0:00:03 > 0:00:06- KING:- Well, it may be true that morality cannot be legislated,
0:00:06 > 0:00:08but behaviour can be regulated.
0:00:09 > 0:00:14It may be true that the law cannot change the heart...
0:00:14 > 0:00:16THEY SHOUT OUT
0:00:16 > 0:00:18..but it can restrain the heartless.
0:00:21 > 0:00:22In 1967,
0:00:22 > 0:00:26Dr Martin Luther King was in the thick of the civil rights struggle.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30And so that is a challenge, and a great one.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Opponents, black and white, lined up against him.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38That same year, he made the 8,000 mile round trip to Newcastle
0:00:38 > 0:00:41to receive an honorary doctorate from the city's university.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44- And deliver... KING:- We've got to come to see...
0:00:44 > 0:00:47..a poignant and revealing speech.
0:00:47 > 0:00:54..that the destiny of white and coloured persons is tied together.
0:00:55 > 0:01:00For the first time, we show the film of King's speech,
0:01:00 > 0:01:01to those who were there,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04those who lived in a city renowned for racial harmony,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07but where racism wasn't far from the surface,
0:01:07 > 0:01:12and ask, why did this giant of the civil rights movement
0:01:12 > 0:01:15travel so far to spend a few short hours
0:01:15 > 0:01:17in a place he knew little of?
0:01:17 > 0:01:19- KING:- For freedom
0:01:19 > 0:01:21and human dignity.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31MARCHERS SHOUT IN UNISON
0:01:32 > 0:01:34In November 1967,
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Dr Martin Luther King was jailed
0:01:36 > 0:01:39on a charge of holding an illegal march.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44Ambassador Andrew Young was a close friend and ally.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47He didn't like jail...
0:01:48 > 0:01:52..but he felt that jail time was important...
0:01:53 > 0:01:55..to cut yourself off from the world.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58And to strengthen yourself spiritually.
0:02:03 > 0:02:074,000 miles away in Newcastle, they were worried.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10Within days, he was due to receive an honorary doctorate.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15The university cabled its concern and was quickly reassured.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19- WOMAN READS:- "Dr King will arrive Newcastle by train
0:02:19 > 0:02:22"morning of November 13th as planned.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24"Departing same afternoon.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27"Regret inability to spend more time at university."
0:02:31 > 0:02:34A few days later, on the 13th of November,
0:02:34 > 0:02:36Martin Luther King arrived.
0:02:36 > 0:02:37Until the last minute,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40it wasn't known whether he would actually speak at the ceremony.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47Barbara Bosanquet, wife of Vice-Chancellor Charles Bosanquet,
0:02:47 > 0:02:49kept a diary of events.
0:02:51 > 0:02:52This is what she writes.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56"Another great and moving occasion
0:02:56 > 0:02:58"took place in November 1967.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02"The university invited Dr Martin Luther King.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06"He travelled up with his young secretary, Andrew Young.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09"They had baths and breakfast with us at the Vice Chancellor's Lodge.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13"They're both very tired men, so they rested
0:03:13 > 0:03:16"until was time to leave for the ceremony.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20"He was asked at the last moment if he would say a few words after
0:03:20 > 0:03:22"receiving the degree.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24"And he said he would, off the cuff."
0:03:27 > 0:03:30- KING:- I need not cause to say...
0:03:30 > 0:03:31For many years, it was believed
0:03:31 > 0:03:34there was no record of King's speech.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39In fact, the film lay in the university's archives,
0:03:39 > 0:03:42yards from researchers trying to piece together King's visit.
0:03:44 > 0:03:45It was a little treasure trove.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47And in the midst of that documentation,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50there is something that led me to believe that it had been filmed.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56Contacted the audiovisual centre.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Sure enough, they found, you know, the tin cans
0:03:58 > 0:03:59with the old footage in it.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08The formal ceremony itself was short.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14The university's public orator, John Burnet, set the scene.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18So, Mr Chancellor, I ask you now
0:04:18 > 0:04:22to confer upon Martin Luther King, Christian pastor...
0:04:22 > 0:04:25Charles Nicholson, a student, was on the podium.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29..the degree of Doctor of Civil Law.
0:04:29 > 0:04:30Chance had thrown me
0:04:30 > 0:04:35from a working-class background kid into the presence
0:04:35 > 0:04:36of Martin Luther King.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40At the ceremony, Charles carried the mace.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43For this special occasion, they wanted a student to do it.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46So, it was very nerve-racking, yes.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50They'd given me the normal mace bearer's gloves,
0:04:50 > 0:04:53which were about ten sizes too big for me.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56So, I was very frightened that I was going to drop the mace
0:04:56 > 0:04:57or do something wrong.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00Ladies and gentlemen.
0:05:01 > 0:05:07I need not pause to say how very delighted I am to be here today.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11We were quite surprised when the speech occurred
0:05:11 > 0:05:13and incredibly impressed
0:05:13 > 0:05:17by the speech and the fact that he made it without any notes.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20It was just straight off the top of his head.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Racism is a reality...
0:05:24 > 0:05:27..in many sections of our world today.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Racism is still
0:05:32 > 0:05:35the coloured man's burden and the white man's shame.
0:05:38 > 0:05:44And the world will never rise to its full moral
0:05:44 > 0:05:49or political or even social maturity
0:05:49 > 0:05:52until racism is totally eradicated.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58The speech warned of the risk of creating ghettos in Britain,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01of the dangers of everyday racism.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03King plucked phrases from a repertoire used
0:06:03 > 0:06:05in his previous performances.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Yet, the speech had a profound effect on those who heard it.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12You give me renewed courage and vigour,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15- to carry on...- Such a...
0:06:15 > 0:06:18- ..and the struggle to make peace... - ..lovely guy.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20..and justice a reality...
0:06:20 > 0:06:21HE SOBS GENTLY
0:06:21 > 0:06:24..for all men and women all over the world.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30Paul Barry photographed the event for The Courier,
0:06:30 > 0:06:32the university's student newspaper.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36And I can assure you that this day
0:06:36 > 0:06:42will remain dear to me as long as the chords of memory shall lengthen.
0:06:45 > 0:06:46I'm not an emotional man.
0:06:53 > 0:06:54But...
0:06:55 > 0:06:57..what he...
0:07:00 > 0:07:06..catalysed, I think, was to do things to help.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09You honour the hundreds and thousands of people
0:07:09 > 0:07:14with whom I have been in the struggle for racial justice.
0:07:14 > 0:07:21To be in the same room as this person was just phenomenal.
0:07:21 > 0:07:27The basic thing about Martin that I remember is he was just a lovely
0:07:27 > 0:07:31person with no airs and graces, no big "I ams".
0:07:31 > 0:07:35He was just wanting to know about other people.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39You got that sense of, this was a very rare person.
0:07:40 > 0:07:45Whether it exists in England or whether it exists in South Africa,
0:07:45 > 0:07:50wherever it is alive, racism must be defeated.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55That particular speech
0:07:55 > 0:07:58motivated my involvement in protests
0:07:58 > 0:08:01a month or so later against the white
0:08:01 > 0:08:03South African rugby team.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09I really don't think up until that point I challenged anything.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13I think he was the catalyst for me
0:08:13 > 0:08:18becoming what I did become throughout my life.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23The tragedy of racism is that it is based not on an empirical
0:08:23 > 0:08:27generalisation, but on an ontological affirmation.
0:08:27 > 0:08:28You could've heard a pin drop.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31He just told you how it was from his heart.
0:08:32 > 0:08:39It is the idea that the very being of a people is inferior.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Meredyth Bell was there in 1967.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44He was a very impressive orator.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49And all the students were so enthusiastic when he got the degree.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52This is something important for a man
0:08:52 > 0:08:55who did so much to combat racism.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57What an honour for us.
0:08:59 > 0:09:00There's me!
0:09:01 > 0:09:05Chris Clode, a student, was also in the audience.
0:09:05 > 0:09:06HE LAUGHS HEARTILY
0:09:07 > 0:09:11I think you store the resonance of the things that people like him
0:09:11 > 0:09:13and like Mandela said.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16And they bury themselves somewhere in the back of your mind.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19And hopefully, they become a sort of guide, you know,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22a guide for yourself later on.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25It may be true that the law can't make a man love me,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28but it can restrain him from lynching me.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31And I think that is pretty important also.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33There was something about them.
0:09:35 > 0:09:42It was their stature, their pace with which they spoke to people...
0:09:42 > 0:09:45And so that is a challenge, and a great one.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48Their inclusiveness...
0:09:48 > 0:09:53For all men of goodwill to work passionately and unrelentingly...
0:09:55 > 0:10:00And the way that they would listen to their enemies.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03Which, I think, was almost unique about them.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07For me to express my deep and genuine appreciation...
0:10:09 > 0:10:10The speech was delivered at a time
0:10:10 > 0:10:12of increasing racial tension in Britain.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17- CROWD:- ..six, eight. We don't want to integrate!
0:10:17 > 0:10:21In the late '60s, the Conservative MP Enoch Powell
0:10:21 > 0:10:24was making lurid speeches about immigration.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26They were seized on by racists.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28In 15 or 20 years' time,
0:10:28 > 0:10:33the black man will have the whip hand over the white man.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37Enoch Powell spoke the truth and he's been sacked for it!
0:10:37 > 0:10:4288% of Slough people say they support Enoch Powell.
0:10:42 > 0:10:4488% Slough people.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48It wasn't just in southern England.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51Racist letters were published in the Newcastle papers.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55He's dead right about the darkies.
0:10:55 > 0:11:00It's too late to avoid the fate overtaking the United States.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02We put up with the coloured people for years.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04To have them taking our houses, jobs,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07school places will be going just too far.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Workers at a Tyneside factory walked out,
0:11:12 > 0:11:16refusing to work with "coloured staff", as they put it.
0:11:16 > 0:11:17The factory's workforce was all white.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Parmjit Mattu experienced racism first-hand.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27There's always been verbal abuse.
0:11:27 > 0:11:28And derogatory names.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33I would never have worn Asian clothes on the streets.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Never. Because people would verbally abuse you.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39My full name's Parmjit.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42But the teachers couldn't actually say Parmjit,
0:11:42 > 0:11:44so they named me Pamela.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47And it was only at secondary school I was thinking, well, you know,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50I'm actually going to tell them my name's Parmjit.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54Chris Mullard met King in 1964.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56On his advice, he set up the Newcastle branch
0:11:56 > 0:11:58of the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03One experienced more or less daily racism.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06You know, people calling one "nigger", people calling...
0:12:06 > 0:12:08Insults of that kind.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15To deny that it was racist would be, you know, foolhardy.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18It was racist like in every other part of the country.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22Institutionalised racism was a reality.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26I was the very first community relations officer for the whole area.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29So, most of my work was casework.
0:12:29 > 0:12:34One particular case, which went on for years, was out in a small little
0:12:34 > 0:12:36village in Northumberland.
0:12:36 > 0:12:37And a doctor's family,
0:12:37 > 0:12:42where all sorts of dreadful things were happening.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44The whole village ganged up against her.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49But it would be wrong to portray the North East
0:12:49 > 0:12:50as simply a hotbed of racism.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53It also had a reputation for having better race relations
0:12:53 > 0:12:55than other parts of Britain.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00Newcastle MP Chi Onwurah was a child when King came.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02But all over the world today...
0:13:02 > 0:13:04We had our windows broken.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08We had dog muck smeared on our windows.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13So, the daily realities and challenges that many people have to face,
0:13:13 > 0:13:17you know, they were certainly there in the '60s and '70s.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21But Newcastle has long and enduring values
0:13:21 > 0:13:24and a long tradition of the fight for social justice.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30I think that reputation for...
0:13:31 > 0:13:37..for racial harmony is absolutely right in terms of the values.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39PROTESTORS SHOUT
0:13:42 > 0:13:46There was also a tradition of demonstrating and recognising civil rights activists
0:13:46 > 0:13:48stretching back to the campaign against slavery.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55Frederick Douglass, the most important black abolitionist of the 19th century, comes to Newcastle.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00William Wells Brown, the man who publishes the first black novel in the United States
0:14:00 > 0:14:03and a former slave himself, he comes through Newcastle.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06Says it's the most a friendly place he's ever encountered
0:14:06 > 0:14:07for people of colour.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19Those who met King at Newcastle were struck by his calm and presence.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24There are certain things in your life that you will always remember.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26And when he came into a room, it was like a spotlight came on.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29I mean, it didn't, but you felt it did. And people moved for him.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33He was very courteous.
0:14:33 > 0:14:34And he asked us what we studied.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36And I was doing dentistry.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38So, he said, it's very professional.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41And he gave you that feeling that you were the only person
0:14:41 > 0:14:44that was important.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46He had three colleagues with him, black Americans,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49and they had these incredible mohair suits on which were, I mean,
0:14:49 > 0:14:54for a student, you know, on £2 a week, it was wow!
0:14:54 > 0:14:55There was money there.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01He just seemed perfectly normal.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05Very quiet, approachable, friendly man.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09Well, we were all wearing our suits and ties and on our best behaviour.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13I remember Andrew Young saying to me,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15"Don't you have any radical students at this university?"
0:15:25 > 0:15:29By 1967, King was under pressure.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33There is concern about his being away from the US and his mood.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39He was always in anguish and in doubt,
0:15:39 > 0:15:42mostly about himself.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44He often wondered,
0:15:44 > 0:15:47"Why was I going to lead this?"
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Singer Harry Belafonte was a close ally and friend.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05For him to leave America and we were still in our own upheaval,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08his presence out of the country
0:16:08 > 0:16:09meant a lot to us.
0:16:13 > 0:16:19Dr King was under brutal, brutal pressure.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23The government of the United States, they'd crucified him.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29- ON FILM:- Dr King, one of the foremost fighters for civil rights,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32is one of many speakers who remind the gathering
0:16:32 > 0:16:35that this march must not be counted a final victory or defeat,
0:16:35 > 0:16:41no matter what the immediate reaction of the members of Congress may be.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43One of the most powerful men in the world,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46and certainly in the American government,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48was a man by the name of J Edgar Hoover.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51He ran the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55It corrupts our youth and blights the lives of our adults.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59He did everything in his power to discredit Dr King.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08No, no. Black people are not going to let white people just slap them any more.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10So, what do you see happening now?
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Well, every time they slap us, we're going to move to break their arms.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17Fellow civil rights campaigners criticised him for being too soft,
0:17:17 > 0:17:19and for preaching nonviolence.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24A nonviolent demonstration gives individuals a chance
0:17:24 > 0:17:27to let out their pent-up frustrations.
0:17:29 > 0:17:36They didn't believe that we were able to go through all of
0:17:36 > 0:17:39the difficulties - the jailings, the beatings, the dogs,
0:17:39 > 0:17:41the fire hoses -
0:17:41 > 0:17:44without any bitterness and without any hostility.
0:17:48 > 0:17:54We had been at the task of trying to change our conditions for so long
0:17:54 > 0:17:57that people were beginning to become weary.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00Faced with so much criticism,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03the honour became extremely important to King.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05It represented much needed support.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07And it could be widely publicised.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12His speech from Newcastle had huge impact in the Commonwealth.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17I mean, his, his...
0:18:17 > 0:18:21Being honoured at Newcastle was no secret in the Caribbean.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24It was no secret among the English-speaking Highlands.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28It was no secret among millions of people on the continent of Africa.
0:18:30 > 0:18:36They were willing to stand up for what was right with a little man
0:18:36 > 0:18:38who had no army, no money.
0:18:39 > 0:18:45And the only reason he was being recognised was because of a moral vision.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51To have a university in England share that vision
0:18:51 > 0:18:56was a very powerful asset to his ministry.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59MUSIC: Baby Love by The Supremes
0:18:59 > 0:19:01# Baby love, my baby love... #
0:19:01 > 0:19:05The Supremes singer Mary Wilson supported King, raised funds.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11Racism is exactly what it says it is.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13This is the first time she's seen the speech.
0:19:13 > 0:19:18Racism is a myth of the inferior race.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20This needs to be shown in America.
0:19:20 > 0:19:26It is a notion that a particular race is worthless.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30People always saw him in the struggle.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34It would be good to see that this wonderful honour was given to him.
0:19:34 > 0:19:40Your honouring me today in this very meaningful way
0:19:40 > 0:19:42is of inestimable value.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47Many black people were not honoured in those days.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51So, that was an extremely high honour.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53For a black man.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56And although I cannot in any way
0:19:56 > 0:19:59say that I am worthy of such...
0:19:59 > 0:20:03It took someone from outside of the United States
0:20:03 > 0:20:07to give someone an honour like this.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09Before America would do it.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13My deep and genuine appreciation to the University of Newcastle
0:20:13 > 0:20:16for honouring me today in such a significant way.
0:20:17 > 0:20:23I think that it was probably one of the highest points in his life,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26to receive the honour from Newcastle University.
0:20:29 > 0:20:35Newcastle in the 1960s was not the vibrant, cosmopolitan city of today.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38Its shipbuilding, mines and factories were in decline.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42But its university had ambition and guts.
0:20:42 > 0:20:43It risked a backlash in honouring King.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48Others who had invited him to speak were pressured to cancel.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52Not too long after Newcastle,
0:20:52 > 0:20:55it had been arranged for him to go to speak
0:20:55 > 0:20:58to the American church in Paris.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02The State Department had so intimidated that little church that
0:21:02 > 0:21:07they withdrew its invitation to Dr King and told him
0:21:07 > 0:21:10that we are under much too much duress.
0:21:11 > 0:21:16In fact, Newcastle was the only British university to honour King
0:21:16 > 0:21:19in his lifetime. The question is, why?
0:21:21 > 0:21:25Newcastle gets its autonomy as an institution in 1963
0:21:25 > 0:21:28and it becomes part of its mission to try to insert itself
0:21:28 > 0:21:30into the great social debates of the day.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34The university wants to be on the right side of the angels.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38It wants to acknowledge King's previous work
0:21:38 > 0:21:43and to give him a sense of encouragement to continue that work.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46But it would be foolish to say that it doesn't also see some benefit
0:21:46 > 0:21:48from actually bringing this kind of figure to campus.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53King's safety was an issue wherever he went.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57David Maslin couldn't get into the hall at Newcastle.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01He hid in a corridor hoping to catch a glimpse of the great man.
0:22:01 > 0:22:02And startled him.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06I stood here in this position.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09And as they were going by,
0:22:09 > 0:22:14I was looked at by the academic, a little bit angrily, I thought.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18And Martin Luther King then looked up and he saw me.
0:22:18 > 0:22:19And he pulled back a little bit.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22I thought it was almost like a slight flinching movement.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24I don't know quite what he thought,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27whether there was a small element of fear or anxiety.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31While taking tea with the Newcastle students,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34the possibility of assassination was raised.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37Catherine Potter reads from her mother's diary.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41"One of the students asked if he was scared of being shot.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45"He answered yes, of course he was.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48"But what was the use of being scared?
0:22:48 > 0:22:51"He said sensible precautions were always taken.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54"A special guard was travelling with him in England.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57"But he had to go on with his work."
0:22:59 > 0:23:04He said, "Like everybody else, I'd like to live for a long, long time.
0:23:04 > 0:23:09"What I'm more interested in is how well I have lived.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11"And that I did something for humanity."
0:23:13 > 0:23:19He said, you must overcome the love of wealth and the fear of death.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Only then can you truly be a free human being.
0:23:24 > 0:23:25And I think he practised that.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29In January 1968,
0:23:29 > 0:23:34King wrote thanking Newcastle University for its tremendous encouragement.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39He added, "I do hope that our paths will cross again sometime in the
0:23:39 > 0:23:40"not too distant future."
0:23:48 > 0:23:50On the 4th of April, 1968,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53Dr Martin Luther King was shot dead
0:23:53 > 0:23:57on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Andrew Young, standing below in the car park,
0:24:01 > 0:24:02had been speaking to him.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08And all of a sudden, we heard a shot.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11Which I thought was a...
0:24:11 > 0:24:12a firecracker.
0:24:12 > 0:24:17Until I looked up there and saw that he was no longer standing.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21And my first reaction was, he's clowning.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23He went back into the room.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25But when I ran up there,
0:24:25 > 0:24:30I saw him laying with half of his neck blown away.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32And I realised that...
0:24:33 > 0:24:36..he had died instantly and probably didn't even...
0:24:37 > 0:24:38..didn't even hear the shot.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44So ended the life of one of history's greatest fighters
0:24:44 > 0:24:46for social justice.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49His death reverberated around the world.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53America, where the death of another man, Dr Martin Luther King,
0:24:53 > 0:24:55has left the sane world stunned and...
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Martin Luther King was the leadership.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03And now, all of a sudden, we've lost the leadership.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12It is such an evil thing to have happened to this man.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16The waste, the tragedy of it, is just enormous.
0:25:16 > 0:25:17Dreadful.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24It was despair that someone so great...
0:25:27 > 0:25:28..could be...
0:25:30 > 0:25:32..killed. I mean, just...
0:25:39 > 0:25:43A new print of the film has been made by the North East Film Archive.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47The words of a man who drew comfort
0:25:47 > 0:25:51from an honour bestowed on him by a Northern university,
0:25:51 > 0:25:56a man who made his mark on history, are preserved for posterity.
0:25:56 > 0:26:04There are three urgent and indeed great problems that we face.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09That is a problem of racism, the problem of poverty
0:26:09 > 0:26:11and the problem of war.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16That's the unfinished part of his movement.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19To redeem the soul of America,
0:26:19 > 0:26:22and, I should say now, and the world,
0:26:22 > 0:26:27from the triple evils of racism, war and poverty.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31And the things that I have been trying to do
0:26:31 > 0:26:35has been to deal forthrightly...
0:26:36 > 0:26:39..and in depth
0:26:39 > 0:26:44with these great and grave problems that pervade our world.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48We were proud of Martin Luther King.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50People were proud of him.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54Well, it may be true that morality cannot be legislated,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57but behaviour can be regulated.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00Today, we need leadership.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03We don't have that kind of leadership.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08And through changes and habits pretty soon added to the new changes
0:27:08 > 0:27:15will take place and even the heart may be changed in the process.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17He was a courageous man.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22And I'm glad the University of Newcastle...
0:27:22 > 0:27:24honoured that courage.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26We've got to come to see
0:27:26 > 0:27:29that the destiny of
0:27:29 > 0:27:34white and coloured persons
0:27:34 > 0:27:36is tied together.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42We all felt it was a honourable thing that Newcastle did.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45With this faith, we will be able to transform
0:27:45 > 0:27:48the jangling discords of our nation
0:27:48 > 0:27:52and speed up the day when all over the world,
0:27:52 > 0:27:56justice will roll down like waters
0:27:56 > 0:28:00and righteousness like a mighty stream.
0:28:00 > 0:28:01Thank you.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03APPLAUSE