Martin Luther King Jr.: Servant Leadership

499 Words1 Page

Martin Luther King Jr. once stated “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation”. This quote comes from Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech “I Have a Dream”. The speech is one of the most memorable in U.S. history. On August 28, 1963, it was delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where nearly a quarter of a million people gathered for a March for Jobs and Freedom to urge Congress and President John F. Kennedy to pass a national civil rights bill. So, Martin Luther King Jr. was fight and standing up for the people, which made him a servant leader. According to Robert Greenleaf, a servant leader is a “servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first”. A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. Martin Luther King Jr. demonstrates servant leadership in the following quote: Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time …show more content…

was serving African American by addressing everyone, such as the Congress, that segregation should be brought to an end. This quote also related to Dr. LLoyd Bitzer’s concept of the “rhetoritcial situation”. A rhetoritcial situation “is produced in response to exigence, that a situation requires a “fitting” response, and that the situation ultimately controls the response. Rhetoric occurs when a speaker responds to exigence by addressing an audience that is capable of acting upon that urgency” (Hitt, n.d.). Martin Luther King Jr. was speaking to African Americans during his speech peruasing them stand up for their rights they deserved. He was trying not only to end discrimination but also to persuade people to unite as one. So, Martin Luther King Jr. is a servant leader and cares about the

Open Document