Analyzing Body Language.edited
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ANALYZING BODY LANGUAGE
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Analyzing the Body Language of the Speeches
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ANALYZING BODY LANGUAGE
1
Analyzing the Body Language of the Speeches
Summary
Martin Luther King Jr. was an African-American political philosopher and a Baptist
minister who played a vital role in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his untimely
demise when he was assassinated in 1968. His famous 'I have a Dream' speech, held at the
Lincoln Memorial, was one for the books as it had more than 200,000 people in attendance
and was broadcast worldwide. As he is often remembered, Dr King delivered a speech that
described the promises made by America's founding fathers of freedom, equality, and justice
for all. He points out that America had failed to keep these promises, particularly to African
Americans, but dreamt of a day when African Americans would be judged, not by the color of
their skin, but by the content of their character. He believed that one day, little black boys and
girls would learn to live in harmony with little white boys and girls and that oppressive laws,
mainly in the southern states, would be abolished and replaced with more progressive ones to
improve the lives of black people living in there and in the entire country as a whole.
The Black Lives Matter movement was founded in 2013 after the 2012 murder of 17-year-
old Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, a white police officer. This incident caused a
nationwide uproar and gained international attention. That incident, and many others like that,
pushed Alicia Garza and some of her peers to start the Black Lives Matter movement, and
they addressed the same societal issues that the civil rights movement addressed. Alicia
Garza, in her speech, talks about how important it is to keep pushing for the eradication of
state-sanctioned violence and anti-black racism once and for all (
Jones, 2018). She goes on to
state that the movement aims at not just ending police brutality or extrajudicial killings but
the fundamental right of black people to live with dignity and respect. In her speech, she also
ANALYZING BODY LANGUAGE
1
seeks full and fair employment of domestic workers to uproot structural racism and has had
success in winning five state-level bills in five states in five years.
Character and Charisma
Martin Luther King has a distinct, somewhat high-pitched voice that could quickly get a
crowd rallying around him to hear him speak. Being a minister of a Baptist Church, he knew
how to work with a crowd and get their attention on what to say, and he was even considered
a modern-day philosopher. The confidence he exudes in front of all those people is
impressive. He is smartly dressed for the occasion and seems composed despite his voice
going up sometimes amidst cheers from the crowd.
There needs to be more room to move around for Dr King, as the podium where he stands
is surrounded by people down the Lincoln Memorial steps (King, 1999). There are few head
and arm movements, which would be the alternative for a speaker restricted to moving
around the stage, which further implies that he is composed and brings out his non-violent
nature.
On the other hand, Alicia is smartly dressed and moves around the stage with ease as she
delivers the speech in an auditorium. Her demeanor is also composed, but she gets a little bit
animated a few minutes into the speech, and some of the issues she raises are close to her
heart (
Jones, 2018). The similarities between Dr King’s speech and Alicia's is that the crowd
pays attention to what both speakers are saying and want to be there. Alicia's speech,
however, gets little cheers, and one can tell that the crowd in the auditorium is not as ecstatic
as the one in the Lincoln Memorial for Dr King's speech.
Another difference is the sheer number of people that turned up for Dr King's speech - a
mind-numbing 200,000 plus people. Being in an auditorium, Alicia's speech could only
accommodate a relatively small number of people.
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ANALYZING BODY LANGUAGE
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The Way Location Supports Messaging
The messaging from both speakers varies because the speeches are held in different
venues. Dr King's speech is held in an open space where many people gathered and the
energy and enthusiasm that such a crowd can rile up is nothing short of spectacular (King,
1999). Alicia's speech, delivered in an auditorium, could only carry so many people, and
there is an expectation that people listening or audience members need to interrupt the
speaker when they are done. This is evident in the little response she gets from the audience.
Audience
The audience in Dr King's speech is very much invested in what he is saying compared to
the one in the auditorium for Alicia's speech (King, 1999). Considering the 50s and 60s civil
rights movement was more popular than the Black Lives Matter movement, one can easily
see the stark difference between these two crowds. The civil rights movement even had a
good number of white people who could easily be seen in the crowd rallying behind their
cause, compared to the Black Lives Matter movement, which has occasionally received lousy
press for different reasons.
References
C. F. C. R. (2015, August 11).
RadTalks: Alicia Garza
. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cniRNj6m0-A
ANALYZING BODY LANGUAGE
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Jones, A. (2018). Alicia Garza:
Situated Analysis and Practicing Being Free
.
King, M. L. (1999, January 1).
“I Have a Dream” Speech
.
R. F. (2017, November 7).
I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King.Jr HD
(subtitled)
. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4iY1TtS3s