Write a brief paragraph that describes how Lewis uses rhetorical appeal and rhetorical devices to achieve his purpose.
Speech at King Memorial Groundbreaking
by Rep. John Lewis
In 2006, US Representative John Lewis spoke at a celebration for the groundbreaking at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The memorial is the first honoring an African American placed on the Mall. Following is the text of the Congressman’s speech:
President Bush, President Clinton, Ms. Oprah Winfrey, Andy Young, members of the King family, members of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, and my beloved brothers and sisters, this is a great day in the history of our country.
It is a great day because today we will break ground on this little piece of real estate we call the National Mall, this front yard of the nation, to honor one of the founding fathers of modern America. It is a day that we pay tribute not just to a man, but to the transformative power of love, non-violence, peace, and the American dream.
I knew Martin Luther King, Jr. He was my leader, my friend, my brother, and my colleague in the struggle for civil rights and social justice in America. He was just a simple human being filled with love and compassion for all human kind.
I will never forget the first time I met him. I was 15 years old and in the tenth grade in 1955, growing up on a farm outside Troy, Alabama when I heard the voice of Martin Luther King, Jr. on an old radio. He was talking about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. He was talking about the ability of a disciplined and determined people to make a difference in our society.
When I heard his words, I felt like he was speaking directly to me. I felt like he was saying, “John Lewis, you can do it. You can make a difference in the struggle to defend the dignity of humankind. . . .”
It seems it was only a few years ago that I stood with Martin Luther King, Jr. and eight other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement as he spoke just a short distance from here at on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. And the worth of all humankind.
I want to thank Alpha Phi Alpha for its vision and thank all of those contributors who supported this project, because this monument will inspire generations yet unborn to get in the way. It will them see that one human being can make a difference.
But above all, this monument will serve as a reminder to each of us that it is better to love and not to hate, it is better to reconcile and not divide, it is better to build and not tear down.
It will remind all of us that the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. is not yet accomplished, and each of us must continue to do our part to build the Beloved Community, a nation and a world at peace with itself. Thank you.