great speeches ks3

Great Speeches: An Introduction to Rhetoric

Click on the button above to access a booklet that contains twelve speeches from the figures below…

• 1599 Mark Anthony’s funeral oration
• 1852 Frederick Douglass’s Fourth of July speech
• 1863 Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address
• 1913 Emmeline Pankhurst’s Freedom or Death speech
• 1939 Neville Chamberlain’s speech to the House of Commons
• 1952 Richard Nixon’s ‘Checkers’ speech
• 1962 Harvey Milk’s Gay Freedom Day Parade speech
• 1963 Martin Luther King’s March for Jobs and Freedom address
• 1996 Nora Ephron’s Wellesley College commencement address
• 2008 Barak Obama’s election night speech
• 2010 Julia Gillard’s ‘misogyny’ speech
• 2021 Sandra Oh’s Stop Asian Hate protest speech

I’ve included a short introduction to each one, as per the example below…

The lines are 1.5 spaced and there’s plenty of room in the margins for annotations etc. Everything is fully editable.

Hope the stuff’s useful –

[email protected]

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Speeches That Changed the World

Explore key historic figures through their speeches & help students step into their shoes (drama/history, ks2-3).

History is shaped by individuals in particular times and places, tolerating uncertainty, daring to be different, sticking with difficulty and speaking up for making change. In these three learning sequences, pupils will explore key historic figures through their speeches that shaped and are shaping history: Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Mary Prince, and Malala Yousafzai.

Increasingly, we've come to know these historical figures through portrayals on stage and screen. These learning sequences – created by Butterfly Theatre Company – use the approaches of an actor to inhabit the life of a character. In exploring these figures and the powerful speeches they made, pupils will be fuelled to explore their own sense of justice, what they feel strongly about, and what speech they will create for themselves.

Key Stage 2

A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066.

Key Stage 3

• Ideas, political power, industry, and empire: Britain, 1745-1901
• Challenges for Britain, Europe, and the wider world, 1901 to the present day
• Understand how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world
• Gain a historically grounded understanding of ‘segregation’, ‘abolition’, and ‘civil and human rights’
• Gain historical perspective by placing young people’s growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between national and international history; between cultural, political, religious and social history
• I can understand how history and social change can be affected through the efforts of individuals
• I can understand how historic figures have persuaded others to see their point of view and gain confidence in using these skills myself
• KS2 – I can give informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information
• KS3 – I can create relevant, structured evidentially supported accounts in response to an enquiry
• I have shown persistence and tenacity by sticking with something I found difficult in order to come up with a good idea
• I have been able to learn from and empathise with other people’s experiences

As teachers, we all know that young people benefit from learning about their own learning.

These sequences focus on the skill of persistence : learning to articulate it as part of a growth mindset, to assess it in self-reflection and, in turn, to link this creative capacity to the historic figures they are exploring.

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• more resources in this series

Which Me Do You See?

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What Are the Links Between Colonialism & the Environment?

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Consent and Healthy Relationships

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CPD modules

Aileen Gonsalves & Tracy Irish from Butterfly Theatre Company demonstrate activities from the resource & shares tips for supporting students

Author's notes

Aileen gives a deep dive into the topics explored in the resource

More Teaching for Creativity resources

How can we empower young people to value themselves and support their own mental wellbeing? (RSE, KS3)

Exploring Black British history in London (History, KS3)

Bring nature into the classroom & change your students' perception of the natural world (DT & Science, KS2-3)

Tap into the power of music & help students explore their emotions (Music/Drama/PSHE, KS3)

Uncover the impacts of colonialism on biodiversity & encourage students to imagine new ways of living (Geography, KS3)

How can we support our pupils to celebrate and respect difference within a wider world context? (RSE, KS2-3)

Use poetry to help students explore permission, consent & personal boundaries (RSE/PSHE, KS2)

Use poetry to help students explore what healthy relationships mean to them (RSE/ RHE, KS3)

Additional resources, further reading & appendices

Some suggested external articles & resources related to topics covered by the Teaching for Creativity resources

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Practising persuasive speeches

I can write a persuasive speech about my new word.

Lesson details

Key learning points.

• Rhetorical questions, anecdotes and direct address are a great way to ‘hook’ your audience at the start of a speech
• The content of a speech needs to be sufficiently developed for the argument to be convincing
• Language devices should be creative, original and matched to the purpose and audience of a speech.

Common misconception

That as long as they are using language devices in their speeches, this is enough.

There is great variety in quality in the execution of language devices. The best devices are creative, original and well-matched to purpose.

Convincing - If a speech is convincing then it is able to persuade someone of the merits of something.

Original - If a piece of writing is original then it is not like anything written before and more interesting as a result.

Persuasion - Persuasion is the action or process of persuading someone.

Anecdote - An anecdote is a short story from personal experience for effect.

Rhetorical question - Rhetorical questions pose an idea or make a point without needing to be answered.

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited ( 2024 ), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Starter quiz

6 questions.

Rhetorical questions -  

pose an idea or make a point without needing to be answered.

Anecdote -  

a short story from personal experience for effect.

Direct address -  

when a speaker addresses their audience directly.

Uncategorized

40 famous persuasive speeches you need to hear.

Written by Kai Xin Koh

Across eras of calamity and peace in our world’s history, a great many leaders, writers, politicians, theorists, scientists, activists and other revolutionaries have unveiled powerful rousing speeches in their bids for change. In reviewing the plethora of orators across tides of social, political and economic change, we found some truly rousing speeches that brought the world to their feet or to a startling, necessary halt. We’ve chosen 40 of the most impactful speeches we managed to find from agents of change all over the world – a diversity of political campaigns, genders, positionalities and periods of history. You’re sure to find at least a few speeches in this list which will capture you with the sheer power of their words and meaning!

1. I have a dream by MLK

“I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification – one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning “My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father’s died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!”

Unsurprisingly, Martin Luther King’s speech comes up top as the most inspiring speech of all time, especially given the harrowing conditions of African Americans in America at the time. In the post-abolition era when slavery was outlawed constitutionally, African Americans experienced an intense period of backlash from white supremacists who supported slavery where various institutional means were sought to subordinate African American people to positions similar to that of the slavery era. This later came to be known as the times of Jim Crow and segregation, which Martin Luther King powerfully voiced his vision for a day when racial discrimination would be a mere figment, where equality would reign.

2. Tilbury Speech by Queen Elizabeth I

“My loving people, We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit our selves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already, for your forwardness you have deserved rewards and crowns; and We do assure you on a word of a prince, they shall be duly paid. In the mean time, my lieutenant general shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject; not doubting but by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over these enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people.”

While at war with Spain, Queen Elizabeth I was most renowned for her noble speech rallying the English troops against their comparatively formidable opponent. Using brilliant rhetorical devices like metonymy, meronymy, and other potent metaphors, she voiced her deeply-held commitment as a leader to the battle against the Spanish Armada – convincing the English army to keep holding their ground and upholding the sacrifice of war for the good of their people. Eventually against all odds, she led England to victory despite their underdog status in the conflict with her confident and masterful oratory.

3. Woodrow Wilson, address to Congress (April 2, 1917)

“The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them. Just because we fight without rancor and without selfish object, seeking nothing for ourselves but what we shall wish to share with all free peoples, we shall, I feel confident, conduct our operations as belligerents without passion and ourselves observe with proud punctilio the principles of right and of fair play we profess to be fighting for. … It will be all the easier for us to conduct ourselves as belligerents in a high spirit of right and fairness because we act without animus, not in enmity toward a people or with the desire to bring any injury or disadvantage upon them, but only in armed opposition to an irresponsible government which has thrown aside all considerations of humanity and of right and is running amuck. We are, let me say again, the sincere friends of the German people, and shall desire nothing so much as the early reestablishment of intimate relations of mutual advantage between us—however hard it may be for them, for the time being, to believe that this is spoken from our hearts. We have borne with their present government through all these bitter months because of that friendship—exercising a patience and forbearance which would otherwise have been impossible. We shall, happily, still have an opportunity to prove that friendship in our daily attitude and actions toward the millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy who live among us and share our life, and we shall be proud to prove it toward all who are in fact loyal to their neighbors and to the government in the hour of test. They are, most of them, as true and loyal Americans as if they had never known any other fealty or allegiance. They will be prompt to stand with us in rebuking and restraining the few who may be of a different mind and purpose. If there should be disloyalty, it will be dealt with with a firm hand of stern repression; but, if it lifts its head at all, it will lift it only here and there and without countenance except from a lawless and malignant few. It is a distressing and oppressive duty, gentlemen of the Congress, which I have performed in thus addressing you. There are, it may be, many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts—for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free. To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other.”

On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson of the USA delivered his address to Congress, calling for declaration of war against what was at the time, a belligerent and aggressive Germany in WWI. Despite his isolationism and anti-war position earlier in his tenure as president, he convinced Congress that America had a moral duty to the world to step out of their neutral observer status into an active role of world leadership and stewardship in order to liberate attacked nations from their German aggressors. The idealistic values he preached in his speech left an indelible imprint upon the American spirit and self-conception, forming the moral basis for the country’s people and aspirational visions to this very day.

4. Ain’t I A Woman by Sojourner Truth

“That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman? … If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.”

Hailing from a background of slavery and oppression, Sojourner Truth was one of the most revolutionary advocates for women’s human rights in the 1800s. In spite of the New York Anti-Slavery Law of 1827, her slavemaster refused to free her. As such, she fled, became an itinerant preacher and leading figure in the anti-slavery movement. By the 1850s, she became involved in the women’s rights movement as well. At the 1851 Women’s Rights Convention held in Akron, Ohio, she delivered her illuminating, forceful speech against discrimination of women and African Americans in the post-Civil War era, entrenching her status as one of the most revolutionary abolitionists and women’s rights activists across history.

5. The Gettsyburg Address by Abraham Lincoln

“Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

President Abraham Lincoln had left the most lasting legacy upon American history for good reason, as one of the presidents with the moral courage to denounce slavery for the national atrocity it was. However, more difficult than standing up for the anti-slavery cause was the task of unifying the country post-abolition despite the looming shadows of a time when white Americans could own and subjugate slaves with impunity over the thousands of Americans who stood for liberation of African Americans from discrimination. He urged Americans to remember their common roots, heritage and the importance of “charity for all”, to ensure a “just and lasting peace” among within the country despite throes of racial division and self-determination.

6. Woman’s Rights to the Suffrage by Susan B Anthony

“For any State to make sex a qualification that must ever result in the disfranchisement of one entire half of the people is to pass a bill of attainder, or an ex post facto law, and is therefore a violation of the supreme law of the land. By it the blessings of liberty are for ever withheld from women and their female posterity. To them this government has no just powers derived from the consent of the governed. To them this government is not a democracy. It is not a republic. It is an odious aristocracy; a hateful oligarchy of sex; the most hateful aristocracy ever established on the face of the globe; an oligarchy of wealth, where the right govern the poor. An oligarchy of learning, where the educated govern the ignorant, or even an oligarchy of race, where the Saxon rules the African, might be endured; but this oligarchy of sex, which makes father, brothers, husband, sons, the oligarchs over the mother and sisters, the wife and daughters of every household–which ordains all men sovereigns, all women subjects, carries dissension, discord and rebellion into every home of the nation. Webster, Worcester and Bouvier all define a citizen to be a person in the United States, entitled to vote and hold office. The only question left to be settled now is: Are women persons? And I hardly believe any of our opponents will have the hardihood to say they are not. Being persons, then, women are citizens; and no State has a right to make any law, or to enforce any old law, that shall abridge their privileges or immunities. Hence, every discrimination against women in the constitutions and laws of the several States is today null and void, precisely as in every one against Negroes.”

Susan B. Anthony was a pivotal leader in the women’s suffrage movement who helped to found the National Woman Suffrage Association with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and fight for the constitutional right for women to vote. She courageously and relentlessly advocated for women’s rights, giving speeches all over the USA to convince people of women’s human rights to choice and the ballot. She is most well known for her act of righteous rebellion in 1872 when she voted in the presidential election illegally, for which she was arrested and tried unsuccessfully. She refused to pay the $100 fine in a bid to reject the demands of the American system she denounced as a ‘hateful oligarchy of sex’, sparking change with her righteous oratory and inspiring many others in the women’s suffrage movement within and beyond America.

7. Vladimir Lenin’s Speech at an International Meeting in Berne, February 8, 1916

“It may sound incredible, especially to Swiss comrades, but it is nevertheless true that in Russia, also, not only bloody tsarism, not only the capitalists, but also a section of the so-called or ex-Socialists say that Russia is fighting a “war of defence,” that Russia is only fighting against German invasion. The whole world knows, however, that for decades tsarism has been oppressing more than a hundred million people belonging to other nationalities in Russia; that for decades Russia has been pursuing a predatory policy towards China, Persia, Armenia and Galicia. Neither Russia, nor Germany, nor any other Great Power has the right to claim that it is waging a “war of defence”; all the Great Powers are waging an imperialist, capitalist war, a predatory war, a war for the oppression of small and foreign nations, a war for the sake of the profits of the capitalists, who are coining golden profits amounting to billions out of the appalling sufferings of the masses, out of the blood of the proletariat. … This again shows you, comrades, that in all countries of the world real preparations are being made to rally the forces of the working class. The horrors of war and the sufferings of the people are incredible. But we must not, and we have no reason whatever, to view the future with despair. The millions of victims who will fall in the war, and as a consequence of the war, will not fall in vain. The millions who are starving, the millions who are sacrificing their lives in the trenches, are not only suffering, they are also gathering strength, are pondering over the real cause of the war, are becoming more determined and are acquiring a clearer revolutionary understanding. Rising discontent of the masses, growing ferment, strikes, demonstrations, protests against the war—all this is taking place in all countries of the world. And this is the guarantee that the European War will be followed by the proletarian revolution against capitalism”

Vladimir Lenin remains to this day one of the most lauded communist revolutionaries in the world who brought the dangers of imperialism and capitalism to light with his rousing speeches condemning capitalist structures of power which inevitably enslave people to lives of misery and class stratification. In his genuine passion for the rights of the working class, he urged fellow comrades to turn the “imperialist war” into a “civil” or class war of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. He encouraged the development of new revolutionary socialist organisations, solidarity across places in society so people could unite against their capitalist overlords, and criticised nationalism for its divisive effect on the socialist movement. In this speech especially, he lambasts “bloody Tsarism” for its oppression of millions of people of other nationalities in Russia, calling for the working class people to revolt against the Tsarist authority for the proletariat revolution to succeed and liberate them from class oppression.

8. I Have A Dream Speech by Mary Wollstonecraft

“If, I say, for I would not impress by declamation when Reason offers her sober light, if they be really capable of acting like rational creatures, let them not be treated like slaves; or, like the brutes who are dependent on the reason of man, when they associate with him; but cultivate their minds, give them the salutary, sublime curb of principle, and let them attain conscious dignity by feeling themselves only dependent on God. Teach them, in common with man, to submit to necessity, instead of giving, to render them more pleasing, a sex to morals. Further, should experience prove that they cannot attain the same degree of strength of mind, perseverance, and fortitude, let their virtues be the same in kind, though they may vainly struggle for the same degree; and the superiority of man will be equally clear, if not clearer; and truth, as it is a simple principle, which admits of no modification, would be common to both. Nay, the order of society as it is at present regulated would not be inverted, for woman would then only have the rank that reason assigned her, and arts could not be practised to bring the balance even, much less to turn it.”

In her vindication of the rights of women, Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the pioneers of the feminist movement back in 1792 who not only theorised and advocated revolutionarily, but gave speeches that voiced these challenges against a dominantly sexist society intent on classifying women as irrational less-than-human creatures to be enslaved as they were. In this landmark speech, she pronounces her ‘dream’ of a day when women would be treated as the rational, deserving humans they are, who are equal to man in strength and capability. With this speech setting an effective precedent for her call to equalize women before the law, she also went on to champion the provision of equal educational opportunities to women and girls, and persuasively argued against the patriarchal gender norms which prevented women from finding their own lot in life through their being locked into traditional institutions of marriage and motherhood against their will.

9. First Inaugural Speech by Franklin D Roosevelt

“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days. … More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment. Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act quickly. … I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken Nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption. But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis — broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.”

Roosevelt’s famous inaugural speech was delivered in the midst of a period of immense tension and strain under the Great Depression, where he highlighted the need for ‘quick action’ by Congress to prepare for government expansion in his pursuit of reforms to lift the American people out of devastating poverty. In a landslide victory, he certainly consolidated the hopes and will of the American people through this compelling speech.

10. The Hypocrisy of American Slavery by Frederick Douglass

“What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mock; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy – a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour. Go search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.”

On 4 July 1852, Frederick Douglass gave this speech in Rochester, New York, highlighting the hypocrisy of celebrating freedom while slavery continues. He exposed the ‘revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy’ of slavery which had gone unabolished amidst the comparatively obscene celebration of independence and liberty with his potent speech and passion for the anti-abolition cause. After escaping from slavery, he went on to become a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York with his oratory and incisive antislavery writings. To this day, his fierce activism and devotion to exposing virulent racism for what it was has left a lasting legacy upon pro-Black social movements and the overall sociopolitical landscape of America.

11. Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

“You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I’ll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you? Don’t you take it awful hard ’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I’ve got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.”

With her iconic poem Still I Rise , Maya Angelou is well-known for uplifting fellow African American women through her empowering novels and poetry and her work as a civil rights activist. Every bit as lyrical on the page, her recitation of Still I Rise continues to give poetry audiences shivers all over the world, inspiring women of colour everywhere to keep the good faith in striving for equality and peace, while radically believing in and empowering themselves to be agents of change. A dramatic reading of the poem will easily showcase the self-belief, strength and punch that it packs in the last stanza on the power of resisting marginalization.

12. Their Finest Hour by Winston Churchill

“What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.””

In the darkest shadows cast by war, few leaders have been able to step up to the mantle and effectively unify millions of citizens for truly sacrificial causes. Winston Churchill was the extraordinary exception – lifting 1940 Britain out of the darkness with his hopeful, convicted rhetoric to galvanise the English amidst bleak, dreary days of war and loss. Through Britain’s standalone position in WWII against the Nazis, he left his legacy by unifying the nation under shared sacrifices of the army and commemorating their courage.

13. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

“Life for both sexes – and I looked at them (through a restaurant window while waiting for my lunch to be served), shouldering their way along the pavement – is arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle. It calls for gigantic courage and strength. More than anything, perhaps, creatures of illusion as we are, it calls for confidence in oneself. Without self-confidence we are babes in the cradle. And how can we generate this imponderable quality, which is yet so invaluable, most quickly? By thinking that other people are inferior to oneself. By feeling that one has some innate superiority – it may be wealth, or rank, a straight nose, or the portrait of a grandfather by Romney – for there is no end to the pathetic devices of the human imagination – over other people. Hence the enormous importance to a patriarch who has to conquer, who has to rule, of feeling that great numbers of people, half the human race indeed, are by nature inferior to himself. It must indeed be one of the great sources of his power….Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. Without that power probably the earth would still be swamp and jungle. The glories of all our wars would be on the remains of mutton bones and bartering flints for sheepskins or whatever simple ornament took our unsophisticated taste. Supermen and Fingers of Destiny would never have existed. The Czar and the Kaiser would never have worn their crowns or lost them. Whatever may be their use in civilised societies, mirrors are essential to all violent and heroic action. That is why Napoleon and Mussolini both insist so emphatically upon the inferiority of women, for if they were not inferior, they would cease to enlarge. That serves to explain in part the necessity that women so often are to men. And it serves to explain how restless they are under her criticism; how impossible it is for her to say to them this book is bad, this picture is feeble, or whatever it may be, without giving far more pain and rousing far more anger than a man would do who gave the same criticism. For if she begins to tell the truth, the figure in the looking-glass shrinks; his fitness in life is diminished. How is he to go on giving judgment, civilising natives, making laws, writing books, dressing up and speechifying at banquets, unless he can see himself at breakfast and at dinner at least twice the size he really is?”

In this transformational speech , Virginia Woolf pronounces her vision that ‘a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction’. She calls out the years in which women have been deprived of their own space for individual development through being chained to traditional arrangements or men’s prescriptions – demanding ‘gigantic courage’ and ‘confidence in oneself’ to brave through the onerous struggle of creating change for women’s rights. With her steadfast, stolid rhetoric and radical theorization, she paved the way for many women’s rights activists and writers to forge their own paths against patriarchal authority.

14. Inaugural Address by John F Kennedy

“In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility–I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it–and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”

For what is probably the most historically groundbreaking use of parallelism in speech across American history, President JFK placed the weighty task of ‘asking what one can do for their country’ onto the shoulders of each American citizen. Using an air of firmness in his rhetoric by declaring his commitment to his countrymen, he urges each American to do the same for the broader, noble ideal of freedom for all. With his crucial interrogation of a citizen’s moral duty to his nation, President JFK truly made history.

15. Atoms for Peace Speech by Dwight Eisenhower

“To pause there would be to confirm the hopeless finality of a belief that two atomic colossi are doomed malevolently to eye each other indefinitely across a trembling world. To stop there would be to accept helplessly the probability of civilization destroyed, the annihilation of the irreplaceable heritage of mankind handed down to us from generation to generation, and the condemnation of mankind to begin all over again the age-old struggle upward from savagery towards decency, and right, and justice. Surely no sane member of the human race could discover victory in such desolation. Could anyone wish his name to be coupled by history with such human degradation and destruction?Occasional pages of history do record the faces of the “great destroyers”, but the whole book of history reveals mankind’s never-ending quest for peace and mankind’s God-given capacity to build. It is with the book of history, and not with isolated pages, that the United States will ever wish to be identified. My country wants to be constructive,not destructive. It wants agreements, not wars, among nations. It wants itself to live in freedom and in the confidence that the peoples of every other nation enjoy equally the right of choosing their own way of life. So my country’s purpose is to help us to move out of the dark chamber of horrors into the light, to find a way by which the minds of men, the hopes of men, the souls of men everywhere, can move forward towards peace and happiness and well-being.”

On a possibility as frightful and tense as nuclear war, President Eisenhower managed to convey the gravity of the world’s plight in his measured and persuasive speech centred on the greater good of mankind. Using rhetorical devices such as the three-part paratactical syntax which most world leaders are fond of for ingraining their words in the minds of their audience, he centers the discourse of the atomic bomb on those affected by such a world-changing decision in ‘the minds, hopes and souls of men everywhere’ – effectively putting the vivid image of millions of people’s fates at stake in the minds of his audience. Being able to make a topic as heavy and fraught with moral conflict as this as eloquent as he did, Eisenhower definitely ranks among some of the most skilled orators to date.

16. The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action by Audre Lorde

“I was going to die, if not sooner then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you. But for every real word spoken, for every attempt I had ever made to speak those truths for which I am still seeking, I had made contact with other women while we examined the words to fit a world in which we all believed, bridging our differences. What are the words you do not have yet? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence? Perhaps for some of you here today, I am the face of one of your fears. Because I am a woman, because I am black, because I am myself, a black woman warrior poet doing my work, come to ask you, are you doing yours?”

Revolutionary writer, feminist and civil rights activist Audre Lorde first delivered this phenomenal speech at Lesbian and Literature panel of the Modern Language Association’s December 28, 1977 meeting, which went on to feature permanently in her writings for its sheer wisdom and truth. Her powerful writing and speech about living on the margins of society has enlightened millions of people discriminated across various intersections, confronting them with the reality that they must speak – since their ‘silence will not protect’ them from further marginalization. Through her illuminating words and oratory, she has reminded marginalized persons of the importance of their selfhood and the radical capacity for change they have in a world blighted by prejudice and division.

17. 1965 Cambridge Union Hall Speech by James Baldwin

“What is dangerous here is the turning away from – the turning away from – anything any white American says. The reason for the political hesitation, in spite of the Johnson landslide is that one has been betrayed by American politicians for so long. And I am a grown man and perhaps I can be reasoned with. I certainly hope I can be. But I don’t know, and neither does Martin Luther King, none of us know how to deal with those other people whom the white world has so long ignored, who don’t believe anything the white world says and don’t entirely believe anything I or Martin is saying. And one can’t blame them. You watch what has happened to them in less than twenty years.”

Baldwin’s invitation to the Cambridge Union Hall is best remembered for foregrounding the unflinching differences in white and African Americans’ ‘system of reality’ in everyday life. Raising uncomfortable truths about the insidious nature of racism post-civil war, he provides several nuggets of thought-provoking wisdom on the state of relations between the oppressed and their oppressors, and what is necessary to mediate such relations and destroy the exploitative thread of racist hatred. With great frankness, he admits to not having all the answers but provides hard-hitting wisdom on engagement to guide activists through confounding times nonetheless.

18. I Am Prepared to Die by Nelson Mandela

“Above all, My Lord, we want equal political rights, because without them our disabilities will be permanent. I know this sounds revolutionary to the whites in this country, because the majority of voters will be Africans. This makes the white man fear democracy. But this fear cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the only solution which will guarantee racial harmony and freedom for all. It is not true that the enfranchisement of all will result in racial domination. Political division, based on colour, is entirely artificial and, when it disappears, so will the domination of one colour group by another. The ANC has spent half a century fighting against racialism. When it triumphs as it certainly must, it will not change that policy. This then is what the ANC is fighting. Our struggle is a truly national one. It is a struggle of the African people, inspired by our own suffering and our own experience. It is a struggle for the right to live. During my lifetime I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realised. But, My Lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

Apartheid is still considered one of these most devastating events of world history, and it would not have ended without the crucial effort and words of Nelson Mandela during his courageous political leadership. In this heartbreaking speech , he voices his utter devotion to the fight against institutionalised racism in African society – an ideal for which he was ‘prepared to die for’. Mandela continues to remind us today of his moral conviction in leading, wherein the world would likely to be a better place if all politicians had the same resolve and genuine commitment to human rights and the abolition of oppression as he did.

19. Critique on British Imperialism by General Aung San

“Do they form their observations by seeing the attendances at not very many cinemas and theatres of Rangoon? Do they judge this question of money circulation by paying a stray visit to a local bazaar? Do they know that cinemas and theatres are not true indicators, at least in Burma, of the people’s conditions? Do they know that there are many in this country who cannot think of going to these places by having to struggle for their bare existence from day to day? Do they know that those who nowadays patronise or frequent cinemas and theatres which exist only in Rangoon and a few big towns, belong generally to middle and upper classes and the very few of the many poor who can attend at all are doing so as a desperate form of relaxation just to make them forget their unsupportable existences for the while whatever may be the tomorrow that awaits them?”

Under British colonial rule, one of the most legendary nationalist leaders emerged from the ranks of the thousands of Burmese to boldly lead them towards independence, out of the exploitation and control under the British. General Aung San’s speech criticising British social, political and economic control of Burma continues to be scathing, articulate, and relevant – especially given his necessary goal of uniting the Burmese natives against their common oppressor. He successfully galvanised his people against the British, taking endless risks through nationalist speeches and demonstrations which gradually bore fruit in Burma’s independence.

20. Nobel Lecture by Mother Teresa

“I believe that we are not real social workers. We may be doing social work in the eyes of the people, but we are really contemplatives in the heart of the world. For we are touching the Body Of Christ 24 hours. We have 24 hours in this presence, and so you and I. You too try to bring that presence of God in your family, for the family that prays together stays together. And I think that we in our family don’t need bombs and guns, to destroy to bring peace–just get together, love one another, bring that peace, that joy, that strength of presence of each other in the home. And we will be able to overcome all the evil that is in the world. There is so much suffering, so much hatred, so much misery, and we with our prayer, with our sacrifice are beginning at home. Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the action that we do. It is to God Almighty–how much we do it does not matter, because He is infinite, but how much love we put in that action. How much we do to Him in the person that we are serving.”

In contemporary culture, most people understand Mother Teresa to be the epitome of compassion and kindness. However, if one were to look closer at her speeches from the past, one would discover not merely her altruistic contributions, but her keen heart for social justice and the downtrodden. She wisely and gracefully remarks that ‘love begins at home’ from the individual actions of each person within their private lives, which accumulate into a life of goodness and charity. For this, her speeches served not just consolatory value or momentary relevance, as they still inform the present on how we can live lives worth living.

21. June 9 Speech to Martial Law Units by Deng Xiaoping

“This army still maintains the traditions of our old Red Army. What they crossed this time was in the true sense of the expression a political barrier, a threshold of life and death. This was not easy. This shows that the People’s Army is truly a great wall of iron and steel of the party and state. This shows that no matter how heavy our losses, the army, under the leadership of the party, will always remain the defender of the country, the defender of socialism, and the defender of the public interest. They are a most lovable people. At the same time, we should never forget how cruel our enemies are. We should have not one bit of forgiveness for them. The fact that this incident broke out as it did is very worthy of our pondering. It prompts us cool-headedly to consider the past and the future. Perhaps this bad thing will enable us to go ahead with reform and the open policy at a steadier and better — even a faster — pace, more speedily correct our mistakes, and better develop our strong points.”

Mere days before the 4 June 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising, Chinese Communist Party leader Deng Xiaoping sat with six party elders (senior officials) and the three remaining members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the paramount decision-making body in China’s government. The meeting was organised to discuss the best course of action for restoring social and political order to China, given the sweeping economic reforms that had taken place in the past decade that inevitably resulted in some social resistance from the populace. Deng then gave this astute and well-regarded speech, outlining the political complexities in shutting down student protests given the context of reforms encouraging economic liberalization already taking place, as aligned with the students’ desires. It may not be the most rousing or inflammatory of speeches, but it was certainly persuasive in voicing the importance of taking a strong stand for the economic reforms Deng was implementing to benefit Chinese citizens in the long run. Today, China is an economic superpower, far from its war-torn developing country status before Deng’s leadership – thanks to his foresight in ensuring political stability would allow China to enjoy the fruits of the massive changes they adapted to.

22. Freedom or Death by Emmeline Pankhurst

“You won your freedom in America when you had the revolution, by bloodshed, by sacrificing human life. You won the civil war by the sacrifice of human life when you decided to emancipate the negro. You have left it to women in your land, the men of all civilised countries have left it to women, to work out their own salvation. That is the way in which we women of England are doing. Human life for us is sacred, but we say if any life is to be sacrificed it shall be ours; we won’t do it ourselves, but we will put the enemy in the position where they will have to choose between giving us freedom or giving us death. Now whether you approve of us or whether you do not, you must see that we have brought the question of women’s suffrage into a position where it is of first rate importance, where it can be ignored no longer. Even the most hardened politician will hesitate to take upon himself directly the responsibility of sacrificing the lives of women of undoubted honour, of undoubted earnestness of purpose. That is the political situation as I lay it before you today.”

In 1913 after Suffragette Emily Davison stepped in front of King George V’s horse at the Epsom Derby and suffered fatal injuries, Emmeline Pankhurst delivered her speech to Connecticut as a call to action for people to support the suffragette movement. Her fortitude in delivering such a sobering speech on the state of women’s rights is worth remembering for its invaluable impact and contributions to the rights we enjoy in today’s world.

23. Quit India by Mahatma Gandhi

“We shall either free India or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery. Every true Congressman or woman will join the struggle with an inflexible determination not to remain alive to see the country in bondage and slavery. Let that be your pledge. Keep jails out of your consideration. If the Government keep me free, I will not put on the Government the strain of maintaining a large number of prisoners at a time, when it is in trouble. Let every man and woman live every moment of his or her life hereafter in the consciousness that he or she eats or lives for achieving freedom and will die, if need be, to attain that goal. Take a pledge, with God and your own conscience as witness, that you will no longer rest till freedom is achieved and will be prepared to lay down your lives in the attempt to achieve it. He who loses his life will gain it; he who will seek to save it shall lose it. Freedom is not for the coward or the faint-hearted.”

Naturally, the revolutionary activist Gandhi had to appear in this list for his impassioned anti-colonial speeches which rallied Indians towards independence. Famous for leading non-violent demonstrations, his speeches were a key element in gathering Indians of all backgrounds together for the common cause of eliminating their colonial masters. His speeches were resolute, eloquent, and courageous, inspiring the hope and admiration of many not just within India, but around the world.

24. 1974 National Book Award Speech by Adrienne Rich, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde

“The statement I am going to read was prepared by three of the women nominated for the National Book Award for poetry, with the agreement that it would be read by whichever of us, if any, was chosen.We, Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, and Alice Walker, together accept this award in the name of all the women whose voices have gone and still go unheard in a patriarchal world, and in the name of those who, like us, have been tolerated as token women in this culture, often at great cost and in great pain. We believe that we can enrich ourselves more in supporting and giving to each other than by competing against each other; and that poetry—if it is poetry—exists in a realm beyond ranking and comparison. We symbolically join together here in refusing the terms of patriarchal competition and declaring that we will share this prize among us, to be used as best we can for women. We appreciate the good faith of the judges for this award, but none of us could accept this money for herself, nor could she let go unquestioned the terms on which poets are given or denied honor and livelihood in this world, especially when they are women. We dedicate this occasion to the struggle for self-determination of all women, of every color, identification, or derived class: the poet, the housewife, the lesbian, the mathematician, the mother, the dishwasher, the pregnant teen-ager, the teacher, the grandmother, the prostitute, the philosopher, the waitress, the women who will understand what we are doing here and those who will not understand yet; the silent women whose voices have been denied us, the articulate women who have given us strength to do our work.”

Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, and Alice Walker wrote this joint speech to be delivered by Adrienne Rich at the 1974 National Book Awards, based on their suspicions that the first few African American lesbian women to be nominated for the awards would be snubbed in favour of a white woman nominee. Their suspicions were confirmed, and Adrienne Rich delivered this socially significant speech in solidarity with her fellow nominees, upholding the voices of the ‘silent women whose voices have been denied’.

25. Speech to 20th Congress of the CPSU by Nikita Khruschev

“Considering the question of the cult of an individual, we must first of all show everyone what harm this caused to the interests of our Party. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin had always stressed the Party’s role and significance in the direction of the socialist government of workers and peasants; he saw in this the chief precondition for a successful building of socialism in our country. Pointing to the great responsibility of the Bolshevik Party, as ruling Party of the Soviet state, Lenin called for the most meticulous observance of all norms of Party life; he called for the realization of the principles of collegiality in the direction of the Party and the state. Collegiality of leadership flows from the very nature of our Party, a Party built on the principles of democratic centralism. “This means,” said Lenin, “that all Party matters are accomplished by all Party members – directly or through representatives – who, without any exceptions, are subject to the same rules; in addition, all administrative members, all directing collegia, all holders of Party positions are elective, they must account for their activities and are recallable.””

This speech is possibly the most famed Russian speech for its status as a ‘secret’ speech delivered only to the CPSU at the time, which was eventually revealed to the public. Given the unchallenged political legacy and cult of personality which Stalin left in the Soviet Union, Nikita Khruschev’s speech condemning the authoritarian means Stalin had resorted to to consolidate power as un-socialist was an important mark in Russian history.

26. The Struggle for Human Rights by Eleanor Roosevelt

“It is my belief, and I am sure it is also yours, that the struggle for democracy and freedom is a critical struggle, for their preservation is essential to the great objective of the United Nations to maintain international peace and security. Among free men the end cannot justify the means. We know the patterns of totalitarianism — the single political party, the control of schools, press, radio, the arts, the sciences, and the church to support autocratic authority; these are the age-old patterns against which men have struggled for three thousand years. These are the signs of reaction, retreat, and retrogression. The United Nations must hold fast to the heritage of freedom won by the struggle of its people; it must help us to pass it on to generations to come. The development of the ideal of freedom and its translation into the everyday life of the people in great areas of the earth is the product of the efforts of many peoples. It is the fruit of a long tradition of vigorous thinking and courageous action. No one race and on one people can claim to have done all the work to achieve greater dignity for human beings and great freedom to develop human personality. In each generation and in each country there must be a continuation of the struggle and new steps forward must be taken since this is preeminently a field in which to stand still is to retreat.”

Eleanor Roosevelt has been among the most well-loved First Ladies for good reason – her eloquence and gravitas in delivering every speech convinced everyone of her suitability for the oval office. In this determined and articulate speech , she outlines the fundamental values that form the bedrock of democracy, urging the rest of the world to uphold human rights regardless of national ideology and interests.

27. The Ballot or The Bullet by Malcolm X

“And in this manner, the organizations will increase in number and in quantity and in quality, and by August, it is then our intention to have a black nationalist convention which will consist of delegates from all over the country who are interested in the political, economic and social philosophy of black nationalism. After these delegates convene, we will hold a seminar; we will hold discussions; we will listen to everyone. We want to hear new ideas and new solutions and new answers. And at that time, if we see fit then to form a black nationalist party, we’ll form a black nationalist party. If it’s necessary to form a black nationalist army, we’ll form a black nationalist army. It’ll be the ballot or the bullet. It’ll be liberty or it’ll be death.”

Inarguably, the revolutionary impact Malcolm X’s fearless oratory had was substantial in his time as a radical anti-racist civil rights activist. His speeches’ emancipatory potential put forth his ‘theory of rhetorical action’ where he urges Black Americans to employ both the ballot and the bullet, strategically without being dependent on the other should the conditions of oppression change. A crucial leader in the fight for civil rights, he opened the eyes of thousands of Black Americans, politicising and convincing them of the necessity of fighting for their democratic rights against white supremacists.

28. Living the Revolution by Gloria Steinem

“The challenge to all of us, and to you men and women who are graduating today, is to live a revolution, not to die for one. There has been too much killing, and the weapons are now far too terrible. This revolution has to change consciousness, to upset the injustice of our current hierarchy by refusing to honor it, and to live a life that enforces a new social justice. Because the truth is none of us can be liberated if other groups are not.”

In an unexpected commencement speech delivered at Vassar College in 1970, Gloria Steinem boldly makes a call to action on behalf of marginalized groups in need of liberation to newly graduated students. She proclaimed it the year of Women’s Liberation and forcefully highlighted the need for a social revolution to ‘upset the injustice of the current hierarchy’ in favour of human rights – echoing the hard-hitting motto on social justice, ‘until all of us are free, none of us are free’.

29. The Last Words of Harvey Milk by Harvey Milk

“I cannot prevent some people from feeling angry and frustrated and mad in response to my death, but I hope they will take the frustration and madness and instead of demonstrating or anything of that type, I would hope that they would take the power and I would hope that five, ten, one hundred, a thousand would rise. I would like to see every gay lawyer, every gay architect come out, stand up and let the world know. That would do more to end prejudice overnight than anybody could imagine. I urge them to do that, urge them to come out. Only that way will we start to achieve our rights. … All I ask is for the movement to continue, and if a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door…”

As the first openly gay elected official in the history of California, Harvey Milk’s entire political candidature was in itself a radical statement against the homophobic status quo at the time. Given the dangerous times he was in as an openly gay man, he anticipated that he would be assassinated eventually in his political career. As such, these are some of his last words which show the utter devotion he had to campaigning against homophobia while representing the American people, voicing his heartbreaking wish for the bullet that would eventually kill him to ‘destroy every closet door’.

30. Black Power Address at UC Berkeley by Stokely Carmichael

“Now we are now engaged in a psychological struggle in this country, and that is whether or not black people will have the right to use the words they want to use without white people giving their sanction to it; and that we maintain, whether they like it or not, we gonna use the word “Black Power” — and let them address themselves to that; but that we are not going to wait for white people to sanction Black Power. We’re tired waiting; every time black people move in this country, they’re forced to defend their position before they move. It’s time that the people who are supposed to be defending their position do that. That’s white people. They ought to start defending themselves as to why they have oppressed and exploited us.”

A forceful and impressive orator, Stokely Carmichael was among those at the forefront of the civil rights movement, who was a vigorous socialist organizer as well. He led the Black Power movement wherein he gave this urgent, influential speech that propelled Black Americans forward in their fight for constitutional rights in the 1960s.

31. Speech on Vietnam by Lyndon Johnson

“The true peace-keepers are those men who stand out there on the DMZ at this very hour, taking the worst that the enemy can give. The true peace-keepers are the soldiers who are breaking the terrorist’s grip around the villages of Vietnam—the civilians who are bringing medical care and food and education to people who have already suffered a generation of war. And so I report to you that we are going to continue to press forward. Two things we must do. Two things we shall do. First, we must not mislead the enemy. Let him not think that debate and dissent will produce wavering and withdrawal. For I can assure you they won’t. Let him not think that protests will produce surrender. Because they won’t. Let him not think that he will wait us out. For he won’t. Second, we will provide all that our brave men require to do the job that must be done. And that job is going to be done. These gallant men have our prayers-have our thanks—have our heart-felt praise—and our deepest gratitude. Let the world know that the keepers of peace will endure through every trial—and that with the full backing of their countrymen, they are going to prevail.”

During some of the most harrowing periods of human history, the Vietnam War, American soldiers were getting soundly defeated by the Vietnamese in guerrilla warfare. President Lyndon Johnson then issued this dignified, consolatory speech to encourage patriotism and support for the soldiers putting their lives on the line for the nation.

32. A Whisper of AIDS by Mary Fisher

“We may take refuge in our stereotypes, but we cannot hide there long, because HIV asks only one thing of those it attacks. Are you human? And this is the right question. Are you human? Because people with HIV have not entered some alien state of being. They are human. They have not earned cruelty, and they do not deserve meanness. They don’t benefit from being isolated or treated as outcasts. Each of them is exactly what God made: a person; not evil, deserving of our judgment; not victims, longing for our pity ­­ people, ready for  support and worthy of compassion. We must be consistent if we are to be believed. We cannot love justice and ignore prejudice, love our children and fear to teach them. Whatever our role as parent or policymaker, we must act as eloquently as we speak ­­ else we have no integrity. My call to the nation is a plea for awareness. If you believe you are safe, you are in danger. Because I was not hemophiliac, I was not at risk. Because I was not gay, I was not at risk. Because I did not inject drugs, I was not at risk. The lesson history teaches is this: If you believe you are safe, you are at risk. If you do not see this killer stalking your children, look again. There is no family or community, no race or religion, no place left in America that is safe. Until we genuinely embrace this message, we are a nation at risk.”

Back when AIDS research was still undeveloped, the stigma of contracting HIV was even more immense than it is today. A celebrated artist, author and speaker, Mary Fisher became an outspoken activist for those with HIV/AIDS, persuading people to extend compassion to the population with HIV instead of stigmatizing them – as injustice has a way of coming around to people eventually. Her bold act of speaking out for the community regardless of the way they contracted the disease, their sexual orientation or social group, was an influential move in advancing the human rights of those with HIV and spreading awareness on the discrimination they face.

33. Freedom from Fear by Aung San Suu Kyi

“The quintessential revolution is that of the spirit, born of an intellectual conviction of the need for change in those mental attitudes and values which shape the course of a nation’s development. A revolution which aims merely at changing official policies and institutions with a view to an improvement in material conditions has little chance of genuine success. Without a revolution of the spirit, the forces which produced the iniquities of the old order would continue to be operative, posing a constant threat to the process of reform and regeneration. It is not enough merely to call for freedom, democracy and human rights. There has to be a united determination to persevere in the struggle, to make sacrifices in the name of enduring truths, to resist the corrupting influences of desire, ill will, ignorance and fear. Saints, it has been said, are the sinners who go on trying. So free men are the oppressed who go on trying and who in the process make themselves fit to bear the responsibilities and to uphold the disciplines which will maintain a free society. Among the basic freedoms to which men aspire that their lives might be full and uncramped, freedom from fear stands out as both a means and an end. A people who would build a nation in which strong, democratic institutions are firmly established as a guarantee against state-induced power must first learn to liberate their own minds from apathy and fear.”

Famous for her resoluteness and fortitude in campaigning for democracy in Burma despite being put under house arrest by the military government, Aung San Suu Kyi’s speeches have been widely touted as inspirational. In this renowned speech of hers, she delivers a potent message to Burmese to ‘liberate their minds from apathy and fear’ in the struggle for freedom and human rights in the country. To this day, she continues to tirelessly champion the welfare and freedom of Burmese in a state still overcome by vestiges of authoritarian rule.

34. This Is Water by David Foster Wallace

“Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom all to be lords of our tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the centre of all creation. This kind of freedom has much to recommend it. But of course there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talk about much in the great outside world of wanting and achieving…. The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day. That is real freedom. That is being educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing.”

Esteemed writer David Foster Wallace gave a remarkably casual yet wise commencement speech at Kenyon College in 2005 on the importance of learning to think beyond attaining a formal education. He encouraged hundreds of students to develop freedom of thought, a heart of sacrificial care for those in need of justice, and a consciousness that would serve them in discerning the right choices to make within a status quo that is easy to fall in line with. His captivating speech on what it meant to truly be ‘educated’ tugged at the hearts of many young and critical minds striving to achieve their dreams and change the world.

35. Questioning the Universe by Stephen Hawking

“This brings me to the last of the big questions: the future of the human race. If we are the only intelligent beings in the galaxy, we should make sure we survive and continue. But we are entering an increasingly dangerous period of our history. Our population and our use of the finite resources of planet Earth are growing exponentially, along with our technical ability to change the environment for good or ill. But our genetic code still carries the selfish and aggressive instincts that were of survival advantage in the past. It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million. Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain inward-looking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space. The answers to these big questions show that we have made remarkable progress in the last hundred years. But if we want to continue beyond the next hundred years, our future is in space. That is why I am in favor of manned — or should I say, personned — space flight.”

Extraordinary theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author Stephen Hawking was a considerable influence upon modern physics and scientific research at large, inspiring people regardless of physical ability to aspire towards expanding knowledge in the world. In his speech on Questioning the Universe, he speaks of the emerging currents and issues in the scientific world like that of outer space, raising and answering big questions that have stumped great thinkers for years.

36. 2008 Democratic National Convention Speech by Michelle Obama

“I stand here today at the crosscurrents of that history — knowing that my piece of the American dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me. All of them driven by the same conviction that drove my dad to get up an hour early each day to painstakingly dress himself for work. The same conviction that drives the men and women I’ve met all across this country: People who work the day shift, kiss their kids goodnight, and head out for the night shift — without disappointment, without regret — that goodnight kiss a reminder of everything they’re working for. The military families who say grace each night with an empty seat at the table. The servicemen and women who love this country so much, they leave those they love most to defend it. The young people across America serving our communities — teaching children, cleaning up neighborhoods, caring for the least among us each and every day. People like Hillary Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters — and sons — can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher. People like Joe Biden, who’s never forgotten where he came from and never stopped fighting for folks who work long hours and face long odds and need someone on their side again. All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won’t do — that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be. That is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack’s journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope. That is why I love this country.”

Ever the favourite modern First Lady of America, Michelle Obama has delivered an abundance of iconic speeches in her political capacity, never forgetting to foreground the indomitable human spirit embodied in American citizens’ everyday lives and efforts towards a better world. The Obamas might just have been the most articulate couple of rhetoricians of their time, making waves as the first African American president and First Lady while introducing important policies in their period of governance.

37. The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

“I’m not talking about blind optimism here — the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t think about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about something more substantial. It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. Hope — Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope! In the end, that is God’s greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation. A belief in things not seen. A belief that there are better days ahead.”

Now published into a book, Barack Obama’s heart-capturing personal story of transformational hope was first delivered as a speech on the merits of patriotic optimism and determination put to the mission of concrete change. He has come to be known as one of the most favoured and inspiring presidents in American history, and arguably the most skilled orators ever.

38. “Be Your Own Story” by Toni Morrison

“But I’m not going to talk anymore about the future because I’m hesitant to describe or predict because I’m not even certain that it exists. That is to say, I’m not certain that somehow, perhaps, a burgeoning ménage a trois of political interests, corporate interests and military interests will not prevail and literally annihilate an inhabitable, humane future. Because I don’t think we can any longer rely on separation of powers, free speech, religious tolerance or unchallengeable civil liberties as a matter of course. That is, not while finite humans in the flux of time make decisions of infinite damage. Not while finite humans make infinite claims of virtue and unassailable power that are beyond their competence, if not their reach. So, no happy talk about the future. … Because the past is already in debt to the mismanaged present. And besides, contrary to what you may have heard or learned, the past is not done and it is not over, it’s still in process, which is another way of saying that when it’s critiqued, analyzed, it yields new information about itself. The past is already changing as it is being reexamined, as it is being listened to for deeper resonances. Actually it can be more liberating than any imagined future if you are willing to identify its evasions, its distortions, its lies, and are willing to unleash its secrets.”

Venerated author and professor Toni Morrison delivered an impressively articulate speech at Wellesley College in 2004 to new graduates, bucking the trend by discussing the importance of the past in informing current and future ways of living. With her brilliance and eloquence, she blew the crowd away and renewed in them the capacity for reflection upon using the past as a talisman to guide oneself along the journey of life.

39. Nobel Speech by Malala Yousafzai

“Dear brothers and sisters, the so-called world of adults may understand it, but we children don’t. Why is it that countries which we call “strong” are so powerful in creating wars but so weak in bringing peace? Why is it that giving guns is so easy but giving books is so hard? Why is it that making tanks is so easy, but building schools is so difficult? As we are living in the modern age, the 21st century and we all believe that nothing is impossible. We can reach the moon and maybe soon will land on Mars. Then, in this, the 21st century, we must be determined that our dream of quality education for all will also come true. So let us bring equality, justice and peace for all. Not just the politicians and the world leaders, we all need to contribute. Me. You. It is our duty. So we must work … and not wait. I call upon my fellow children to stand up around the world. Dear sisters and brothers, let us become the first generation to decide to be the last. The empty classrooms, the lost childhoods, wasted potential-let these things end with us.”

At a mere 16 years of age, Malala Yousafzai gave a speech on the severity of the state of human rights across the world, and wowed the world with her passion for justice at her tender age. She displayed tenacity and fearlessness speaking about her survival of an assassination attempt for her activism for gender equality in the field of education. A model of courage to us all, her speech remains an essential one in the fight for human rights in the 21st century.

40. Final Commencement Speech by Michelle Obama

“If you are a person of faith, know that religious diversity is a great American tradition, too. In fact, that’s why people first came to this country — to worship freely. And whether you are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh — these religions are teaching our young people about justice, and compassion, and honesty. So I want our young people to continue to learn and practice those values with pride. You see, our glorious diversity — our diversities of faiths and colors and creeds — that is not a threat to who we are, it makes us who we are. So the young people here and the young people out there: Do not ever let anyone make you feel like you don’t matter, or like you don’t have a place in our American story — because you do. And you have a right to be exactly who you are. But I also want to be very clear: This right isn’t just handed to you. No, this right has to be earned every single day. You cannot take your freedoms for granted. Just like generations who have come before you, you have to do your part to preserve and protect those freedoms. … It is our fundamental belief in the power of hope that has allowed us to rise above the voices of doubt and division, of anger and fear that we have faced in our own lives and in the life of this country. Our hope that if we work hard enough and believe in ourselves, then we can be whatever we dream, regardless of the limitations that others may place on us. The hope that when people see us for who we truly are, maybe, just maybe they, too, will be inspired to rise to their best possible selves.”

Finally, we have yet another speech by Michelle Obama given in her final remarks as First Lady – a tear-inducing event for many Americans and even people around the world. In this emotional end to her political tenure, she gives an empowering, hopeful, expressive speech to young Americans, exhorting them to take hold of its future in all their diversity and work hard at being their best possible selves.

Amidst the bleak era of our current time with Trump as president of the USA, not only Michelle Obama, but all 40 of these amazing speeches can serve as sources of inspiration and hope to everyone – regardless of their identity or ambitions. After hearing these speeches, which one’s your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!

Article Written By: Kai Xin Koh

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3 minute speeches

A task sheet running step-by-step through the process of making a speech, as well as a list of suggested topics.

Students choose from 15 topical issues including schooling, tobacco and alcohol advertising, family holidays, gender roles, the internet, animal welfare, science, sports teams, democracy, the fashion industry, immortality, TV, religion and communication. Students persuade their audience with their line of argument.

Any of the topics would also work well for a class debate.

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Characteristics of a Good Speech

Effective Persuasive Speech Writing & Delivering in High School

Whether you are preparing for a wedding toast, for a live presentation in front of colleagues or you need to write a speech for an award or honor that you are expecting to receive, it's critical to learn the characteristics of an effective speech and how to write one yourself. The best way to do that is to pick a theme, stick with it and use anecdotes to prove your point.

What Makes a Good Speech?

Those who have heard a good speech remember it. However, it is very unlikely that they realize why they remember the speech. Experts explain that speechmaking is not a particularly effective form of communication. Because the structure of the speech is generally conversational, less of the speech is memorable because it doesn't necessarily contain new information.

Those who give a good speech make it look easy and effortless. A stiff speech that feels rehearsed or sounds like it was written by someone else is rarely effective or memorable in anything but a negative way.

What makes a speech good is a difficult question to answer. In some cases, it's humor. In others, it's a powerful call to action, and in other cases, it is simply the speaker's comfort, presence and energy that the audience finds infectious. However, whatever the case, good speeches have the same things in common. They contain a story that connects with their audience, and they have a strong beginning, a strong ending and a middle that doesn't drag on and on.

How Is a Good Speech Structured?

A strong speech contains a beginning, a middle and an end. Those are the three pieces of story structure, and they help make up the structure of a good speech as well. Experts warn that keeping the middle short is actually the key to a strong speech.

Begin with an attention-grabbing, compelling opening and use it as a story that will help to lay out the points you are hoping to make. The middle can reiterate your point briefly but without exhausting or belaboring the issue. The conclusion should be short and to the point.

What Are the Top Qualities of a Good Speech?

• A single theme. Research has proven that it is very difficult to remember a lot of detail when listening to a speech, so be sure to start with one main idea. What is the point of your speech? What do you want the audience to come away knowing, understanding or feeling?  Start from there and then work backward.
• Use anecdotes. Rather than a laundry list of reasons why your point is true or significant, try to find a story or an anecdote that supports the theme you are trying to express. Stories are naturally engaging, and people tend to remember them better than exposition or lectures about the same topic.
• Conversational tone. Write your speech in the same voice in which you speak. In other words, don't get academic. Speeches read aloud sound far different than an essay or another written piece. This is something to which anyone who has had to listen to a long speech can attest. Write in short sentences the same way that you speak. Don't write a speech that will sound "read." Keep the vocabulary and sentence structure as close to your own natural conversation as possible. 

Additional Qualities of a Good Speech

• Specific anecdotes or examples. Make sure that your examples and anecdotes are specific. If you're trying to prove a point or move an audience with emotion, be sure that any examples you provide that support your thesis or main point are specific and concrete. Vague descriptors or generalizations on the theme will only serve to make your speech feel gauzy and will take it out of reality. Specific anecdotes are central to good speaking.
• Humor. Use humor when and where appropriate. Of course, not every situation and speech is going to call for humor, but if you can present the information you are hoping to convey in the context of a humorous story or anecdote, you will have gone a long way toward creating a relatable and compelling speech that listeners remember long after you've given it.
• Eye Contact. Keep maintaining eye contact with various audience members. Don't look down at your notes or at the podium while you're speaking. 

How Should a Good Speech Be Structured?

• A strong beginning. Make sure your speech has a great beginning. To start your speech with a statement or an opening that really grabs your audience is half the battle. Once you've figured out how to craft an excellent opening to your speech that hooks the audience's attention, you'll have nailed one of the most important characteristics of a great speech.
• A strong ending. Make sure that your ending not only sums up your speech but does so in a way that refers back to the opening of the speech and delivers the information to the audience in a way that prompts a call to action or an emotional response to where you've taken them since the speech started.
• Keep the middle short. Don't go on and on. Once you've written a draft of your script, go back and edit. If there's anything you can cut, do it. A shorter speech is a better speech in almost every single case. If you can make yours shorter and still preserve the meaning and the message, do it. The more finely edited your speech, the more memorable its strengths will be. A strong beginning with a strong ending and a short middle is the best speech structure. 

Show Confidence When Speaking

There are a number of things that make all speakers good, and the first is confidence. Have confidence when you speak and not only confidence in your words but in your presence. Your body language is as important a part of your speech as your words. This is a key characteristic of an effective speech.

Not only do people listen better to people with confidence, but it has also been shown that people who speak with confidence are perceived as more authoritative, more competent, more trustworthy and more knowledgeable than a speaker who appears nervous or unsure.

Confidence is also the appearance of enjoying what you're doing. If the audience feels that the speaker is in charge of what he is saying and is comfortable and happy to be there, then the audience is more relaxed and more likely to stay focused on what they're hearing. A good way to seem happy to be there is to express excitement about the topic you're discussing. If you are excited about it, it won't be difficult to express it, and your excitement will be infectious to your audience.

Always Be Yourself

Be sure that you are being yourself. That can be difficult to do when you're convinced that people are judging you or that you need to take on another identity to be comfortable delivering your speech and be accepted, but the fact is that the best thing you can do when giving a speech is to be yourself, speak like yourself and deliver the words you have prepared with honesty and authenticity. This is one of the most important characteristics of an effective speech.

What Does "Key Attributes" Mean?

When people use the term "key attributes" in terms of a speech, they are referring to the aspects of the speech that made it memorable and that the speaker imparted to the crowd. If you are giving a speech at a funeral, the key attributes are going to be the memorable character traits of the deceased as well as an anecdote that proves the traits.

If you are trying to express that the deceased was empathetic and generous, these would be key attributes of your speech. Likewise, if your goal is to express the way that the groom has changed as a person since meeting the bride, the groom's character would be described as a key attribute of your speech.

In terms of a speaker, the key attributes of a good speaker are simply the qualities that they all share that are most important to make an effective speech. The key attributes of a good speaker are numerous, but they can be broken down into several categories regardless of the topic of the speech.

What Are the Key Attributes of a Good Speaker?

• No matter what your topic, your speech must be organized. It must begin, the beginning must lead to a middle and the middle must lead to an end. If you are not organized, your speech will appear haphazard and even lazy when, in fact, you are most likely just disorganized. Organizing your ideas can help you to gain clarity on the things you're discussing before you write, so you can be sure that your speech flows smoothly and isn't confusing to your audience.
• Being an engaging speaker means connecting with your audience. This is partially about body language, but it is also about the words you choose to communicate your point and the way that they connect with the audience. You can be engaging by speaking about something about which your audience will care. Put your topic in terms of a story or an anecdote that will be relatable to your audience and then speak to them with eye contact and authentic language.
• Flexibility is one of the key characteristics of an effective speaker. Things don't always go as planned, and even the best-prepared speeches can be upstaged or upset by unexpected conditions. By letting the audience know that you are prepared to handle a setback, you will be able to gain both their empathy and their trust. 

Why Do People Give Speeches?

Personal speeches like wedding toasts, funeral eulogies and award-acceptance speeches tend to center around emotions. These speeches are considered an act of respect, and by giving one, the speaker is acknowledging that this event deserves to be commemorated even if she is uncomfortable being a public speaker to begin with.

More general speeches like graduation keynote addresses, welcome speeches at a conference or presentations to colleagues are less focused on emotion and more focused on communicating information and setting an agenda. Guests at a conference may receive a speech that highlights the reasons for their gathering and what they hope to accomplish over the course of the conference. Graduation addresses are about celebrating the class's achievements and also about what their education means and how they should think about the future.

Political speeches, such as those given by politicians or activists, are generally intended to arouse passion in citizens by taking an issue that is seemingly impersonal, such as clean water access or a dilapidated playground, and making it a personal issue that will incite action on the part of the listening audience.

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Ashley Friedman is a freelance writer with experience writing about education for a variety of organizations and educational institutions as well as online media sites. She has written for Pearson Education, The University of Miami, The New York City Teaching Fellows, New Visions for Public Schools, and a number of independent secondary schools. She lives in Los Angeles.

Nationwide protest: Tinubu’s speech was great, inspiring – Keyamo

Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, has said President Bola Tinubu’s Sunday broadcast to Nigerians was great and inspiring.

Keyamo said the President’s speech was compassionate, firm, conciliatory, but not condescending.

“Great and inspiring speech by Mr. President @officialABAT. Compassionate, yet firm; conciliatory, yet not condescending; resolute on our objectives, yet reassuring. Wonderful balance,” the Minister posted on X.

DAILY POST reported Tinubu addressed the nation on Sunday concerning the ongoing nationwide protests.

The president in his speech ruled out the return of fuel subsidy and as well enjoined organizers of the protest to withdraw from the street.

Protest: ‘It’s sabotage, there should be consequences’ – Bwala on leaking Tinubu’s Sunday speech

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Bears great Steve McMichael gets his Hall of Fame moment as he battles ALS

FILE - Chicago Bears nine-time Pro Bowler Mike Singletary (50) gets a bear hug from teammate Steve McMichael (76) prior to an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Chicago, Dec. 13, 1992. McMichael will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/David Boe, File)

FILE - Former Chicago Bears defensive tackle Steve McMichael holds a Chicago Slaughter jersey during a news conference Feb. 19, 2010, in Chicago. McMichael will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (John J. Kim/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File)

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CHICAGO (AP) — Steve McMichael always had that big and boisterous persona and a willingness to say whatever was on his mind, so it’s no stretch to think the Chicago Bears great’s Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech would have been one to remember.

“He would cut a scorcher,” his wife Misty McMichael said. “He would have been amazing.”

McMichael is in the advanced stages of ALS and won’t be able to make the trip from Homer Glen, Illinois, to Canton, Ohio, for his induction Saturday. He lost his ability to move and speak, though he will deliver a brief and heartfelt message he put together through an eye-gaze device: “Hello Chicago. Thank you, Chicago.”

The 66-year-old McMichael is part of a seven-member class that includes former Bears Devin Hester and Julius Peppers .

An All-Pro defensive tackle in 1985 and 1987, he played in a franchise-record 191 consecutive games from 1981 to 1993 and ranks second to Richard Dent on the Bears’ all-time sacks list with 92 1/2. His final NFL season was with Green Bay in 1994.

Whether he was terrorizing opponents or discussing the Bears on sports talk radio, the man known as “Ming The Merciless” and “Mongo” after the character in “Blazing Saddles” who knocked out a horse remained a prominent presence in Chicago long after his playing days ended. He also spent five years in professional wrestling in the late 1990s.

McMichael’s brash personality and willingness to say whatever was on his mind made him a natural for professional wrestling. It also got him ejected from a Cubs game in 2001 for calling out home plate umpire Angel Hernandez during the seventh-inning stretch.

He began working for World Championship Wrestling at the height of the “Monday Night Wars” with the World Wrestling Federation, starting as a color commentator and later joining Ric Flair in the “Four Horsemen” group.

McMichael told the Chicago Tribune in April 2021 that he was battling Lou Gehrig’s disease, which affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control.

“I promise you, this epitaph that I’m going to have on me now? This ain’t ever how I envisioned this was going to end,” McMichael told the Tribune.

McMichael has gone from a 270-pound giant who used to blast through NFL offensive linemen and drive wrestlers headfirst into the mat with the “Mongo spike” to someone who is bedridden and rail thin, a decline documented through photos on social media.

McMichael was born in Houston and starred at Texas from 1976-79, becoming a consensus first-team All-American as a senior. He entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

The New England Patriots drafted McMichael in the third round in 1980. He didn’t last long, appearing in just six games as a rookie before getting released prior to his second season. McMichael would play hard on and off the field, getting in fights in practice and taking in Boston’s nightlife afterward.

“They looked at me and said, ’Steve, we think you’re the criminal element in the league. Get out,” McMichael said in his Gridiron Greats Hall of Fame induction speech in 2019.

The same traits were welcomed by George Halas in Chicago.

“Papa Bear” made it clear. “You know what he said to me, guys?” McMichael recalled in that speech. “I’ve heard what kind of dirty rat you are in practice. Don’t change, Steve.”

McMichael became one of the most feared players on what might be the greatest defense ever assembled. With Hall of Famers Dan Hampton, Mike Singletary, Dent and McMichael, the 1985 Bears demolished just about everyone in their path on the way to the franchise’s lone Super Bowl championship.

He played 15 years in the NFL — 13 with Chicago. His final season was with the rival Green Bay Packers in 1994, after being released by the Bears.

Soon after his career ended, McMichael started getting involved with professional wrestling. He was also a fixture on sports radio in Chicago.

To see him now?

“It just breaks my heart,” said Dave Siden, McMichael’s friend for more than 40 years.

The two met when Siden lived across the street from the old Halas Hall at Lake Forest College.

“Changed my life, man,” he said.

Siden got prime seats at games and behind-the-scenes access at wrestling events. And when McMichael married Misty in 2001, he was a best man.

“It’s just really cool to be a part of Steve’s life and, as Steve says, bask in his reflective glory,” Siden said.

Now, McMichael gets one more moment of glory.

“He’s scared to die and he shouldn’t be because he’s the most badass man I’ve ever known inside and out,” Misty McMichael said. “He’s a good man. He’s gonna be in heaven before any of us, so I don’t know what he’s afraid of. But I’ve told him to please hang on ’til the 3rd and then, you know, I don’t want to see him suffer anymore. He’s been suffering.” ___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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Powerful Speeches KS3 Unit (16 Lessons) - SOW, PPT, Homework, Resources!

Subject: Creative writing

Age range: 11-14

Resource type: Other

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22 February 2018

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Steve McMichael, battling ALS, inducted into Hall of Fame in ceremony from home

In what was perhaps the most poignant Hall of Fame induction in recent memory, former Chicago Bears great Steve McMichael – bedridden while deep in the throes of a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as "Lou Gehrig's disease" – was enshrined from his Chicago home, unable to easily communicate or travel to Canton, Ohio, for Saturday's ceremony.

McMichael, 66, looking gaunt and pale but wearing his gold Hall of Fame jacket, was surrounded by, among others, his wife Misty, Pro Football Hall of Fame president Jim Porter and several teammates from the legendary '85 Bears , including ex-linebacker and NFL head coach Ron Rivera and fellow Hall of Famers Richard Dent, Mike Singletary and Jimbo Covert.

Misty McMichael gently turned her husband's head as she unveiled his bronze bust to him.

"That's you baby, forever." Steve McMichael, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2021, is officially inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame surrounded by loved ones ❤️ pic.twitter.com/9cDqUmhyiZ — ESPN (@espn) August 3, 2024

"Steve, you're here with all of your world champion brothers," said Dent, MVP of Super Bowl 20.

"Back in Canton, we have 378 brothers that's looking for you. You're on a team that you can never be cut from, you never can be released from. When you die on this team, you will still be honored. Welcome home, Steve, you're in football heaven."

McMichael was as big a character as any for the '85 Bears, a team loaded with personalities. A WCW wrestler following his football playing days who unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Romeoville, Illinois, in 2012, "Mongo" was truly a monster for coordinator Buddy Ryan's famed "46 defense."

A third-round pick of the New England Patriots out of the University of Texas in 1980 who finished his career with the Green Bay Packers in 1994, McMichael spent his 13 other NFL seasons in Chicago. The two-time All-Pro finished his career with 95 sacks, among the most ever for an interior linemen, and 847 tackles.

McMichael was introduced Saturday by Jarrett Payton, son of Bears Hall of Famer Walter Payton, whom McMichael called his "pseudo son" in a brief acceptance speech read by his sister Kathy.

At the age of 12, @paytonsun introduced his father into the Hall of Fame. Now, 31 years later, he is back to present longtime friend Steve McMichael! pic.twitter.com/teLVdQKNUo — Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) August 3, 2024

"I do not want ALS to be my legacy," McMichael said via master of ceremonies Chris Berman.

"What I did on the field, that's my legacy – pushing myself to the limit, yessir … farther than anyone else could."

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis .

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Election Highlights: Harris Has Votes Needed to Be Nominee, D.N.C. Says

The party chair said she had won enough delegates to secure the nomination, setting up Kamala Harris to become the first Black woman and person of South Asian heritage to earn the top spot on a major political ticket for president.

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Nicholas Nehamas Reid J. Epstein and Simon J. Levien

Here’s the latest on the presidential race.

Vice President Kamala Harris has won enough delegates to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination, the Democratic National Committee said on Friday, setting Ms. Harris up to become the first Black woman and person of South Asian heritage to earn the top spot on a major political ticket for president.

Jaime Harrison, the party chair, said Ms. Harris’s nomination would become official after the party’s highly unusual, virtual roll call vote ends on Monday. On Friday, Ms. Harris’s campaign announced the addition of several top advisers, including David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama’s first presidential run.

Here’s what to know:

Nearing a V.P. choice: A law firm enlisted by the Harris campaign completed its formal process of vetting potential running mates. It turned over its findings to the campaign on Thursday, leaving the decision up to Ms. Harris, who will meet with finalists this weekend. Several contenders canceled events this weekend , reflecting a desire to be available for those conversations. Ms. Harris is expected to start campaigning with her chosen vice-presidential candidate early next week.

Staff moves: In addition to Mr. Plouffe, the Harris campaign is bringing on board Jennifer Palmieri, a former Obama and Clinton communications director; Stephanie Cutter, Mr. Obama’s deputy campaign manager in 2012; and Mitch Stewart, who was Mr. Obama’s battleground states director that same year. The new aides will all report to Jen O’Malley Dillon, the campaign chair.

Campaign cash: The Trump and Harris campaigns have announced their fund-raising totals for July, an extraordinary month in presidential politics that brought the attempted assassination of former President Donald J. Trump, his formal nomination as the Republican candidate, the end of President Biden’s candidacy and the start of Ms. Harris’s. While both major-party candidates experienced fund-raising surges amid the upheaval, re-energized Democrats sent a record-setting $310 million into the coffers of the Harris campaign and its allied groups, more than doubling the $139 million that Mr. Trump took in, itself an enormous sum.

Lawyers call to protect democracy: On Friday, a bipartisan task force of the American Bar Association called on lawyers across the country to protect democracy and fend off “rising authoritarianism.” The statement by the group, led by J. Michael Luttig, a conservative former federal appeals court judge appointed by President George Bush, and Jeh C. Johnson, a homeland security secretary under President Barack Obama, does not mention Mr. Trump by name but appears to be referring to his attempt to subvert his 2020 election loss.

Prisoner swap: Ms. Harris, alongside President Biden, met with three Americans released in a prisoner swap with Russia, including Evan Gershkovich , a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. The deal was a diplomatic victory for the Biden administration, blunting suggestions by Mr. Trump that securing the journalist’s release would hinge on his returning to office.

Neil Vigdor Maggie Haberman and Simon J. Levien

Trump proposes a Fox News debate with Harris on Sept. 4.

Follow live updates on the 2024 election here.

Former President Donald J. Trump declared late on Friday that he was dropping out of an ABC News debate scheduled for Sept. 10 and presented a counterproposal to Vice President Kamala Harris, his presumptive opponent, to face off on Fox News six days earlier.

The change, which Mr. Trump announced on his social media site, Truth Social, raised objections from the Harris campaign and appeared to throw a potential showdown between the rivals into question.

A campaign official for Ms. Harris on Saturday accused Mr. Trump of scheming up the Fox News debate to distract from reneging on his commitment to the ABC debate. Mr. Trump had agreed to that debate in May, before President Biden dropped out of the race and before Mr. Biden’s calamitous performance in a CNN debate on June 27.

“Donald Trump is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out,” Michael Tyler, the communications director for the Harris campaign, said in a statement. “He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept 10.”

Mr. Tyler said that the Harris campaign was open to discussing further debates if Mr. Trump honored his commitment to the ABC debate.

“Mr. Anytime, Anywhere, Anyplace should have no problem with that unless he’s too scared to show up on the 10th,” he said.

A spokesman for ABC News would not say whether the network would go ahead with its debate and give time only to Ms. Harris. In a post on X on Saturday, Ms. Harris said: “I’ll be there on September 10th, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there.”

A spokesman for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday. Representatives for Fox News did not respond to questions.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly railed against ABC News, which he is suing for defamation, a case that a federal judge in Florida recently allowed to move forward . He has attacked George Stephanopoulos, the host of “This Week” on ABC, who did the first television interview with Mr. Biden after his debate performance. He also turned combative toward Rachel Scott of ABC News during a question-and-answer session on Wednesday at a convention of Black journalists in Chicago.

Mr. Trump has appeared to be struggling to find his footing since Mr. Biden left the race, despite the fact that Democrats had been increasingly calling for such a change since the president’s debate performance.

He has tested out a series of nicknames against Ms. Harris and has made clear he would rather attack her personally and focus the public discussion on her race — Ms. Harris’s father was born in Jamaica and her mother in India — than attempt to tie her to the Biden administration’s record or her own record as a prosecutor in California.

Mr. Trump, who spent nearly 16 months getting nonstop attention since he was first criminally indicted in March 2023, has also struggled to try to inject himself back into the headlines at a moment when Ms. Harris is enjoying a political honeymoon. By canceling the ABC debate, Mr. Trump has put himself back in the news cycle.

According to Mr. Trump’s post on his social media site, the Fox News debate would take place on Sept. 4 at a to-be-determined location in Pennsylvania, one of the most consequential battleground states. The network’s anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum would moderate.

Mr. Trump said on social media that the Fox News debate would have a live audience; the previous debate between him and Mr. Biden was hosted by CNN in an empty venue. Though both campaigns agreed to the format of the first debate, Mr. Trump had bemoaned the lack of a crowd.

He added that the rules would be similar to the CNN debate, though he did not specify which rules. The candidates’ microphones in the June debate were muted when it was not their turn to speak to prevent interruptions.

Mr. Trump also said that he was “totally prepared to accept” Ms. Harris as the Democrats’ new candidate. Since her campaign suddenly took shape after Mr. Biden dropped out of the race about two weeks ago, Mr. Trump has characterized her ascendancy as a “coup” within the Democratic Party. In his debate announcement, the former president complained about the shake-up.

“I spent Hundreds of Millions of Dollars, Time, and Effort fighting Joe, and when I won the Debate, they threw a new Candidate into the ring,” Mr. Trump said on his social media site on Friday, adding that he hoped to tie Ms. Harris to Mr. Biden’s policies.

The Sept. 4 date is close to the start of some states’ early voting windows and long after Ms. Harris has clinched the nomination from her party. (The Democratic National Committee said on Friday that she had already won enough delegates in a virtual roll call vote to secure the party’s nomination.)

The first presidential debate between Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump had a seismic impact on the race. Mr. Biden gave a halting performance, in contrast to Mr. Trump, who spoke comparatively vigorously while repeatedly advancing falsehoods.

Mr. Biden’s garbled responses supercharged concerns among his Democratic colleagues about his age and health, as well as his ability to beat Mr. Trump in the general election. After several weeks of declining poll numbers and mounting pressure from key allies, Mr. Biden announced on July 21 that he would withdraw from the race.

Since then, Ms. Harris has challenged Mr. Trump to debate her and criticized his reluctance to commit to a date. As recently as Friday morning, in an interview with Fox Business, he was refusing to say whether he would debate Ms. Harris.

After the president dropped out, Ms. Harris said she would be willing to debate in Mr. Biden’s place, but Mr. Trump was noncommittal.

“Well Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage,” Ms. Harris said at her rally in Atlanta on Tuesday. “Because as the saying goes, ‘If you’ve got something to say, say it to my face.’”

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Simon J. Levien

Vice President Kamala Harris has no public events on her schedule this weekend, according to the White House. She will be in Washington, and in the next few days is expected to meet with the finalists in her running-mate search and announce her choice by Tuesday.

Neil Vigdor

Shapiro’s college-era criticism of Palestinians draws fresh scrutiny.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, Democrat of Pennsylvania, wrote in his college newspaper three decades ago that Palestinians were “too battle-minded” to achieve a two-state solution in the Middle East, prompting criticism as Vice President Kamala Harris considers him to be her running mate.

Mr. Shapiro, 51, has embraced his Jewish identity and been one of the Democratic Party’s staunchest defenders of Israel at a moment when the party is splintered over the war in Gaza.

But he says his views have evolved since publishing an opinion essay as a college student at the University of Rochester in New York, when he wrote that Palestinians were incapable of establishing their own homeland and making it successful, even with help from Israel and the United States.

“They are too battle-minded to be able to establish a peaceful homeland of their own,” he wrote in the essay, published in the Sept. 23, 1993, edition of The Campus Times , the student newspaper. “They will grow tired of fighting amongst themselves and will turn outside against Israel.”

Mr. Shapiro, who was 20 at the time, noted in his essay that he had spent five months studying in Israel and had volunteered in the Israeli Army.

“The only way the ‘peace plan’ will be successful is if the Palestinians do not ruin it,” Mr. Shapiro wrote, adding, “Palestinians will not coexist peacefully.”

During a news conference on Friday at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, the nation’s first historically Black college or university, Mr. Shapiro tried to distance himself from those remarks, which were first reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer .

“Something I wrote when I was 20, is that what you’re talking about?” Mr. Shapiro told a reporter who asked him about it. “I was 20.”

Mr. Shapiro said he had been in favor of a two-state solution, with “Israelis and Palestinians living peacefully side by side” long before the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that started the war in Gaza.

“It is my hope that we can see a day where peace will reign in the Middle East,” he said, “where there will be a two-state solution, where all leaders involved in the conversations will respect the other side and show a willingness to make the hard choices to find peace.”

Mr. Shapiro’s explanation did not satisfy the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which later on Friday called on him to apologize.

“We are deeply disturbed by the racist, anti-Palestinian views that Governor Shapiro expressed in this article,” Ahmet Tekelioglu, the group’s executive director said in a statement. “We are also concerned by his failure to clearly apologize for those hateful comments, especially given how quickly and harshly he has targeted college students protesting the Gaza genocide for their speech.”

In regards to Mr. Shapiro’s having written that he had volunteered in the Israeli army, a spokesman for Mr. Shapiro, Manuel Bonder, said in a statement: “While he was in high school, Josh Shapiro was required to do a service project, which he and several classmates completed through a program that took them to a kibbutz in Israel where he worked on a farm and at a fishery. The program also included volunteering on service projects on an Israeli army base. At no time was he engaged in any military activities.”

Mr. Shapiro has been one of the most vocal party leaders to condemn the documented rise of antisemitism since the Hamas-led attack on Israel. When he was previously asked if he considered himself a Zionist, he said that he did.

He has also not shied away from criticizing college administrators over their response to campus antisemitism, including at the University of Pennsylvania.

If Ms. Harris chooses Mr. Shapiro to be her running mate, he will become only the second Jewish vice-presidential nominee on a major-party ticket. The first was Joseph I. Lieberman, the former Connecticut senator who died in March . He ran with Al Gore in 2000.

Jon Hurdle and Katie Glueck contributed reporting.

Eduardo Medina

Reporting from Lucama, N.C.

Mark Robinson tries to reframe his strict anti-abortion position in a new ad.

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson of North Carolina, the Republican nominee for governor, released a new ad on Friday that sought to moderate his opposition to abortion, saying that he supports the current state law, which generally bans the procedure after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

His campaign had previously said that he wanted a so-called heartbeat law, which would ban the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy, when many women have yet to realize they are pregnant.

Mr. Robinson’s softened stance was included in an ad that focused on the story of how his wife, Yolanda Hill Robinson, had an abortion in 1989 — a decision that he said “was like this solid pain between us that we never spoke of.” The couple had previously disclosed the abortion in a Facebook video in 2022.

The ad appeared to be an attempt by Mr. Robinson’s campaign to blunt the criticism he has received for his past comments on the issue and to get ahead of future attacks. One of the first ads released by his Democratic opponent, Josh Stein, the attorney general of North Carolina, featured a compilation of clips showing Mr. Robinson discussing his restrictive views on abortion.

“An abortion in this country is not about protecting the lives of mothers,” Mr. Robinson says in one clip. “It’s about killing a child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.”

Mr. Stein’s campaign has accused Mr. Robinson of hiding his true intentions to seek a stricter abortion ban if elected, pointing to some of his past comments, such as when he said in February: “We’ve got it down to 12 weeks. The next goal is to get it down to six, and then just keep moving from there.”

Abortion is a central issue in North Carolina’s race for governor, which is expected to be one of the most expensive and consequential elections in the country, and one that could influence the presidential race. Republicans have rarely held the governor’s mansion in Raleigh over the past century, and recent polls show that the race is tight this year. Still, a Democratic presidential candidate has not won the state since Barack Obama in 2008.

The governor’s race also has been viewed as a Rorschach test for the swing state, where the current Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, is term-limited. Will voters go with a moderate Democrat in Mr. Stein, or veer to the right with Mr. Robinson?

With less than 100 days before the election, Mr. Robinson’s ad underscored how some Republicans have taken a more cautious approach when discussing abortion since the repeal of Roe v. Wade, which energized Democrats in the 2022 midterms. Despite the anti-abortion movement’s longtime support for a national ban, Republican former President Donald J. Trump has said that abortion restrictions should be left to the states.

In North Carolina and elsewhere, Democrats have pushed to make abortion rights a focal point, with Mr. Stein repeatedly bringing up Mr. Robinson's comments in stump speeches. Republicans have sought to tie Mr. Stein to President Biden and portray him as an out-of-touch extreme liberal.

Mr. Stein has said he supports a framework for abortion based on Roe v. Wade, which generally allowed the procedure through the point of viability, or roughly between 24 and 26 weeks.

In his ad on Friday, Mr. Robinson specified that he supports the current 12-week ban, which includes exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.

“When I’m governor, mothers in need will be supported,” Mr. Robinson said.

Morgan Hopkins, a spokeswoman for Mr. Stein’s campaign, said in a statement that Mr. Robinson “has resorted to running from his record and misleading voters.”

“If North Carolinians want to know where Mark Robinson really stands on abortion, they should listen to every other comment he’s made on the issue before today,” Ms. Hopkins said.

Mr. Robinson, a fiery orator who has been bolstered by the MAGA faction of his base, has drawn criticism in the past for incendiary comments perceived as antisemitic, hateful and conspiratorial.

In recent months, Mr. Robinson has attempted to moderate his tone in public speeches and focused more of his campaign on the economy, though he still discusses cultural issues, such as denouncing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and transgender women in sports.

The Trump campaign is characterizing Harris’s immense fund-raising total in July as primarily a product of wealthy elites. A fund-raising email sent today and signed by Trump called the donors behind her a “deep state brigade” and “liberal billionaires.” According to the Harris campaign, two-thirds of the $310 million raised last month came from first-time donors and most of the donations were not greater than $200, indicating a grassroots groundswell around the new candidate.

Noam Scheiber Kate Kelly and Kenneth P. Vogel

Harris’s brother-in-law, Uber’s chief lawyer, is taking a leave to advise her.

Vice President Kamala Harris’s brother-in-law, Tony West, will go on leave as Uber’s chief legal officer later this month to take an unofficial role in her presidential campaign.

Mr. West, a Stanford-trained lawyer and former Justice Department official, has informally advised Ms. Harris throughout her political career and has been by her side frequently since President Biden announced that he would not seek re-election.

The company revealed the change in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday afternoon.

In an email to Uber employees on Friday, Mr. West wrote that while he loved his job at the company, “I have always believed family comes first. So I’ve decided to dedicate myself full-time to supporting my family and my sister-in-law on the campaign trail.” Mr. West is married to Ms. Harris’s sister, Maya.

Beginning Aug. 17, he said, he will work as a “family-member surrogate” for the vice president, sharing the perspective of someone who has long been close to her, but will not have a formal campaign position. He said he intended to return to Uber after the presidential election and stressed that Uber would continue to take no position on the election.

Mr. West was general counsel of PepsiCo before joining Uber in 2017. He served in the Justice Department in the Clinton and Obama administrations and was the department’s third-ranking official from 2012 to 2014.

Some in the labor movement have expressed concerns about Mr. West’s ties to Ms. Harris in light of his role at Uber, which in 2020 helped enact a California ballot measure that exempted its drivers from a state law that would have probably classified them as employees.

As a result of the measure, which was recently upheld by the California Supreme Court, Uber drivers and other gig workers in the state do not benefit from certain legal protections, like state rules governing the minimum wage and overtime. The measure provided some benefits , like a separate wage floor and health care subsidies.

A post on X by the mayor of Philadelphia, Cherelle Parker, stirred speculation online, as it appeared to suggest that Kamala Harris had selected Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania as her running mate. But a member of the mayor’s staff clarified that it was not an announcement. The mayor intended only to express support for Shapiro, whom she hopes Harris will select.

Proud to be back with so many leaders from across our region supporting @KamalaHarris for President and @JoshShapiroPA for VP! We are One CITY, One REGION, and ONE Commonwealth United! @PADems @PhillyDems @Joanna4PA @PADemsChair @IBEW98 @RepHarris @PALaborers pic.twitter.com/Rh1ojbRjcr — Cherelle Parker (@PeopleforParker) August 2, 2024

Katie Glueck

A Philadelphia Inquirer article highlighted a column that Gov. Josh Shapiro, Democrat of Pennsylvania, wrote while in college, which noted that he had volunteered in the Israeli army. In a statement, a Shapiro spokesman, Manuel Bonder, said: “While he was in high school, Josh Shapiro was required to do a service project, which he and several classmates completed through a program that took them to a kibbutz in Israel, where he worked on a farm and at a fishery. The program also included volunteering on service projects on an Israeli army base. At no time was he engaged in any military activities.”

Senator JD Vance of Ohio, during a podcast that was released on Friday, shared an anecdote about the moment former President Donald J. Trump called to ask him to be his running mate. His 7-year-old son, Vance recalled, wanted to discuss Pokémon. “So he’s trying to talk to me about Pikachu, and I’m on the phone with Donald Trump, and I’m like, ‘Son, shut the hell up for for 30 seconds about Pikachu,” he said, referring to the Pokémon mascot. “‘This is the most important phone call of my life. Please just let me take this phone call.’”

Trump questioned the physical appearance of Native American business rivals in the 1990s.

Donald J. Trump’s false suggestion this week that Vice President Kamala Harris “became a Black person” only recently has drawn comparisons by his critics to comments he made about Native Americans three decades ago.

Mr. Trump was testifying before a House subcommittee in 1993 when he disputed the federal government’s recognition of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which had reached an agreement to build the first casino in Connecticut.

Mr. Trump had been seeking to expand his casino business into the state, a plan opposed by the governor at the time, Lowell P. Weicker Jr., who had left the Republican Party to form a third party.

“They don’t look like Indians to me,” Mr. Trump told what was then the Subcommittee on Native American Affairs during the October 1993 hearing. “And they don’t look like Indians to Indians. And a lot of people are laughing at it.”

Mr. Trump’s critics drew attention to that testimony this week after his remarks at a conference of Black journalists in Chicago. During that appearance, Mr. Trump questioned the racial identity of Ms. Harris, his presumptive opponent in the November election. He said that he hadn’t known that “she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black.” He referred to her Indian heritage, saying, “She was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went, she became a Black person.”

Ms. Harris’s mother immigrated to the United States from India. Her father, who is Black, immigrated from Jamaica.

Like Wednesday’s question-and-answer session, his testimony before Congress in 1993 turned combative and he was rebuked.

“Thank God that’s not the test of whether or not people have rights in this country or not, whether or not they pass your look test,” then-Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, told Mr. Trump.

The lawmaker’s scolding of Mr. Trump, who years later promoted conspiracy theories falsely claiming that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States , did not end there.

“Mr. Trump, you know in the history of this country of where we’ve heard this discussion before?” Mr. Miller said. “They don’t look Jewish to me.”

“Oh, really?” Mr. Trump interjected.

Mr. Miller continued: “They don’t look Indian to me. They don’t look Italian to me. And that was a test for whether people could go into business or not go into business, whether they could get a bank loan. You’re too Black, you’re not Black enough.”

Kenneth Vogel

Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who is among the Democrats under consideration to be the party’s vice presidential nominee, spoke to a group of more than 60 major donors on Friday afternoon. "This is a candidate donors can rally around," said a person there who insisted on anonymity to discuss the private call.

The appearance was organized by the Democracy Alliance, a club of liberal donors. It was hosted by the former Representative Donna Edwards of Maryland, the Democratic donor and operative Gideon Stein and the Movement Voter PAC.

Shane Goldmacher and Reid J. Epstein

Kamala Harris hires former Obama advisers, building out her campaign.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who formally won enough delegates to secure the Democratic Party nomination on Friday, is remaking a campaign hierarchy originally built to re-elect President Biden by adding several new advisers to the top ranks of her staff, including David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama’s first presidential run.

The changes, which come with fewer than 100 days until Election Day, provide an injection of talent and experience to a Wilmington, Del., operation that is flush with cash after her campaign announced raising a record-setting $310 million in July — more than double the sum raised by former President Donald J. Trump.

The hirings and promotions continue a whirlwind period for Ms. Harris, who is expected to meet in person with prospective candidates to be her running mate this weekend. The list is said to have narrowed to a half-dozen and the accelerated vetting process, conducted by an outside law firm, is now complete . Her campaign has suggested it will unveil her running mate by Tuesday evening, when the new ticket will hold a rally in Philadelphia to kick off a five-day battleground state tour.

Many of the other new additions to Ms. Harris’s team are veterans of the Obama and Hillary Clinton campaigns.

Stephanie Cutter, Mr. Obama’s deputy campaign manager in 2012, will now be a senior adviser for message and strategy. Mitch Stewart, Mr. Obama’s 2012 battleground states director, will be a senior adviser for the battleground states this year. Jennifer Palmieri, a former Obama and Clinton communications director, will be a senior adviser to Ms. Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff.

The vice president has also elevated political aides such as Brian Fallon and Megan Jones, who worked for her smaller team on the Biden campaign.

The new Harris aides will all report to Jen O’Malley Dillon, the campaign chair who took over Mr. Biden’s campaign in February and who has been the functional leader of the Harris campaign since Mr. Biden dropped out of the race. Ms. Harris announced last week that she had asked Ms. O’Malley Dillon to remain in charge of her campaign.

“We’re thrilled to expand her team with these battle-tested leaders that know her and know how to win close elections,” Ms. O’Malley Dillon said in a statement. Politico first reported the news that Mr. Plouffe would be joining the Harris campaign.

Sheila Nix, a senior adviser to the Harris campaign and the chief of staff to Ms. Harris, added, “These seasoned and respected leaders are a part of Vice President Harris’s steadfast commitment to grow a team that will ensure we do everything possible to win.”

Some new additions had been widely expected since Ms. Harris replaced Mr. Biden at the top of the ticket. The idea of Mr. Plouffe joining, for instance, had been discussed almost since the moment Ms. Harris entered the race. The reinforcements show that while Ms. Harris is keeping virtually the entire senior team that Mr. Biden had assembled in Wilmington, she wants to supplement it with a raft of fresh faces and voices, many of whom worked for Mr. Obama.

David Axelrod, the former top Obama strategist, hailed them as “an All-Star team” on X, joking: “Believe me, I know. I’ve been blessed to work closely with all them!”

In a virtual roll call on Friday, Ms. Harris formally won enough delegates for the party’s nomination less than three weeks after she entered the race. She spoke by phone to the virtual meeting, saying she was “honored” and excited for the convention later this month in Chicago.

“We’re going to get this done,” Ms. Harris said. “And as your future president, I know we are up to this fight.”

Mr. Plouffe is expected to fill the void left by some of Mr. Biden’s advisers, such as Steve Ricchetti, Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn, who are not expected to be as involved now. Ms. Dunn is joining the pro-Harris super PAC Future Forward.

The lead pollster for the Harris campaign will now be David Binder, a pollster based in San Francisco who has worked with Ms. Harris for two decades. He will oversee the campaign’s existing team of pollsters, who funneled their findings while Mr. Biden was the candidate through Mr. Donilon, the president’s longtime aide. Also joining the polling team is Terrance Woodbury.

The ad firm GMMB, where the prominent Democratic ad maker Jim Margolis is a partner, will build out her media team. Mr. Margolis worked on Ms. Harris’s 2020 campaign.

Quentin Fulks, who served as Mr. Biden’s deputy campaign manager, will now oversee that paid media program.

The campaign also announced that Liz Allen, a former top State Department official , would serve as the chief of staff to Ms. Harris’s running mate, similar to the role she held for Ms. Harris in 2020.

Brian Nelson, a Treasury Department official who worked for Ms. Harris when she was the attorney general of California, will be the campaign’s senior adviser for policy.

Michael Gold

Doug Emhoff accused Trump of purposefully creating a distraction with his interview at the National Association of Black Journalists conference, when he questioned Vice President Harris’s racial identity. “He sits down in front of a Black woman, a journalist, and calls out the Vice President’s identity. So now we’re all talking about it” instead of Trump’s policies and Project 2025, he said.

Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox Business on Friday that Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Meta, called him after the former president survived an assassination attempt in July. Trump said that Zuckerberg told him that he would not endorse a Democrat because he “respected” Trump for his response to the shooting. Zuckerberg said Trump’s fist pump after being shot at was “badass” in a recent interview with Bloomberg.

Trump says Zuckerberg called him after the assassination attempt & he won’t be trying to help Democrats win in 2024 as in 2020 pic.twitter.com/i9LKyqHwmV — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) August 2, 2024

A spokesman for Meta did not dispute that the two men spoke but declined to comment on the content of the call. The spokesman referred to Zuckerberg’s statement immediately after the shooting that he would not endorse any candidates this election. Zuckerberg also declined to endorse a political candidate during the 2016 and 2020 U.S. presidential elections.

Nicholas Nehamas and Reid J. Epstein

Reporting from Washington

Kamala Harris has the votes needed to be Democrats’ nominee, D.N.C. says

Vice President Kamala Harris has won enough delegates to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination, the Democratic National Committee said on Friday, setting up Ms. Harris to become the first Black woman and person of South Asian heritage to earn the top spot on a major political ticket for president.

Jaime Harrison, the party chair, said Ms. Harris’s nomination would become official after the party’s highly unusual, virtual roll call vote ends on Monday. He made the announcement during an online meeting for supporters while delegates were still voting in a virtual process devised to formally name the Democratic nominee before the party’s convention this month.

After Mr. Harrison spoke, Ms. Harris phoned into the meeting, saying that she was “honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee” and that she looked forward to the convention, which begins in Chicago on Aug. 19.

“Later this month, we will gather in Chicago, united as one party, where we’re going to have an opportunity to celebrate this historic moment together,” Ms. Harris said.

The announcement caps five weeks of chaos for Democrats, who had embarked on a pressure campaign — both in public and behind closed doors — to persuade President Biden to drop his re-election bid after his abysmal debate performance against former President Donald J. Trump in June.

Although her place atop the ticket had essentially been a foregone conclusion once Mr. Biden endorsed her after dropping out last month, Ms. Harris has brought her party together remarkably quickly, raising more than $200 million, drawing thousands of people to her rallies and energizing her party’s base.

She has also taken the spotlight from Mr. Trump, weeks after he survived an assassination attempt.

By Friday, 2,350 delegates and counting had voted for Ms. Harris, the only candidate who qualified for the ballot, giving her a majority, Mr. Harrison said. The party said the virtual roll call would ensure that a nominee would be in place by Aug. 7 to avoid potential legal headaches in Ohio . The other option on the ballot was “present.”

Holding the vote online means the traditional roll call at the Democratic National Convention, when the states shout their delegates’ votes from the convention floor, will be purely symbolic. Typically, that is the moment when the party’s presumptive nominee officially clinches the nomination — and is usually met with raucous celebration inside the arena.

Instead, Mr. Harrison broke the news during a glitchy online meeting hosted by the Harris campaign, in which he was initially muted and voices offscreen sometimes interfered with the audio of the on-camera speakers.

“Today, my friends, is special because we can proudly say we will have the first woman of color at the top of a major party ticket,” Mr. Harrison said in making the announcement.

The virtual roll call began at 9 a.m. on Thursday and is set to continue until 6 p.m. on Monday. Each delegate received a personalized virtual roll call voting form by email when the voting began. Delegates were instructed to fill out the forms, which are customized and have watermarks, and return them by email to an inbox maintained by their delegation.

Now the party must prepare for a three-month sprint of a race against Mr. Trump.

One outstanding question for Ms. Harris is whom she will select to run alongside her, which she is expected to announce by Tuesday. Her campaign has said she and her new running mate will appear together that day in Philadelphia, part of a five-day tour of all seven top battleground states.

An intensive vetting process of the prospective candidates wrapped up Thursday afternoon. Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona are widely seen by Democrats as the top contenders. Ms. Harris is said to have blocked off several hours on her calendar this weekend to meet with those being considered.

Neil Vigdor contributed reporting.

Doug Emhoff, noting he has been on a busy fundraising swing, said that Democratic donors have expressed the need to “push back on that despicable person and his little sidekick,” a reference to Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance.

Perhaps playing to the mostly L.G.B.T.Q. crowd, Doug Emhoff told the more than 100 people at this Fire Island fundraiser that he was at SoulCycle in West Hollywood, Calif. — another gay hotspot — when he learned that President Biden was ending his campaign. He’s speaking openly about his love for his wife, Vice President Harris, and noted that she’s “just about to” complete the process to become the Democratic presidential nominee.

The Harris campaign’s fundraiser on Fire Island raised about $321,000, its hosts said. It’s a mostly male crowd at the event, reflecting the demographic that usually vacations here.

Nicholas Nehamas

The Harris campaign just said on a virtual call with supporters that 2,302 delegates have cast their ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic Party’s nominee. Harris needs 2,350 votes to achieve a majority, her campaign said.

Doug Emhoff, who is the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, and Chasten Buttegieg, who is the husband of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, are set to appear today at a Harris campaign fund-raiser at a house overlooking a bay in Fire Island Pines, a popular gay vacation destination off the coast of Long Island.

Harris has galvanized L.G.B.T.Q. Democrats. Last month, before President Biden stepped aside, she took part in a fund-raiser at another popular gay vacation spot, Provincetown, Mass.

Donald Trump dismissed a question he was asked on Fox Business about who Vice President Kamala Harris might pick as a running mate, saying, “Can I tell you, I don’t care. Let them do whatever.” He went on to criticize the idea of her choosing Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, who is Jewish. “I think if she picks Shapiro who happens to be Jewish, she loses her little Palestinian base because she has — because they like me, because they think I’m going to bring peace to the Middle East, even though I’m very strong for Israel,” Trump said.

Olympic champion Simone Biles posted on social media that she loves her ‘Black job.’

Simone Biles, who catapulted herself to a sixth gold medal and ninth overall medal in her storied Olympic career with a victory in the women’s all-around gymnastics competition Thursday, seemed to take a not-so-subtle dig at Donald J. Trump on social media.

“I love my black job,” Ms. Biles posted on X on Friday with a heart emoji, an apparent reference to the former president’s recent remarks that “Black jobs” were being taken by undocumented immigrants.

Mr. Trump, who made the comments during a June debate against President Biden, drew criticism for suggesting certain types of jobs apply to Black people.

When he was asked about what he meant by the term “Black job” on Wednesday during a combative appearance at a conference of Black journalists in Chicago, Mr. Trump said: “A Black job is anybody who has a job.”

In that same appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists, Mr. Trump questioned the racial identity of Vice President Kamala Harris, his likely opponent in the November election. He said that Ms. Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian heritage, “became a Black person” only recently and suggested that it was for political gain, comments that were widely condemned.

As Ms. Biles, who is Black, was closing in on another Olympic triumph this week, Democrats called attention to remarks that Mr. Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance, Republican of Ohio, had once made about her after she withdrew from events in the previous Olympics because of a mental health issue.

Mr. Vance, during an appearance on Fox News in 2021, questioned why Ms. Biles was receiving acclaim for stepping away from the competition at the Tokyo games.

“I think it reflects pretty poorly on our sort of therapeutic society that we try to praise people, not for moments of strength, not for moments of heroism, but for their weakest moments,” Mr. Vance, who was running for the Senate, said at the time.

Democratic operatives were eager to resurface the remarks now that both Mr. Vance and Ms. Biles are back in the spotlight. Aida Ross, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, said on Thursday that Mr. Vance was in “no position to be talking about anyone’s else’s ‘weakest moments.’”

“While the rest of the country is celebrating the U.S.A. women’s gymnastics team’s performance at the Olympics, JD Vance is facing his weakest moment amid a gaffe-filled rollout that has left him as the most unpopular V.P. pick in decades,” she said.

Former President Donald Trump pushed back against pressure to debate Vice President Kamala Harris, saying in an interview on Fox Business, “I mean, right now I say, why should I do a debate? I’m leading in the polls, and everybody knows her. Everybody knows me.” Trump did not apply similar logic to President Biden, pushing him to debate, and even in the Fox Business interview he maintained that he wanted to debate Harris, despite his question about the necessity of it.

Simone Biles, fresh off becoming only the third woman gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal twice in the all-around competition, took a not-so-subtle dig on Friday at Donald J. Trump on social media. “I love my black job,” Biles posted on X , a reference to the former president's remarks that “Black jobs” were being taken away by undocumented immigrants. The remarks, first delivered during a debate, were immediately criticized as suggesting certain types of jobs apply to Black people.

I love my black job 🖤 https://t.co/c5wPc6xOY3 — Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) August 2, 2024

Representative Bob Good of Virginia, the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, conceded his Republican primary race on Thursday to John J. McGuire, a challenger backed by Donald Trump after a recount. Good lost by 374 votes, or 0.6 percent, in the June 18 primary. Both the candidates are election deniers, which raised the question of whether either would have accepted an adverse result in the contest.

Theodore Schleifer

Here’s a potential veepstakes tea leaf: Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky are scheduled to host fund-raisers for the Harris campaign on Monday night, the evening before the deadline that the Harris campaign has suggested it has set to announce its vice-presidential pick. Walz will headline a fund-raiser in Minneapolis, and Beshear will be featured at one in Chicago, according to the invites.

Harris campaign says it raised $310 million in July, more than double Trump’s haul.

Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign survived a brutal few weeks of fund-raising in July to bounce back so dramatically before the end of the month that she more than doubled the amount of money raised by former President Donald J. Trump, her campaign announced on Friday.

The Harris campaign, which for the first 20 days of July was the Biden campaign, said it had raised $310 million during the month, including $200 million in just seven days after President Biden dropped out of the race.

The Trump campaign and its own allies said on Thursday that they had collected $139 million in July, an enormous sum but well short of what the Harris campaign said it had brought in amid a huge burst of enthusiasm about her candidacy. The Harris campaign raised almost as much in July as the Biden campaign had raised in March, April, May and June combined.

The surge in fund-raising has allowed Democrats, for the first time in months , to have a cash-on-hand advantage over Republicans. The Harris campaign said it now had $377 million in its war chest, in contrast to the $327 million that the Trump campaign has said it has.

Neither campaign disclosed precisely how much of the money was raised or held by the campaigns themselves versus their allied party committees.

Democrats’ fund-raising was said to have plummeted in the first three weeks of the month, in the aftermath of Mr. Biden’s disastrous debate, although precise figures were not known or released by the Biden campaign. But after Mr. Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, the fund-raising spigot was opened wide. The $200 million that the Harris campaign said it had raised in the week after Mr. Biden ended his re-election bid was more than Mr. Biden’s haul in the first three months of the year.

The Trump campaign’s own fund-raising was strong — and most likely would have far outstripped the Democrats’ had the party not changed its standard-bearer. The $139 million raised in July amounted to one of the Trump team’s strongest fund-raising months to date, just off the sum raised in May, when Mr. Trump’s supporters responded to his felony conviction with $141 million in donations.

After collecting $112 million in June, donations for the Trump team ticked up in July as Mr. Trump survived an assassination attempt, was formally nominated at the Republican convention in Milwaukee and picked Senator JD Vance of Ohio to be his running mate — events that surely motivated his donors and supporters.

July was the second straight month in which Democrats out-raised the Trump team. In June, when Mr. Biden was still atop the ticket, his campaign raised $127 million and ended the month with $240 million on hand, all before the history-making events that would unfold over the next four weeks.

Emily Cochrane

Reporting from Nashville

Gloria Johnson, a member of the ‘Tennessee Three,’ will seek to unseat Marsha Blackburn in the Senate.

Gloria Johnson, a Tennessee state representative who faced an expulsion vote last year for participating in a gun control protest on the Statehouse floor, won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Thursday, according to The Associated Press, and will challenge Marsha Blackburn, the Republican incumbent.

Ms. Johnson catapulted to national attention last April as one of the “Tennessee Three,” who led the protest at the State Capitol after a shooter killed three students and three staff members at a Nashville Christian school.

While the Republican supermajority expelled the other two representatives, Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson, both young Black Democrats, Ms. Johnson, who is white, avoided the same fate by one vote. Both men were soon reinstated, while Ms. Johnson, the only one of the three old enough to run for Senate, was encouraged to run against Ms. Blackburn.

Ms. Johnson easily won her primary on Thursday, The Associated Press said, beating Marquita Bradshaw, an environmental justice activist; Civil Miller-Watkins, a teacher; and Lola Denise Brown, a Democratic activist.

“Tonight, I stand before you ready to work, ready to meet the voters, ready to mobilize voters, and ready to tell Tennesseans the stakes in this election,” Ms. Johnson told supporters gathered in Memphis, including Mr. Pearson. “I have never felt more ready to fight for Tennessee.”

Ms. Blackburn swatted away a long-shot Republican primary challenge from a former Statehouse staff member, Tres Wittum.

Ms. Blackburn, the first woman elected to represent Tennessee in the Senate, is widely favored to keep her seat. A fervent supporter of former President Donald J. Trump, she has gained attention for her aggressive — and at times misleading — questioning of Democratic nominees and hard-line stances .

At the Republican National Convention last month, she confronted Kimberly A. Cheatle, the Secret Service director who has since resigned, over the security failures that led up to an assassination attempt against Mr. Trump. And Ms. Blackburn is the lead Republican author of a sprawling Senate package aimed at protecting teenagers and children online, though it is unclear whether opposition from the tech industry and free speech concerns will prevent it from becoming law.

“I’m going to continue to work hard on the issues Tennesseans care about,” Ms. Blackburn said in a video posted on social media minutes after The Associated Press called the race. She added, “It is time for us to unite — it is time for us to say, let’s be certain that we pass that America First agenda.”

Democrats have charged that Ms. Blackburn’s policy positions — particularly her opposition to abortion rights and tightening gun laws — are too extreme for the state.

Ms. Johnson, a former teacher who first ran for the State Legislature in 2012, has repeatedly tangled with the state’s Republican supermajority. She has traveled across the state in recent weeks in an effort to not only introduce herself to more centrist and conservative voters, but also to galvanize the state’s Democratic minority.