The Words of Martin Luther King Jr. Reverberate in a Tumultuous Time Dr. King’s speeches have particular resonance today amid a year of sickness and death, Black Lives Matter protests and the storming of the Capitol. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. waving to the crowd during the March on Washington in 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial, where he gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.Credit...Central Press/Getty Images Published Jan. 18, 2021Updated Jan. 19, 2021 He lived and died in a time of tumult and a racial awakening, so perhaps it is no surprise that the 35th national celebration of the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday has particular resonance amid one of the most traumatic seasons in memory: A raging pandemic. Protest and civil unrest after the killing of Black people by the police. A momentous election. And an insurrection.