, Alicia Garza uses her knowledge about the prevailing conditions affecting black people. She is an author and uses her influence as a feminist to capture the audience. Garza tells her audience that she knows their struggles throughout history and how they have shaped activism (Finley, 2017). She appeals to the people’s feelings as she talks about the scenes of police brutality and killings and other horrific scenarios. She also demonstrates passion, saying that they will not achieve the goal of full freedom if they only remain active online via Twitter (Taylor, Garza & Wilkerson, 2021). Garza is passionate about leaving her home and joining the movements on the streets to pass the message of freedom. Her ability to inspire people and unite them under a shared vision of injustice is similar to King, who evoked powerful imagery and feeling in order to get his point across.
Dr. King talked at the Lincoln Memorial, where the space was large to accommodate a large crowd. Although the crowd keeps appraising and shouting, they give him time to speak. In addition, the choice of location provides a source of symbolism. A church is a place of gathering, unity and kindness – making it perfect grounds for talking about the importance of justice. Garza, on the other hand, finds her audience on university grounds, where young minds can find access to important information about the society they live in. This choice helps the speaker highlight the importance of the BLM movement for newer generations. Nonetheless, messaging can be difficult in such a situation, given that the crowd sometimes becomes noisy as the applause. Messaging is easy in the case of Garza because she makes the speech inside a university hall (Finley, 2017). The audience is specific (students and tutors), and they keenly listen.
Nevertheless, both audiences relate to each other in some way. Both audiences are concerned about the prevailing problem of racism and discrimination. Moreover, speeches are made when society faces an uprising due to the same problem. The speeches revolve around a common issue of racism. Despite this, there are major differences, such as the composition of the audience. In Dr. King’s case, the audience is a crowd of city residents with diverse backgrounds. In Garza’s case, the crowd is selected as it is mainly made up of graduating students (Finley, 2017). Garza talks more about the plight of black women, while Dr. King’s speech revolves around the experiences of all black people.
Conclusion
Social movements are successful when there is strong leadership under influential individuals. Such individuals play an important role as they create and recognize opportunities, mobilize resources and followers, inspire commitment, devise strategies, frame specific demands, and influence foreseeable outcomes. In this case, King and Garza provide examples of leaders who can understand the topic and appeal to the people’s emotions, making them realize the need to take action.
References
Aliu, M. (2019). An analysis of the two speeches delivered by Martin Luther King. Anglisticum. Journal of the Association-Institute for English Language and American Studies, 7. Web.
Finley, T. (2017). BLM co-founder delivers an ode to black women during commencement speech: ‘We Are Magic.’Huffington Post. Web.
Greenberg, E. (2018). The struggle for democracy, 2018 Elections, and updated edition. Revel Combo Access Card. Pearson Publishers.
Taylor, K. Y., Garza, A., & Wilkerson, I. (2021). Black Lives Matter: Three key texts.American Studies, 66(1), 307-312. Web.
VanderHaagen, S. C. (2019). (Mis)quoting King: Commemorative stewardship and ethos in the controversy over the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.Argumentation and Advocacy, 55(2), 91-114. Web.