KTLA News: "Martin Luther King, Jr. urges people to vote" (1964)

[People singing] Well, I'm walking and talking with my mind. Stand on freedom. I'm walking and talking with my mind, oh Lord, Lord. Stand on freedom. Walking and talking with my mind. Stand on freedom. Halle... hallelu...halle...hallelu...hallelujah. Ain't no harm! Well, it ain't no harm to keep your mind. Stand on freedom. It ain't no harm to keep your mind. Stand on freedom. Well, it ain't no harm to keep your mind. Stand on freedom. Halle... hallelu...halle...hallelu...hallelujah. [People singing] I woke up this morning with my mind, oh Lord, Lord. Stand on freedom. Well, I woke up this morning with my mind. Stand on freedom. Halle... hallelu...halle...hallelu...hallelujah. [song ends] [Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.] Each of us has a moral responsibility if we are of voting age and if we are registered to participate in that decision. So, I come to California today and I'll leave here and go to Chicago and then to Detroit and then Baltimore, Maryland and New York to say the same thing. I come here to urge every person under the sound of my voice to go to the polls on the 3rd of November and vote your convictions. Now, I know you're intelligent people and I don't need to tell you who you should vote for I don't have any fear about that. You know who to vote for. I'm just asking you to vote. Now, just if you need... [Crowd clapping] [Dr. King] Now, if you need a little information on my convictions at this point I must honestly admit to you that I am not gonna vote for Mr. Goldwater. [Crowd clapping] [Crowd chattering] [Crowd clapping] [Reporter in voiceover] The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., recent Nobel Peace Prize winner and Civil Rights leader, is making a final swing throughout the nation in the last-minute effort to get out the vote. [Reporter] Reverend King has been in Southern California since last night and has a back-breaking schedule for today. [Reporter] Traveling under the auspices of the Western Christian Leadership Conference, he has already visited today the Knickerbocker Gardens at 112th and Compton, the Elks Hall on Central Avenue, Carver Junior High School and Jefferson High School, now here at the Boy's Market, Crenshaw and Rodeo. [Man at microphone] They don't have anything... [Reporter] Later today, he goes to McCoy Memorial Baptist Church, LA City College, winds up with a big citizens' rally tonight at South Park, 51st and Avalon. [Reporter] Tomorrow it's more of the same in San Francisco. [Man at microphone] And we're going to begin this mission by asking you to join us... [People singing] With my mind. Stand on freedom. Well, it ain't no... [song ends] [Crowd clapping] [Dr. King] Inspired me and you've inspired all of these very dedicated freedom fighters who are travelling with me on this tour. Now I'm not gonna be long. I'm gonna be very brief. I'm not here to make a speech. I'm here to make a plea and I'm here to urge you to do something that I think you will do and something that I think you want to do. Suffice it to say that we stand in one of the most momentous periods of human history and in these days of emotional tension when the problems of the world are gigantic in extent and chaotic in detail. All men of goodwill must make the right decisions. And on Tuesday, one week from today, the people of this nation must decide whether they want America to remain true to the great words of the founding fathers: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." "That they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights." "That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." We must decide whether those words will be firmly etched into the structure of our nation. Or whether we will allow our nation to be relegated to a second-rate power in the world with no moral voice. We must decide next Tuesday whether America will take the high road of justice and peace and compassion for the poor and underprivileged. Or whether this nation will tread the low road of man's inhumanity to man of injustice, of shortsightedness. And I don't think any Negro and white person of goodwill will vote for Mr. Goldwater. [Crowd clapping and cheering] [Dr. King] There seriously never before in the history of our nation has a candidate for the Presidency taken such a negative stand on the demands of our Judeo-Christian heritage for justice and understanding, goodwill and compassion for the poor and peace as has Mr. Goldwater. And so all men of goodwill will go to the polls on November the 3rd and I hope we will have a great day in our nation so that when we wake up on the 4th of November, we will know that America has made the right decision. Now that is another thing... [Crowd clapping] [Dr. King] here in California you have another issue that is so vital and so pressing. You've heard a lot about Proposition 14. I mention this because it is not merely a local issue. It is not merely an issue facing the state of California. But it is an issue facing our whole nation. If Proposition 14 gets through...