Interesting Literature

A Summary and Analysis of Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘I Have a Dream’ is one of the greatest speeches in American history. Delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-68) in Washington D.C. in 1963, the speech is a powerful rallying cry for racial equality and for a fairer and equal world in which African Americans will be as free as white Americans.

If you’ve ever stayed up till the small hours working on a presentation you’re due to give the next day, tearing your hair out as you try to find the right words, you can take solace in the fact that as great an orator as Martin Luther King did the same with one of the most memorable speeches ever delivered.

He reportedly stayed up until 4am the night before he was due to give his ‘I Have a Dream’, writing it out in longhand. You can read the speech in full here .

‘I Have a Dream’: background

The occasion for King’s speech was the march on Washington , which saw some 210,000 African American men, women, and children gather at the Washington Monument in August 1963, before marching to the Lincoln Memorial.

They were marching for several reasons, including jobs (many of them were out of work), but the main reason was freedom: King and many other Civil Rights leaders sought to remove segregation of black and white Americans and to ensure black Americans were treated the same as white Americans.

1963 was the centenary of the Emancipation Proclamation , in which then US President Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) had freed the African slaves in the United States in 1863. But a century on from the abolition of slavery, King points out, black Americans still are not free in many respects.

‘I Have a Dream’: summary

King begins his speech by reminding his audience that it’s a century, or ‘five score years’, since that ‘great American’ Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This ensured the freedom of the African slaves, but Black Americans are still not free, King points out, because of racial segregation and discrimination.

America is a wealthy country, and yet many Black Americans live in poverty. It is as if the Black American is an exile in his own land. King likens the gathering in Washington to cashing a cheque: in other words, claiming money that is due to be paid.

Next, King praises the ‘magnificent words’ of the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence . King compares these documents to a promissory note, because they contain the promise that all men, including Black men, will be guaranteed what the Declaration of Independence calls ‘inalienable rights’: namely, ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’.

King asserts that America in the 1960s has ‘defaulted’ on this promissory note: in other words, it has refused to pay up. King calls it a ‘sacred obligation’, but America as a nation is like someone who has written someone else a cheque that has bounced and the money owed remains to be paid. But it is not because the money isn’t there: America, being a land of opportunity, has enough ‘funds’ to ensure everyone is prosperous enough.

King urges America to rise out of the ‘valley’ of segregation to the ‘sunlit path of racial justice’. He uses the word ‘brotherhood’ to refer to all Americans, since all men and women are God’s children. He also repeatedly emphasises the urgency of the moment. This is not some brief moment of anger but a necessary new start for America. However, King cautions his audience not to give way to bitterness and hatred, but to fight for justice in the right manner, with dignity and discipline.

Physical violence and militancy are to be avoided. King recognises that many white Americans who are also poor and marginalised feel a kinship with the Civil Rights movement, so all Americans should join together in the cause. Police brutality against Black Americans must be eradicated, as must racial discrimination in hotels and restaurants. States which forbid Black Americans from voting must change their laws.

Martin Luther King then comes to the most famous part of his speech, in which he uses the phrase ‘I have a dream’ to begin successive sentences (a rhetorical device known as anaphora ). King outlines the form that his dream, or ambition or wish for a better America, takes.

His dream, he tells his audience, is ‘deeply rooted’ in the American Dream: that notion that anybody, regardless of their background, can become prosperous and successful in the United States. King once again reminds his listeners of the opening words of the Declaration of Independence: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’

In his dream of a better future, King sees the descendants of former Black slaves and the descendants of former slave owners united, sitting and eating together. He has a dream that one day his children will live in a country where they are judged not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

Even in Mississippi and Alabama, states which are riven by racial injustice and hatred, people of all races will live together in harmony. King then broadens his dream out into ‘our hope’: a collective aspiration and endeavour. King then quotes the patriotic American song ‘ My Country, ’Tis of Thee ’, which describes America as a ‘sweet land of liberty’.

King uses anaphora again, repeating the phrase ‘let freedom ring’ several times in succession to suggest how jubilant America will be on the day that such freedoms are ensured. And when this happens, Americans will be able to join together and be closer to the day when they can sing a traditional African-American hymn : ‘Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.’

‘I Have a Dream’: analysis

Although Martin Luther King’s speech has become known by the repeated four-word phrase ‘I Have a Dream’, which emphasises the personal nature of his vision, his speech is actually about a collective dream for a better and more equal America which is not only shared by many Black Americans but by anyone who identifies with their fight against racial injustice, segregation, and discrimination.

Nevertheless, in working from ‘I have a dream’ to a different four-word phrase, ‘this is our hope’. The shift is natural and yet it is a rhetorical masterstroke, since the vision of a better nation which King has set out as a very personal, sincere dream is thus telescoped into a universal and collective struggle for freedom.

What’s more, in moving from ‘dream’ to a different noun, ‘hope’, King suggests that what might be dismissed as an idealistic ambition is actually something that is both possible and achievable. No sooner has the dream gathered momentum than it becomes a more concrete ‘hope’.

In his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, King was doing more than alluding to Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation one hundred years earlier. The opening words to his speech, ‘Five score years ago’, allude to a specific speech Lincoln himself had made a century before: the Gettysburg Address .

In that speech, delivered at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery (now known as Gettysburg National Cemetery) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in November 1863, Lincoln had urged his listeners to continue in the fight for freedom, envisioning the day when all Americans – including Black slaves – would be free. His speech famously begins with the words: ‘Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.’

‘Four score and seven years’ is eighty-seven years, which takes us back from 1863 to 1776, the year of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. So, Martin Luther King’s allusion to the words of Lincoln’s historic speech do two things: they call back to Lincoln’s speech but also, by extension, to the founding of the United States almost two centuries before. Although Lincoln and the American Civil War represented progress in the cause to make all Americans free regardless of their ethnicity, King makes it clear in ‘I Have a Dream’ that there is still some way to go.

In the last analysis, King’s speech is a rhetorically clever and emotionally powerful call to use non-violent protest to oppose racial injustice, segregation, and discrimination, but also to ensure that all Americans are lifted out of poverty and degradation.

But most of all, King emphasises the collective endeavour that is necessary to bring about the world he wants his children to live in: the togetherness, the linking of hands, which is essential to make the dream a reality.

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"I Have a Dream"

August 28, 1963

Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered at the 28 August 1963  March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , synthesized portions of his previous sermons and speeches, with selected statements by other prominent public figures.

King had been drawing on material he used in the “I Have a Dream” speech in his other speeches and sermons for many years. The finale of King’s April 1957 address, “A Realistic Look at the Question of Progress in the Area of Race Relations,” envisioned a “new world,” quoted the song “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” and proclaimed that he had heard “a powerful orator say not so long ago, that … Freedom must ring from every mountain side…. Yes, let it ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado…. Let it ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let it ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let it ring from every mountain and hill of Alabama. From every mountain side, let freedom ring” ( Papers  4:178–179 ).

In King’s 1959 sermon “Unfulfilled Hopes,” he describes the life of the apostle Paul as one of “unfulfilled hopes and shattered dreams” ( Papers  6:360 ). He notes that suffering as intense as Paul’s “might make you stronger and bring you closer to the Almighty God,” alluding to a concept he later summarized in “I Have a Dream”: “unearned suffering is redemptive” ( Papers  6:366 ; King, “I Have a Dream,” 84).

In September 1960, King began giving speeches referring directly to the American Dream. In a speech given that month at a conference of the North Carolina branches of the  National Association for the Advancement of Colored People , King referred to the unexecuted clauses of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution and spoke of America as “a dream yet unfulfilled” ( Papers  5:508 ). He advised the crowd that “we must be sure that our struggle is conducted on the highest level of dignity and discipline” and reminded them not to “drink the poisonous wine of hate,” but to use the “way of nonviolence” when taking “direct action” against oppression ( Papers  5:510 ).

King continued to give versions of this speech throughout 1961 and 1962, then calling it “The American Dream.” Two months before the March on Washington, King stood before a throng of 150,000 people at Cobo Hall in Detroit to expound upon making “the American Dream a reality” (King, Address at Freedom Rally, 70). King repeatedly exclaimed, “I have a dream this afternoon” (King, Address at Freedom Rally, 71). He articulated the words of the prophets Amos and Isaiah, declaring that “justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream,” for “every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low” (King, Address at Freedom Rally, 72). As he had done numerous times in the previous two years, King concluded his message imagining the day “when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing with the Negroes in the spiritual of old: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” (King,  Address at Freedom Rally , 73).

As King and his advisors prepared his speech for the conclusion of the 1963 march, he solicited suggestions for the text. Clarence  Jones   offered a metaphor for the unfulfilled promise of constitutional rights for African Americans, which King incorporated into the final text: “America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned” (King, “I Have a Dream,” 82). Several other drafts and suggestions were posed. References to Abraham Lincoln and the  Emancipation Proclamation  were sustained throughout the countless revisions. King recalled that he did not finish the complete text of the speech until 3:30 A.M. on the morning of 28 August.

Later that day, King stood at the podium overlooking the gathering. Although a typescript version of the speech was made available to the press on the morning of the march, King did not merely read his prepared remarks. He later recalled: “I started out reading the speech, and I read it down to a point … the audience response was wonderful that day…. And all of a sudden this thing came to me that … I’d used many times before.... ‘I have a dream.’ And I just felt that I wanted to use it here … I used it, and at that point I just turned aside from the manuscript altogether. I didn’t come back to it” (King, 29 November 1963).

The following day in the  New York Times,  James Reston wrote: “Dr. King touched all the themes of the day, only better than anybody else. He was full of the symbolism of Lincoln and Gandhi, and the cadences of the Bible. He was both militant and sad, and he sent the crowd away feeling that the long journey had been worthwhile” (Reston, “‘I Have a Dream …’”).

Carey to King, 7 June 1955, in  Papers  2:560–561.

Hansen,  The Dream,  2003.

King, Address at the Freedom Rally in Cobo Hall, in  A Call to Conscience , ed. Carson and Shepard, 2001.

King, “I Have a Dream,” Address Delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, in  A Call to Conscience , ed. Carson and Shepard, 2001.

King, Interview by Donald H. Smith, 29 November 1963,  DHSTR-WHi .

King, “The Negro and the American Dream,” Excerpt from Address at the Annual Freedom Mass Meeting of the North Carolina State Conference of Branches of the NAACP, 25 September 1960, in  Papers  5:508–511.

King, “A Realistic Look at the Question of Progress in the Area of Race Relations,” Address Delivered at St. Louis Freedom Rally, 10 April 1957, in  Papers  4:167–179.

King, Unfulfilled Hopes, 5 April 1959, in  Papers  6:359–367.

James Reston, “‘I Have a Dream…’: Peroration by Dr. King Sums Up a Day the Capital Will Remember,”  New York Times , 29 August 1963.

The New York Times

The learning network | text to text | ‘i have a dream’ and ‘the lasting power of dr. king’s dream speech’.

The Learning Network - Teaching and Learning With The New York Times

Text to Text | ‘I Have a Dream’ and ‘The Lasting Power of Dr. King’s Dream Speech’

Crowds gathering at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. <a href="//www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/us/the-lasting-power-of-dr-kings-dream-speech.html">Related Article</a>

American History

Teaching ideas based on New York Times content.

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Last summer was the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. painted his dream of racial equality and justice for the nation that still resonates with us. “I have a dream,” he proclaimed, “my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” In this Text to Text , we pair Dr. King’s pivotal “I Have a Dream” speech with a reflection by the Times literary critic Michiko Kakutani, who explores why this singular speech has such lasting power.

Background: The speech that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered on Aug. 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial was not the speech he had prepared in his notes and stayed up nearly all night writing.

Dr. King was the closing speaker at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and the “Dream” speech that inspired a nation and helped galvanize the civil rights movement almost never happened. The march itself almost never happened, as David Brooks writes , because the Urban League, the N.A.A.C.P. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference either chose to opt out or were focusing their energy elsewhere before the events in Birmingham, Ala., in May 1963, with fire hoses and snapping dogs turned on protesters, helped reignite the call for a national march. The speech almost never happened because Dr. King didn’t think he had time to say all he wanted to say in the five minutes he was allotted — at the end of a long, hot summer day before the crowds were ready to disperse and go home.

Words spoken that day by Dr. King still reverberate.

But Dr. King was “the son, grandson and great-grandson of Baptist ministers,” Michiko Kakutani writes, and he “was comfortable with the black church’s oral tradition, and he knew how to read his audience and react to it.” In the middle of his speech, the gospel singer Mahalia Jackson urged him from behind the podium, “Tell ’em about the ‘Dream,’ Martin, tell ’em about the ‘Dream’!” She was referring to a riff he had delivered many times before, and in that moment, Dr. King broke from his prepared remarks and shared his transcendent vision for the nation’s future.

Below, we excerpted only the first part of Dr. King’s speech, but students should read the entire speech or this abridged version (PDF). For greater effect, they can listen to the audio or watch the video of Dr. King’s delivery while they read along.

Ms. Kakutani, a Pulitzer Prize-winning literary critic for The Times, reflects on the speech’s lasting power on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. We offer an excerpt that introduces her analysis, but we recommend that students read the entire article to explore her evidence for what makes the speech so remarkable.

Key Questions: Why is Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech so powerful, even 50 years later?

Activity Sheets: As students read and discuss, they might take notes using one or more of the three graphic organizers (PDFs) we have created for our Text to Text feature:

  • Comparing Two or More Texts
  • Double-Entry Chart for Close Reading
  • Document Analysis Questions

Excerpt 1: From “The Lasting Power of Dr. King’s Dream Speech,” by Michiko Kakutani

Today, Dr. King's famous words are chipped into the spot where he spoke.

It was late in the day and hot, and after a long march and an afternoon of speeches about federal legislation, unemployment and racial and social justice, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. finally stepped to the lectern, in front of the Lincoln Memorial, to address the crowd of 250,000 gathered on the National Mall. He began slowly, with magisterial gravity, talking about what it was to be black in America in 1963 and the “shameful condition” of race relations a hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Unlike many of the day’s previous speakers, he did not talk about particular bills before Congress or the marchers’ demands. Instead, he situated the civil rights movement within the broader landscape of history — time past, present and future — and within the timeless vistas of Scripture. Dr. King was about halfway through his prepared speech when Mahalia Jackson — who earlier that day had delivered a stirring rendition of the spiritual “I Been ’Buked and I Been Scorned” — shouted out to him from the speakers’ stand: “Tell ’em about the ‘Dream,’ Martin, tell ’em about the ‘Dream’!” She was referring to a riff he had delivered on earlier occasions, and Dr. King pushed the text of his remarks to the side and began an extraordinary improvisation on the dream theme that would become one of the most recognizable refrains in the world. With his improvised riff, Dr. King took a leap into history, jumping from prose to poetry, from the podium to the pulpit. His voice arced into an emotional crescendo as he turned from a sobering assessment of current social injustices to a radiant vision of hope — of what America could be. “I have a dream,” he declared, “my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!” Many in the crowd that afternoon, 50 years ago on Wednesday, had taken buses and trains from around the country. Many wore hats and their Sunday best — “People then,” the civil rights leader John Lewis would recall, “when they went out for a protest, they dressed up” — and the Red Cross was passing out ice cubes to help alleviate the sweltering August heat. But if people were tired after a long day, they were absolutely electrified by Dr. King. There was reverent silence when he began speaking, and when he started to talk about his dream, they called out, “Amen,” and, “Preach, Dr. King, preach,” offering, in the words of his adviser Clarence B. Jones, “every version of the encouragements you would hear in a Baptist church multiplied by tens of thousands.” You could feel “the passion of the people flowing up to him,” James Baldwin, a skeptic of that day’s March on Washington, later wrote, and in that moment, “it almost seemed that we stood on a height, and could see our inheritance; perhaps we could make the kingdom real.” Dr. King’s speech was not only the heart and emotional cornerstone of the March on Washington, but also a testament to the transformative powers of one man and the magic of his words. Fifty years later, it is a speech that can still move people to tears. Fifty years later, its most famous lines are recited by schoolchildren and sampled by musicians. Fifty years later, the four words “I have a dream” have become shorthand for Dr. King’s commitment to freedom, social justice and nonviolence, inspiring activists from Tiananmen Square to Soweto, Eastern Europe to the West Bank. Why does Dr. King’s “Dream” speech exert such a potent hold on people around the world and across the generations? Part of its resonance resides in Dr. King’s moral imagination. Part of it resides in his masterly oratory and gift for connecting with his audience — be they on the Mall that day in the sun or watching the speech on television or, decades later, viewing it online. And part of it resides in his ability, developed over a lifetime, to convey the urgency of his arguments through language richly layered with biblical and historical meanings….

essay on martin luther king jr i have a dream speech

Excerpt 2: From “I Have a Dream,” by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men — yes, black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check that has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children….

For Writing or Discussion

  • Michiko Kakutani asks: “Why does Dr. King’s ‘Dream’ speech exert such a potent hold on people around the world and across the generations?” What answer does she provide? What is the most powerful evidence she uses to back up her analysis?
  • Ms. Kakutani explains that “with his improvised riff, Dr. King took a leap into history, jumping from prose to poetry, from the podium to the pulpit.” What does she mean by that description?
  • After reading, listening or watching Dr. King’s “Dream” speech, describe your reaction. What do you find powerful or moving in the speech? Do you have a favorite line or phrase? Explain.
  • How does Dr. King use figurative language and other poetic and oratorical devices, such as repetition and theme, to make his speech more powerful?
  • What historical and biblical allusions do you recognize within the speech? Which allusions do you find most compelling, and why?
  • Have we achieved Dr. King’s dream 50 years later? What progress do you think this country has made since the March on Washington with regard to civil rights? What progress do we still need to make? Cite evidence to support your opinion.

After attending the March on Washington in 1963, Daniel R. Smith wondered if the nation's mind-set would change. <a href="//www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/us/a-time-to-return-to-and-reflect-on-the-march-on-washington.html">Go to related article »</a>

Going Further

1. Witnesses to History: How did people at the time react — to Dr. King’s “Dream” speech as well as to the march as a whole? The Times gathered reflections from readers who attended the march . Choose one or two memories to read in the Interactive. What was most powerful about the march for them? What was their recollection of Dr. King’s speech?

Alternatively, read James Reston’s 1963 news analysis published the day after the march in The Times to understand one contemporary critic’s perspective. Mr. Reston writes:

It was Dr. King who, near the end of the day, touched the vast audience…. But Dr. King brought them alive in the late afternoon with a peroration that was an anguished echo from all the old American reformers. Roger Williams calling for religious liberty. Sam Adams calling for political liberty, old man Thoreau denouncing coercion, William Lloyd Garrison demanding emancipation, and Eugene V. Debs crying for economic equality — Dr. King echoed them all. “I have a dream,” he cried again and again. And each time the dream was a promise out of our ancient articles of faith: phrases from the Constitution. lines from the great anthem of the nation, guarantees from the Bill of Rights, all ending with a vision that they all one day might come true.

How does Mr. Reston view the “Dream” speech? What additional insights does this news analysis give you about how The Times, or the mainstream news media in general, might have viewed the event at the time?

2. Other Civil Rights Speeches: Dr. King’s “Dream” speech is the best known of a long line of civil rights speeches. The Times collected other speeches that have influenced perceptions of race in America, including Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” and Fannie Lou Hamer’s testimony at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Choose one speech and compare it to “I Have a Dream” in both tone and message.

3. Nonviolent Resistance: Dr. King’s speech was grounded in a larger movement committed to nonviolent resistance. Read the Times columnist David Brooks’s “The Ideas Behind the March,” and then consider the following questions:

  • Mr. Brooks writes: “Nonviolent coercion was an ironic form of aggression. Nonviolence furnished the movement with a series of tactics that allowed it to remain on permanent offense.” What does he mean by that? How does this analysis help explain why nonviolence is often so effective?
  • What current issue do you think would be well served by a nonviolent reform movement like the civil rights movement? Why is this issue important to you, and what actions would you want such a movement to take to make change?

4. Assessing the Dream: Daniel R. Smith attended both the March on Washington in 1963 and the 50th anniversary commemoration last August. Five decades after Dr. King’s historic speech, Mr. Smith reflected on how much progress the nation has made in terms of civil rights, but he also wondered if “the pace has slowed considerably.” Read “50 Years After March, Views of Fitful Progress” and study the related graphic analyzing change over time in key areas like education and jobs. How much progress do you think the country has made in civil rights since 1963? How much progress do we still need to make? Cite evidence to support your opinion.

More Resources:

Celebrating M.L.K. Day — news articles, Opinion articles, multimedia and lesson plans related to Dr. King and the civil rights movement

Additional Lesson Plans — by the Gilder Lehrman Institute and PBS for middle school and high school students

This resource may be used to address the academic standards listed below.

Common Core E.L.A. Anchor Standards

1   Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

2   Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

4   Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

5   Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

Comments are no longer being accepted.

Another fantastic lesson plan. I teach AP English Language and Composition. King’s writings are an essential part of the curriculum; these ideas will be great springboards for discussion. Thank you!

James Mulhern, //www.synthesizingeducation.net Atlantic Technical Center Magnet High School Coconut Creek, Florida

Remarkable Rev, Dr Martin Luther King, an exemplary and epitome of peace movement, who has shown extreme rationality in pursuit of justice, equality and freedom without any violence, taught us how to live a life with a high plane of dignity and prosperity, a life of liberty and equality, a life of complete unanimity and harmony in regard with racism. He taught us the real meaning of revolution……. revolution forwarded to bring the bright and sparkling light of hope of peace and tranquillity. His philosophies, ideologies and of course his dream for AMERICANS reflect his heart which is replete with abundance of humanity, compassion, fraternity and brotherhood. Yes, I have a dream and the dream is to live your dream.

Martin Luther King Jr. had the most memorable speak ever in the history of time. Something new that I have learned about Dr. King’s speech is that it was not the one he had prepared for the event. It amazes me that he still managed to say such a magnificent speak and it was not the one he was preparing for it just happened. I think Martin Luther King Jr. speech of “I Have a Dream” is still so powerful till this day is because it was something he was fighting for, for everybody and it was something that was so unique to everybody to hear it was wonderful. The main reason for the speech is for everyone to see that we are equal and for the future to be better than how it was, it just needed to be different. Many people loved the speech that he did but then again there were also others who disliked for the meaning it was about. The people who did not like it probably did not like it because they wanted it to stay the same and were probably taught to hate on others for a reason. Martin to me was a very unique man for doing what he did but there were also others who did the same thing and stood up for what they believed in. Everyone including Martin made others realize what was going on and things needed to be different. So it gave others confidence to do something towards a situation that they may not like and to say something about. The speech was a very peaceful way to say what the problem of the situation was it was not a violent thing to do but it was also dangerous. He did not care that if some were hating on him because of the speech or what he was doing, he must have been proud for what he was doing, I now I would be proud. This speech will always be around and very memorable till this day and till the future.

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‘I Have a Dream’ Speech

By: History.com Editors

Updated: December 19, 2023 | Original: November 30, 2017

essay on martin luther king jr i have a dream speech

The “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. before a crowd of some 250,000 people at the 1963 March on Washington, remains one of the most famous speeches in history. Weaving in references to the country’s Founding Fathers and the Bible , King used universal themes to depict the struggles of African Americans before closing with an improvised riff on his dreams of equality. The eloquent speech was immediately recognized as a highlight of the successful protest, and has endured as one of the signature moments of the civil rights movement .

Civil Rights Movement Before the Speech

Martin Luther King Jr. , a young Baptist minister, rose to prominence in the 1950s as a spiritual leader of the burgeoning civil rights movement and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SLCC).

By the early 1960s, African Americans had seen gains made through organized campaigns that placed its participants in harm’s way but also garnered attention for their plight. One such campaign, the 1961 Freedom Rides , resulted in vicious beatings for many participants, but resulted in the Interstate Commerce Commission ruling that ended the practice of segregation on buses and in stations.

Similarly, the Birmingham Campaign of 1963, designed to challenge the Alabama city’s segregationist policies, produced the searing images of demonstrators being beaten, attacked by dogs and blasted with high-powered water hoses.

Around the time he wrote his famed “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King decided to move forward with the idea for another event that coordinated with Negro American Labor Council (NACL) founder A. Philip Randolph’s plans for a job rights march.

March on Washington

Thanks to the efforts of veteran organizer Bayard Rustin, the logistics of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom came together by the summer of 1963.

Joining Randolph and King were the fellow heads of the “Big Six” civil rights organizations: Roy Wilkins of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Whitney Young of the National Urban League (NUL), James Farmer of the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) and John Lewis of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Other influential leaders also came aboard, including Walter Reuther of the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Joachim Prinz of the American Jewish Congress (AJC).

Scheduled for August 28, the event was to consist of a mile-long march from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, in honor of the president who had signed the Emancipation Proclamation a century earlier, and would feature a series of prominent speakers.

Its stated goals included demands for desegregated public accommodations and public schools, redress of violations of constitutional rights and an expansive federal works program to train employees.

The March on Washington produced a bigger turnout than expected, as an estimated 250,000 people arrived to participate in what was then the largest gathering for an event in the history of the nation’s capital.

Along with notable speeches by Randolph and Lewis, the audience was treated to performances by folk luminaries Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and gospel favorite Mahalia Jackson .

‘I Have a Dream’ Speech Origins

In preparation for his turn at the event, King solicited contributions from colleagues and incorporated successful elements from previous speeches. Although his “I have a dream” segment did not appear in his written text, it had been used to great effect before, most recently during a June 1963 speech to 150,000 supporters in Detroit.

Unlike his fellow speakers in Washington, King didn’t have the text ready for advance distribution by August 27. He didn’t even sit down to write the speech until after arriving at his hotel room later that evening, finishing up a draft after midnight.

‘Free At Last’

As the March on Washington drew to a close, television cameras beamed Martin Luther King’s image to a national audience. He began his speech slowly but soon showed his gift for weaving recognizable references to the Bible, the U.S. Constitution and other universal themes into his oratory.

Pointing out how the country’s founders had signed a “promissory note” that offered great freedom and opportunity, King noted that “Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.'”

At times warning of the potential for revolt, King nevertheless maintained a positive, uplifting tone, imploring the audience to “go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.”

Mahalia Jackson Prompts MLK: 'Tell 'em About the Dream, Martin'

Around the halfway point of the speech, Mahalia Jackson implored him to “Tell ’em about the ‘Dream,’ Martin.” Whether or not King consciously heard, he soon moved away from his prepared text.

Repeating the mantra, “I have a dream,” he offered up hope that “my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” and the desire to “transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.”

“And when this happens,” he bellowed in his closing remarks, “and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'”

‘I Have a Dream’ Speech Text

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's Capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence , they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men, yes, Black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check—a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?"

We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.

We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.

We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.

We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only."

We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.

No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

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, that one day right down 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 that one day every valley shall be exhalted [sic], 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 will 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 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 fathers died, land of the Pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that; let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black men and white men, Jews and gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

MLK Speech Reception

King’s stirring speech was immediately singled out as the highlight of the successful march.

James Reston of The New York Times wrote that the “pilgrimage was merely a great spectacle” until King’s turn, and James Baldwin later described the impact of King’s words as making it seem that “we stood on a height, and could see our inheritance; perhaps we could make the kingdom real.”

Just three weeks after the march, King returned to the difficult realities of the struggle by eulogizing three of the girls killed in the bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.

Still, his televised triumph at the feet of Lincoln brought favorable exposure to his movement, and eventually helped secure the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 . The following year, after the violent Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama, African Americans secured another victory with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 .

Over the final years of his life, King continued to spearhead campaigns for change even as he faced challenges by increasingly radical factions of the movement he helped popularize. Shortly after visiting Memphis, Tennessee, in support of striking sanitation workers, and just hours after delivering another celebrated speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” King was assassinated by shooter James Earl Ray on the balcony of his hotel room on April 4, 1968.

'I Have a Dream' Speech Legacy

Remembered for its powerful imagery and its repetition of a simple and memorable phrase, King’s “I Have a Dream” speech has endured as a signature moment of the civil rights struggle, and a crowning achievement of one of the movement’s most famous faces.

The Library of Congress added the speech to the National Recording Registry in 2002, and the following year the National Park Service dedicated an inscribed marble slab to mark the spot where King stood that day.

In 2016, Time included the speech as one of its 10 greatest orations in history.

essay on martin luther king jr i have a dream speech

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Aug 28, 1963 ce: martin luther king jr. gives "i have a dream" speech.

On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington, a large gathering of civil rights protesters in Washington, D.C., United States.

Social Studies, Civics, U.S. History

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On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., took the podium at the March on Washington  and addressed the gathered crowd, which numbered 200,000 people or more. His speech became famous for its recurring phrase “I have a dream.” He imagined a future in which “the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners" could "sit down together at the table of brotherhood,” a future in which his four children are judged not "by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." King's moving speech became a central part of his legacy. King was born in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, in 1929. Like his father and grandfather, King studied theology and became a Baptist  pastor . In 1957, he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference ( SCLC ), which became a leading civil rights organization. Under King's leadership, the SCLC promoted nonviolent resistance to segregation, often in the form of marches and boycotts. In his campaign for racial equality, King gave hundreds of speeches, and was arrested more than 20 times. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his "nonviolent struggle for civil rights ." On April 4, 1968, King was shot and killed while standing on a balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.

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October 19, 2023

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essay on martin luther king jr i have a dream speech

I Have a Dream Speech

Martin luther king, jr., everything you need for every book you read..

In his “I Have a Dream” speech, minister and civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. outlines the long history of racial injustice in America and encourages his audience to hold their country accountable to its own founding promises of freedom, justice, and equality.

King begins his speech by reminding his audience—the 250,000+ attendees at the March on Washington in August of 1963—that it has been over a century since the Emancipation Proclamation was signed into law, ending slavery in America. But even though Black Americans are technically free from slavery, they are not free in any larger sense—the “chains of discrimination” and the “manacles of segregation” continue to define the Black experience in America. It is time, King argues, for Black Americans to “cash [the] check” they were promised a century ago and demand “the riches of freedom and the security of justice.” There is no more time to waste in pursuit of a gradual solution to racism, King says—it is the “ sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent,” and the country has reached its boiling point.

Even though King calls for the “whirlwinds of revolt” to spin into action, he urges those on the front lines of the civil rights movement not to let “bitterness and hatred” define their actions. They cannot to let their movement for justice “degenerate into physical violence.” King reminds his listeners to remain in the “majestic heights” of nonviolent resistance and also to not see their white allies as enemies. In order to bring true justice about, King says, Americans of all races will need to unite and remain true to the values of nonviolent solidarity.

King acknowledges the long and difficult struggles that many of his listeners have already faced—he knows that those involved in the movement for civil rights have been beaten, insulted, and incarcerated. Still, he urges them to return home from the march to wherever they may live, be it in the sweltering South or in the “ghettos of the northern cities,” confident in the value and promise of their fight.

Then King invokes the dream he has for America: a dream that one day the country will “live out the true meaning of its creed” and make it a reality that “all men are created equal.” He dreams that his children will one day live in a society where they will be judged not “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” and that, in the future, Black children and white children will join hands as sisters and brothers.

King urges his listeners to take their faith in meaningful change back to their hometowns—they must continue to struggle together, face incarceration together, and “stand up for freedom together” in order to truly make America a great nation. He calls for freedom to ring out across the country, from the highest mountains of Colorado, to Stone Mountain of Georgia, to “every hill and molehill of Mississippi.” When America collectively allows freedom to ring across its hills and valleys, he says, only then will “black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants” be able to sing truthfully and honestly the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

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Freedom’s Ring

King’s “i have a dream” speech.

Freedom’s Ring is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, animated. Here you can compare the written and spoken speech, explore multimedia images, listen to movement activists, and uncover historical context. Fifty years ago, as the culminating address of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, King demanded the riches of freedom and the security of justice. Today, his language of love, nonviolent direct action, and redemptive suffering resonates globally in the millions who stand up for freedom together and elevate democracy to its ideals. How do the echoes of King’s Dream live within you?

Credits & Acknowledgements

Director, Art and Content: Evan Bissell Design and Programming: Erik Loyer Content, Curriculum Design and Project Coordinator: Andrea McEvoy Spero Project Advisor: Clayborne Carson Video: Owen Bissell Project Administration: Regina Covington

Freedom’s Ring is a project of The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University in collaboration with Beacon Press’s King Legacy Series.

We extend our deep appreciation to the many people whose work and lives contributed to Freedom’s Ring. Thank you to the interviewees: Aldo Billingslea, Clayborne Carson, Dorothy Cotton, Miriam Glickman, Kazu Haga, Bruce Hartford, Ericka Huggins, Clarence B. Jones, Kim Nalley, Wazir Peacock, and Marcus Shelby.

Thank you to Tenisha Armstrong. Her dedication and tireless efforts in editing Dr. King’s papers allow us to make this history available to teachers and students.

Thank you to the many photographers whose work has inspired much of this project and allowed these important histories to continue. We have made our best efforts to credit these photographers. They include: Bob Adelman, Eve Arnold, George Ballis, Martha Cooper, Benedict Fernandez, Bob Fitch, Declan Haun, Matt Herron, John Loengard, Danny Lyon, Spider Martin, Charles Moore/Black Star, Herbert Randall, Steve Schapiro, Flip Schulke, Maria Varela, and Tamio Wakayama.

Thank you to David Stein for his invaluable contributions and conversations about this history. Thanks to Lucas Guilkey for his work on the videos, Ming-kuo Hung for editing support, and Naomi Wilson for her comments on content.

Thanks to Beacon Press for editing support.

Thanks to Headlands Center for the Arts for the time and space to finish the project.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute Staff:

Clayborne Carson Director

Tenisha Armstrong Associate Director and Editor of the King Papers Project

Regina Covington Administrator

Andrea McEvoy Spero Director of Education

Clarence B. Jones Scholar in Residence

Susan Carson Editorial Consultant

Stacey Zwald Assistant Editor

Dave Beals Research Assistant

Video hosting by Critical Commons Content management by  Scalar , a project of the Alliance for Networking Visual Culture

Works Cited

Baldwin, James. The Fire Next Time. New York: Dell, 1985. Print.

Branch, Taylor. Parting the Waters: America in the King years, 1954-63. New York : Simon and Schuster, 1988. Print.

Carson, Clayborne, eds. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.. New York: Intellectual Properties Management; Warner Books, 1998. Print.

Freed, Leonard. This Is the Day: The March on Washington. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2013. Print.

Hansen, Drew D.. The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech that Inspired a Nation. New York : Ecco. 2003. Print.

Johnson, Charles and Bob Adelman. King: The Photobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York : Viking, 2000. Print.

Jones, Clarence B. and Stuart Connelly. Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech that Transformed a Nation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.

Jones, William P.. The March on Washington: Jobs, Freedom and the Forgotten History of Civil Rights. New York : W.W. Norton, 2013. Print.

Jones, William P. and Labor and Working-Class History Association. “The Unknown Origins of the March on Washington: Civil Rights Politics and the Black Working Class.” Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas 7.3 (2010). Print.

Kasher, Steven. The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History, 1954-68. New York: Abbeville, 1996. Print.

Katznelson, Ira. Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time. New York: Liveright, 2013. Print.

Kelen, Leslie G., eds. This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement. Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, 2011. Print.

LaFayette, Jr., Bernard and David C. Jehnsen. The Nonviolence Briefing Booklet: A 2-Day Orientation to Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation. 1995. Galena: Institute for Human Rights and Responsibilities. 2007. Print.

Le Blanc, Paul. “Freedom Budget: The Promise of the Civil Rights Movement for Economic Justice.” WorkingUSA: The Journal of Labor & Society 16 (2013), 43-58. Print.

Levine, Ellen. Freedom's Children : Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories. New York : Putnam, 1993. Print.

Lewis, John and Michael D’Orso. Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998. Print.

Sundquist, Eric J.. King’s Dream. New Haven : Yale University, 2009. Print.

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essay on martin luther king jr i have a dream speech

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Looking back on Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech, 60 years later

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

On a warm afternoon in August 1963, 60 years ago today, Martin Luther King Jr. stood behind a microphone at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. More than a quarter million people had gathered that day for the March on Washington. King was scheduled to speak for four minutes. He went a little long. And that speech has lasted very long in the national memory. NPR's Jessica Green reports.

JESSICA GREEN, BYLINE: In the days leading up to August 28, 1963, the mood in Washington, D.C., was anxious. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was advertised as a peaceful demonstration to advocate for the civil and economic rights of Black people. Here's an announcement from the Freedom Now Party promoting the event.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: We are requesting all citizens to move into Washington to go by plane, by car, bus, any way that you can get there. Walk if necessary.

GREEN: But historian Taylor Branch told NPR in 2008 that many people in the area expected riots and mayhem.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

TAYLOR BRANCH: This was an overwhelmingly white culture and white country, and the media presumed that you couldn't assemble 100,000 Black folks in the nation's capital with political grievances without a lot of them running amok.

GREEN: The Washington, D.C. police force brought in nearly 6,000 officers, and the government brought in an additional 6,000 soldiers and National Guardsmen.

BRANCH: Liquor sales were canceled in the District of Columbia for the first time since the end of Prohibition in 1933. Plasma was stockpiled. Major League Baseball canceled not one, but two Washington Senators games against the Minnesota Twins for fear that baseball fans would be casualties of the riot.

GREEN: Roger Wilkins, who at the time was an official in the Kennedy administration, joined the march with his wife. He spoke to NPR in 2008 about racial overtones around the event.

ROGER WILKINS: I remember that the members - Southern members of the House and the Senate, by and large, told their secretaries to stay home that day and lock the door so they wouldn't be raped.

GREEN: And still, despite the hysteria and efforts to cancel the march, thousands of people from all over the U.S. came to Washington.

WILKINS: It was like a church social. I mean, people were happy. People were greeting each other. Parts of families from different parts of the country were reforming and almost having little family reunions. It was that kind of feeling.

GREEN: The march included a three-hour-long program of performances and speeches by civil rights and religious leaders. The Eva Jessye Choir sang "We Shall Overcome." Civil rights icon John Lewis, who would later become a Georgia congressman, called for America to wake up.

JOHN LEWIS: We must wake up, America, wake up, for we cannot stop. And we will not and cannot be patient.

GREEN: Daisy Bates, a mentor to the Little Rock Nine, gave a tribute to Black women fighters for freedom.

DAISY BATES: Your presence here today testifies that no child will have to walk alone through a mob in any city or hamlet of this country because you will be there walking with them. Thank you.

GREEN: Martin Luther King Jr. volunteered to close out the program.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR: I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

GREEN: King is reading from a script. He begins speaking about the Emancipation Proclamation, a document intended to free African Americans signed 100 years earlier. He preached about the country's long history of racial injustice and urged the audience to hold the nation accountable and fulfill their founding promises.

KING: Signed the Emancipation Proclamation...

GREEN: And 11 minutes into his speech, he suddenly looks up from the podium and out at the overflowing crowd.

GREEN: Historian Taylor Branch says gospel singer Mahalia Jackson called out to King.

BRANCH: Mahalia Jackson, who had just sung, and she was standing behind Dr. King, along with lots of other people. A number of people say that Mahalia Jackson kept urging Dr. King to tell them about the dream.

GREEN: And so King goes off script.

KING: I say to you today, my friends...

GREEN: His most famous words that day were not planned.

KING: I have a dream that one day this nation...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Yes.

KING: ...Will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.

WILKINS: For those of us who were born in segregation, as I was, we went away, many of us - I among them - euphoric.

GREEN: Again, Roger Wilkins, who was in the crowd.

WILKINS: And I remember we're yelling freedom now, freedom now - everybody. Yeah, freedom now, baby. You got to have it.

GREEN: In the days after, most news reports didn't even mention King's speech. Newspapers focused more on the crowd size and the fact that there was no violence. Today King's words are memorialized as the I Have A Dream speech. But his message 60 years ago went far beyond that famous line. And some civil rights activists argue that history has whitewashed a lot of his more radical ideas. Acclaimed journalist and author A. Peter Bailey attended the march and spoke with NPR in 2020.

A PETER BAILEY: That was a powerful speech. It's almost criminal where they have reduced that man to I Have A Dream, where he talks about the founding fathers of this country gave our ancestors a promissory note.

KING: But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.

BAILEY: And we've come here today to cash that check. Now, to me, that should be the quote, you know, that is memorized from that speech. You know, he had nothing - any programs and events, all you hear is I have a dream.

GREEN: King's original typewritten speech was given to a college basketball player from Villanova University named George Raveling. On the day of the march, Raveling was working as a bodyguard, standing behind King on stage, and after the speech, he impulsively asked King for the paper copy. Raveling kept that speech locked in a safe for decades before donating the artifact to Villanova University. The school loaned it to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, where it's currently on display today.

Jessica Green, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SPEAK LORD JESUS")

MAHALIA JACKSON: (Singing) Speak, Lord Jesus, please speak to my soul. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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Historical context and purpose of the speech, rhetorical strategies used, powerful language and imagery.

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essay on martin luther king jr i have a dream speech

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Black History Month 2024

5 mlk speeches you should know. spoiler: 'i have a dream' isn't on the list.

Scott Neuman

essay on martin luther king jr i have a dream speech

The Rev. Ralph Abernathy (left) shakes hands with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Montgomery, Ala., on March 22, 1956, as a big crowd of supporters cheers for King, who had just been found guilty of leading the Montgomery bus boycott. Gene Herrick/AP hide caption

The Rev. Ralph Abernathy (left) shakes hands with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Montgomery, Ala., on March 22, 1956, as a big crowd of supporters cheers for King, who had just been found guilty of leading the Montgomery bus boycott.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s " I Have a Dream " speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, is so famous that it often eclipses his other speeches.

King's greatest contribution to the Civil Rights Movement was his oratory, says Jason Miller, an English professor at North Carolina State University who has written extensively on King's speeches.

Black History Month 2024 has begun. Here's this year's theme and other things to know

Black History Month 2024 has begun. Here's this year's theme and other things to know

"King's first biographer was a dear friend of Dr. King's, L.D. Reddick ," Miller says. Reddick once suggested to King that maybe more marching and less speaking was needed to push the cause of civil rights forward. According to Miller, King is said to have responded, "My dear man, you never deny an artist his medium."

Miller says that in his research, he found numerous examples of King reworking and recycling old speeches. "He would rewrite them ... just to change phrasings and rhythms. And so he prepared a great deal, often 19 lines per page on a yellow legal sheet."

Often, King would write notes to himself in the margins: "what tenor and tone to deliver," Miller says.

That phrasing and an understanding of cadence were all important to the success of these speeches, according to Carolyn Calloway-Thomas, director of graduate studies at the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Indiana University.

King's training in the pulpit gave him a strong insight into what moves an audience, she says. "Preachers are performers. They know when to pause. How long to pause. And with what effect. And he certainly was a great user of dramatic pauses."

Here are four of King's speeches that sometimes get overlooked, plus the one he delivered the day before his 1968 assassination. Collectively, they represent historical signposts on the road to civil rights.

" Give Us the Ballot " (May 17, 1957 — Washington, D.C.)

King spoke at the Lincoln Memorial three years to the day after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education , which struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine that had allowed segregation in public schools.

But Jim Crow persisted throughout much of the South. The yearlong Montgomery bus boycott , sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks, had ended only months before King's speech. And the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , which sought to end disenfranchisement of Black voters, was still eight years away.

"It's a very important speech because he's talking about the importance of voting and he's responding to some of the Southern resistance to the Brown decision," says Vicki Crawford, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Collection at Morehouse College, King's alma mater .

essay on martin luther king jr i have a dream speech

U.S. deputy marshals escort 6-year-old Ruby Bridges from William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans in November 1960. The first-grader was the only Black child enrolled in the school, where parents of white students were boycotting the court-ordered integration law and were taking their children out of school. AP hide caption

U.S. deputy marshals escort 6-year-old Ruby Bridges from William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans in November 1960. The first-grader was the only Black child enrolled in the school, where parents of white students were boycotting the court-ordered integration law and were taking their children out of school.

The speech calls out both major political parties for betraying "the cause of justice" and failing to do enough to ensure civil rights for Blacks. He accuses Democrats of "capitulating to the prejudices and undemocratic practices of the Southern Dixiecrats," referring to the party's pro-segregation wing. The Republicans, King said, had instead capitulated "to the blatant hypocrisy of right-wing, reactionary Northerners."

essay on martin luther king jr i have a dream speech

King speaks at a mass demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on May 17, 1957, as civil rights leaders called on the U.S. government to put more teeth into the Supreme Court's desegregation decisions. Charles Gorry/AP hide caption

King speaks at a mass demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on May 17, 1957, as civil rights leaders called on the U.S. government to put more teeth into the Supreme Court's desegregation decisions.

He also indicts Northern liberals who are "so bent on seeing all sides" that they are "neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm" in their commitment to civil rights.

"King [was] calling on both parties to take a look at themselves," Crawford says.

With the movement gaining steam, King used his speech to take stock of where things stood and what must be done next, Calloway-Thomas says. "He is revisiting the status of African American people."

" Our God Is Marching On! " (March 25, 1965 — Montgomery, Ala.)

The speech was delivered after the last of three Selma-Montgomery marches to call for voting rights. Protesters were beaten by Alabama law enforcement officials at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on March 7 in what came to be known as Bloody Sunday . Among the nearly 60 wounded that day by club-wielding police was John Lewis, the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), who suffered a fractured skull. (Lewis later served 17 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.) A second attempt to reach Montgomery a few days later was again turned back at the bridge. In a third try, marchers finally reached the steps of the Alabama State Capitol on March 25.

Rep. John Lewis, A Force In The Civil Rights Movement, Dead At 80

Rep. John Lewis, A Force In The Civil Rights Movement, Dead At 80

"Finally the group of protesters gets all the way to the Capitol, and King delivers a speech to what we think is about 25,000 people," Miller says. The speech is also often referred to as the "How Long? Not Long" speech because of that powerful refrain, Miller says.

Jonathan Eig, author of the biography King: A Life , published last year, says he thinks about three-fourths of the speech was written out. "Then [King] goes off script and gives a sermon."

That's when he answers the question "How long?" for his audience. How long will it be until Black people have the same rights as white people? "Not long, because no lie can live forever," King tells his exuberant listeners.

"That's the part that really echoes. No question," Eig says. "And I think that's when he knew he was at his best. He knew that he could bring the crowd to its feet and inspire them."

Also notable is a famous anecdote that King shared in his speech, one that appeared earlier in his 1963 " Letter from a Birmingham Jail " addressed to his "fellow clergymen." It relates the words of Sister Pollard, a 70-year-old Black woman who had walked everywhere, refusing to ride the Montgomery buses during the 1955-1956 boycott.

"One day, she was asked while walking if she didn't want to ride," King said, speaking to the crowd that had just successfully marched from Selma to Montgomery. "And when she answered, 'No,' the person said, 'Well, aren't you tired?' And with her ungrammatical profundity, she said, 'My feets is tired, but my soul is rested.'"

"And in a real sense this afternoon, we can say that our feet are tired but our souls are rested," he said.

The story of Sister Pollard would be used again in the coming years.

But the speech may be best remembered today for another line, where King said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

In fact, King was using the words of a 19th-century Unitarian minister, Theodore Parker . Parker was an abolitionist who secretly funded John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859, often seen as an opening salvo of the Civil War. In a sermon given seven years before the raid, Parker used the line that King would pick up more than a century later.

"Dr. King absorbed all kinds of material, heard from others, used it on his own. But this is what we call appropriation or transformation when the old seems new," Miller says.

" Beyond Vietnam " (April 4, 1967 — New York City)

King had already begun speaking out about the war in Vietnam, but this speech was his most forceful statement on the conflict to date. Black soldiers were dying in disproportionate numbers . King noted the irony that in Vietnam, "Negro and white boys" were killing and dying alongside each other "for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same schools."

"So we watch them, in brutal solidarity, burning the huts of a poor village, but we realize that they would hardly live on the same block in Chicago," he said. "I could not be silent in the face of such cruel manipulation of the poor."

essay on martin luther king jr i have a dream speech

An infantry soldier runs across a burned-out clearing in Vietnam on Jan. 4, 1967. Horst Faas/AP hide caption

An infantry soldier runs across a burned-out clearing in Vietnam on Jan. 4, 1967.

SNCC leader Stokely Carmichael , a major civil rights figure, had come out against the war and encouraged King to join him. But some in King's own inner circle had cautioned him against speaking about Vietnam.

Stokely Carmichael, A Philosopher Behind The Black Power Movement

Code Switch

Stokely carmichael, a philosopher behind the black power movement.

Although powerful and timely, the speech drew a harsh and immediate reaction from a nation that had only just begun to reckon with the rising casualties and economic toll of the war. Both The Washington Post and The New York Times published editorials criticizing it. The Post said King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people" and the Times said he had "dampened his prospects for becoming the Negro leader who might be able to get the nation 'moving again' on civil rights."

King knew he would take heat for the speech, especially from the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson, with whom he'd worked to get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and, a year later, the Voting Rights Act, through Congress. With the presidential election just 19 months away, continued support of Johnson's Vietnam policy was crucial to his reelection. Nearly 10 months after the speech, however, the Tet Offensive launched by the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese army would help turn U.S. public opinion against the war and lead Johnson to not seek another term.

But in April 1967, the reaction to the speech was "far worse than King or his advisers imagined," says Miller, of North Carolina State University. Johnson "excommunicated" the civil rights leader, he says, adding that even leaders of the NAACP expressed disappointment that King had focused attention on the war.

"His immediate response was that he was crushed," Miller says. "There are a number of people who have documented that he literally broke down in tears when he realized the kind of backlash towards it."

He was criticized from both sides of the political aisle. Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., a staunch conservative who made a failed run for the presidency in 1964, said King's speech "could border a bit on treason."

"King himself said that he anguished over doing the speech," says Indiana University's Calloway-Thomas.

" The Three Evils of Society " (Aug. 31, 1967 — Chicago)

The three evils King outlines in this speech are poverty, racism and militarism . Referring to Johnson's Great Society program to help lift rural Americans out of poverty, King said that it had been "shipwrecked off the coast of Asia, on the dreadful peninsula of Vietnam" and that meanwhile, "the poor, Black and white are still perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity."

Calloway-Thomas calls it "the most scathing critique of American society by King that I have ever read."

"We need, according to him, a radical redistribution of political and economic power," she says, "Is that implying reparations? Is that implying socialism?"

Calloway-Thomas hears in King's words an antecedent to the Black Lives Matter movement. "One sees in that speech some relationship between the rhetoric of Dr. King at that moment and the rhetoric of Black Lives Matter at this moment," she says.

It was also one of the many instances where King quoted poet Langston Hughes, with whom he had become friends. "What happens to a dream deferred? It leads to bewildering frustration and corroding bitterness," King said in a nod to Hughes' most famous poem, " Harlem ."

King and Hughes traveled together to Nigeria in 1960, Miller notes, calling the poet an often unrecognized but nonetheless "central figure" in the early Civil Rights Movement. "They exchanged letters. Dr. King told [Hughes] how much he used his poetry. Dr. King used seven poems by Langston Hughes in his sermons and speeches from 1956 to 1958."

" I've Been to the Mountaintop! " (April 3, 1968 — Memphis, Tenn.)

This is King's last speech, delivered a day before his assassination at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968. He was in the city to lend his support and his voice to the city's striking sanitation workers .

"He wasn't expecting to give a speech that night," according to Clayborne Carson, Martin Luther King, Jr. centennial professor emeritus at Stanford University. "He was hoping to get out of it. He was not feeling well."

"They call him and say, 'The people here want to hear you. They don't want to hear us.' And plus, the place was packed that night" despite a heavy downpour, Carson says. "I think he recognized that people really wanted to hear him. And despite the state of his health, he decided to go."

essay on martin luther king jr i have a dream speech

Martin Luther King Jr. makes his last public appearance, at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tenn., on April 3, 1968. The following day, King was assassinated on his motel balcony. Charles Kelly/AP hide caption

Martin Luther King Jr. makes his last public appearance, at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tenn., on April 3, 1968. The following day, King was assassinated on his motel balcony.

The haunting words, in which King says, "I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you" have led many people to think he was prophesying his own death the following day at the hands of assassin James Earl Ray .

"The speech really does feel a bit like his own eulogy," says Eig. "He's talking about earthly salvation and heavenly salvation. And, in the end, boldly equating himself with Moses, who doesn't live to see the Promised Land."

The speech is largely, if not entirely, extemporaneous. And by the end, King was exhausted, says Carson. "It's pretty clear when you watch the film that he's not in the best shape."

"He barely makes it to the end," he says.

"But he relied on his audience to bring him along," Carson says. "I think it's one of those speeches where the crowd is inspiring him and he's inspiring them. That's what makes it work."

It's a great speech, made greater still because it was his last, says Calloway-Thomas.

"You have this wonderful man who epitomized the social and political situation in the United States in the 20th century," she says. "There he is, dying so tragically and dreadfully. It has a lot of pity and pathos buried inside it."

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“I Have a Dream” Speech by Martin Luther King Jr Research Paper

Introduction.

This journal entry focuses on the historic speech that was delivered by Martin Luther King Jr at the Lincoln Memorial. It highlights moments that characterized the delivery of the “I Have a Dream” speech. The crowd anticipated positive and inspirational declarations from the iconic leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America (Hansen, 2009). King’s charismatic demeanor inspired many people to believe in the future devoid of discrimination and oppression. It is important to note that the speech had a great influence on protesters because it ignited inherent desire and resolution with regard to the realization of current objectives that anchored the Civil Rights Movement. In order to achieve his objectives, Dr. King delivered an elaborate speech that gave hope to millions of citizens who were victims of racism and other forms of oppression in American society (Hansen, 2009).

The speech created the impetus for the pursuit and actualization of core ideals that espoused the Civil Rights Movement. Through his speech, Dr. King propagated a demonstrable resolve with regard to the propagation of equality, justice, and fairness in society. Unlike previous presentations, the speech had an influence on the overall realization and implementation of statutory provisions that were critical to the sustenance of equality and justice in society. In fact, equality and justice play an important role in ensuring harmonious coexistence in a social context. The speech demonstrated Dr. King’s passion and dedication to the Civil Rights Movement (Hansen, 2009).

The speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was inspirational and momentous because it captured the current realities of the civil rights in our society. The crowd that gathered at Lincoln Memorial gave rousing reception and approval of the speaker because they could connect with the message of Dr. King’s presentation. I was lucky to witness the events at Lincoln Memorial. During the speech, Dr. King was visibly ecstatic and certain of the message that he delivered to his audience. He commenced the presentation by outlining numerous issues and challenges that were evident in American society (Hansen, 2009).

His initial remarks revolved around freedom, equal treatment, and propagation of justice in social, political, and economic spheres of life. He advocated for laws that would recognize racial and social dynamics that were evident in American society. His message sought to entrench desire for equal treatment with regard to crucial areas of engagement, such as the delivery of social services and access to employment opportunities. The reception from the audience gave credence to the existence of ills that Dr. King was articulating in his famous speech (Hansen, 2009).

In his presentation, Dr. King sought to assure the people of his unreserved support and resolve towards the realization of core ideals that had inspired the establishment of the Civil Rights Movement. He demonstrated immeasurable confidence and faith in the future. Dr. King understood his duty and responsibility as a leader and mentor to millions of people who were suffering due to inconsistent and discriminative laws. Although his assertions seemed to be farfetched, Dr. King managed to inspire the audience through his rhythmic and well-planned presentation. His stamina and oratory prowess played an important role in ensuring successful delivery and internalization of the presentation. In the absence of such stylistic and tactical inclinations, it would have been difficult for Dr. King to provoke interest and approval from the audience (Hansen, 2009).

Another important aspect was his ability to tackle issues that were relevant to prevailing circumstances in American society. As Dr. King commenced his presentation, it was evident that the audience yearned for relevant declarations that would ultimately improve existential parameters in society. The eager and enthusiastic crowd gave approval to every word that he pronounced in the course of his presentation. Throughout his speech, Dr. King displayed passion and genuine desire for realization and propagation of ideals that would ultimately guarantee a future devoid of discrimination and unfair treatment against Americans of African descent. The captivating presentation embodied ideals and aspirations that were not only relevant to America but also to other societies around the world (Hansen, 2009).

Dr. King was assured that American society would realize its folly with regard to racial discrimination and unfair treatment against segments of its citizenry. He decried the recurrent unfair treatment towards citizens in pertinent areas of national interest such as healthcare and emolument. He also envisioned a society that would offer opportunities to all citizens irrespective of racial, political, and religious considerations. He reiterated his belief with regard to the propagation of equality in social, political, and economic undertakings (Miller, 2012).

The presentation played a critical role in restoring hope among citizens who faced numerous challenges in terms of discrimination and other forms of unfair treatment. He presented facts that motivated the audience to support justice and equal treatment in a societal context. In order to inspire his audience, Dr. King mentioned key areas that were critical to citizens. He outlined his desire for a better future with regard to areas that were fraught with discriminative tendencies (Miller, 2012).

Such assurance was necessary because it gave hope to millions of Americans who were victims of injustice and unfair treatment on account of race and creed. Dr. King’s presentation gave rise to renewed propagation of the rule of law in the United States and the world at large. It inspired citizens to struggle against racial discrimination in society. This reality was captured in his presentation. He sought to highlight the extent and severity of racial segregation in American society (Miller, 2012).

As earlier mentioned, Dr. King’s speech gave rise to candid evaluation with regard to racial discrimination in the United States of America. Citizens of African descent were subjected to inhumane existential parameters in pertinent areas of engagement in society. In fact, such realities gave credence to the establishment and sustenance of the Civil Rights Movement (Miller, 2012). Dr. King’s presentation enshrined important areas of interest with regard to the realization of core objectives in the context of civil rights and liberties in the United States of America. The landmark speech highlighted numerous grievances that required action by authorities in order to guarantee positive action and appropriate intervention. It also created the impetus for individual intervention and action towards sustenance and propagation of equality and fairness in society (Miller, 2012).

In my understanding, the “I Have a Dream” speech was a representation of the overall desire for action towards the realization of ideals and aspirations that embodied the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

Hansen, D. (2009). The Dream. Newyork: HarperCollins. Web.

Miller, K. (2012). Martin Luther King’s Biblical Epic: His Final, Great Speech. Mississippi: Univ. Press of Mississippi. Web.

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MLK Celebration Gala pays tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and his writings on “the goal of true education”

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Clarence Williams stands on a stage while holding a plaque and smiling, as Karl Reid has his arm around Williams’ back. A greyscale photo of the 1963 March on Washington is in the background.

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Clarence Williams stands on a stage while holding a plaque and smiling, as Karl Reid has his arm around Williams’ back. A greyscale photo of the 1963 March on Washington is in the background.

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After a week of festivities around campus, members of the MIT community gathered Saturday evening in the Boston Marriott Kendall Square ballroom to celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Marking 50 years of this annual celebration at MIT, the gala event’s program was loosely organized around a line in King’s essay, “The Purpose of Education,” which he penned as an undergraduate at Morehouse College:

“We must remember that intelligence is not enough,” King wrote. “Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education.”

Senior Myles Noel was the master of ceremonies for the evening and welcomed one and all. Minister DiOnetta Jones Crayton , former director of the Office of Minority Education and associate dean of minority education, delivered the invocation, exhorting the audience to embrace “the fiery urgency of now.” Next, MIT President Sally Kornbluth shared her remarks.

She acknowledged that at many institutions, diversity and inclusion efforts are eroding. Kornbluth reiterated her commitment to these efforts, saying, “I want to be clear about how important I believe it is to keep such efforts strong — and to make them the best they can be. The truth is, by any measure, MIT has never been more diverse, and it has never been more excellent. And we intend to keep it that way.”

Kornbluth also recognized the late Paul Parravano , co-director of MIT’s Office of Government and Community Relations, who was a staff member at MIT for 33 years as well as the longest-serving member on the MLK Celebration Committee. Parravano’s “long and distinguished devotion to the values and goals of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. inspires us all,” Kornbluth said, presenting his family with the 50th Anniversary Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Next, students and staff shared personal reflections. Zina Queen, office manager in the Department of Political Science, noted that her family has been a part of the MIT community for generations. Her grandmother, Rita, her mother, Wanda, and her daughter have all worked or are currently working at the Institute. Queen pointed out that her family epitomizes another of King’s oft-repeated quotes, “Every man is an heir to a legacy of dignity and worth.”

Senior Tamea Cobb noted that MIT graduates have a particular power in the world that they must use strategically and with intention. “Education and service go hand and hand,” she said, adding that she intends “every one of my technical abilities will be used to pursue a career that is fulfilling, expansive, impactful, and good.”

Graduate student Austin K. Cole ’24 addressed the Israel-Hamas conflict and the MIT administration. As he spoke, some attendees left their seats to stand with Cole at the podium. Cole closed his remarks with a plea to resist state and structural violence, and instead focus on relationship and mutuality.

After dinner, incoming vice president for equity and inclusion Karl Reid ’84, SM ’85 honored Adjunct Professor Emeritus Clarence Williams for his distinguished service to the Institute. Williams was an assistant to three MIT presidents, served as director of the Office of Minority Education, taught in the Department of Urban Planning, initiated the MIT Black History Project, and mentored hundreds of students. Reid was one of those students, and he shared a few of his mentor’s oft repeated phrases:

“Do the work and let the talking take care of itself.”

“Bad ideas kill themselves; great ideas flourish.”

In closing, Reid exhorted the audience to create more leaders who, like Williams, embody excellence and mutual respect for others.

The keynote address was given by civil rights activist Janet Moses, a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s; a physician who worked for a time as a pediatrician at MIT Health; a longtime resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts; and a co-founder, with her husband, Robert Moses, of the Algebra Project , a pioneering program grounded in the belief “that in the 21st century every child has a civil right to secure math literacy — the ability to read, write, and reason with the symbol systems of mathematics.”

A striking image of a huge new building planned for New York City appeared on the screen behind Moses during her address. It was a rendering of a new jail being built at an estimated cost of $3 billion. Against this background, she described the trajectory of the “carceral state,” which began in 1771 with the Mansfield Judgement in England. At the time, “not even South Africa had a set of race laws as detailed as those in the U.S.,” Moses observed.

Today, the carceral state uses all levels of government to maintain a racial caste system that is deeply entrenched, Moses argued, drawing a connection between the purported need for a new prison complex and a statistic that Black people in New York state are three times more likely than whites to be convicted for a crime.

She referenced a McKinsey study that it will take Black people over three centuries to achieve a quality of life on parity with whites. Despite the enormity of this challenge, Moses encouraged the audience to “rock the boat and churn the waters of the status quo.” She also pointed out that “there is joy in the struggle.”

Symbols of joy were also on display at the Gala in the forms of original visual art and poetry, and a quilt whose squares were contributed by MIT staff, students, and alumni, hailing from across the Institute.

Quilts are a physical manifestation of the legacy of the enslaved in America and their descendants — the ability to take scraps and leftovers to create something both practical and beautiful. The 50th anniversary quilt also incorporated a line from King’s highly influential “I Have a Dream Speech”:

“One day, all God’s children will have the riches of freedom and the security of justice.”

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The 1960s were “a heady time for the nation,” recalled civil rights activist Janet Moses, left, at a luncheon celebrating “Activism in the Era of MLK.” Topper Carew, middle, a filmmaker originally from Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood and a principal investigator at MIT’s Media Lab, was also on the panel led by Institute Community and Equity Officer Edmund Bertschinger, right.

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‘Genius: MLK/X’ Offers Portraits of the Icons as Vital Young Men

“We wanted to take them off the T-shirts and make them real,” said Gina Prince-Bythewood, who created the series with her husband Reggie Rock Bythewood.

Two men, one in a black sweater and the other in a gray one, sit with their elbows on a table with their hands resting against their faces

By Chris Vognar

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are among American history’s most thoroughly chronicled figures, their voices and mannerisms captured forever on recording after recording, their lives picked over in book after book.

By himself, Malcolm X has been the subject of two Pulitzer-winning biographies in the past 13 years and just last year Jonathan Eig’s “King: A Life” landed a spot on Barack Obama’s yearly best-books list. Both men adorn countless T-shirts, posters and memes. They aren’t just people; they’re also symbols — of civil rights, of social progress, of a decade that saw many of its heroes murdered.

But symbols don’t make for particularly compelling drama. So when Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Aaron Pierre signed on to play King and Malcolm X, respectively, in the new National Geographic series “Genius: MLK/X,” which premiered earlier this month, they knew their imperative was to make their iconic characters as human as possible and leave more famous portrayals in the past.

“The first thing I had to do, and the first thing I needed everyone around me to do, was to stop speaking about them as icons,” Harrison said in a video interview last month alongside Pierre. “I had to live in the moment that they existed. They did not know who they were or where they were going.”

Gina Prince-Bythewood, who, with her husband, Reggie Rock Bythewood, are among the executive producers of the series, put it this way: “We wanted to take them off the T-shirts and make them real and tangible for an audience. And to do that, you need to show their humanity.”

Inspired by Peniel E. Joseph’s nonfiction book “The Sword and the Shield” and the play “The Meeting” by Jeff Stetson (who also served as an executive producer and screenwriter), “MLK/X” is the fourth season in National Geographic’s “Genius” series, following previous installments on Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso and Aretha Franklin. Sprinting through its subjects’ lives from cradle to grave in eight episodes, it dramatizes how the men came to be the most significant and recognizable figures of the civil rights movement — King through his embrace of Gandhian nonviolence and sweeping protests, Malcolm X through a more aggressive insistence on Black pride and dignity.

It makes a point of highlighting their lives away from the spotlight, emphasizing the strength and support of their wives (Weruche Opia as Coretta Scott King and Jayme Lawson as Betty Shabazz). It also focuses on the mental strain of being marked men in the years leading up to Malcolm X’s assassination in 1965 and King’s in 1968, both of which occur offscreen in the series.

“They struggled with mental health, and they had issues as kids,” Gina Prince-Bythewood said. “They had these incredible love stories. They had crises of conscience. But they still remained committed to their vision, and that’s inspiring. When you can see them as real people, you can connect more, not only with them, but with their struggle. Hopefully you can say, ‘Hey, I can do that too.’”

Both men have been portrayed many times before. Those who have played King include Paul Winfield in the mini-series “King” (1978) and David Oyelowo in the more tightly focused movie “Selma” (2014). And in just the past decade, Malcolm X’s role has been filled by Kingsley Ben-Adir in the film “One Night in Miami” (2020); by Nigel Thatch in both “Selma” and the TV series “Godfather of Harlem”; and by Jason Alan Carvell in Season 3 of “Godfather.”

But one Malcolm X towers over the rest. Denzel Washington’s mercurial turn in Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X,” in 1992, is so entrenched in the public imagination that it can be difficult to imagine any other actor playing the role, or remember any others who have. This presented a challenge for Pierre, an English actor who considers Washington a hero and inspiration.

So Pierre had to pause, take a long look at Washington’s Malcolm, and let him go.

“Very early on in the process I had to accept that one of my heroes had portrayed Malcolm, and then set it free,” Pierre said. “I think had I not, I would’ve been deeply prohibited, and that would’ve all come internally from myself. So I accepted it, set it free, and then I embarked on my own journey.”

There is no iconic King portrayal comparable to Washington’s Malcolm X, but there are hours of recordings and news footage and all of those speeches, including the 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. (In its re-creation, “MLK/X” actually skips over the “I have a dream” line.) Harrison had an “aha” moment when he saw King’s seminary school transcripts and discovered that he had been graded on among other things, performance. The famous oratory, he realized, was also performance and not entirely indicative of the private King. This gave him a base line to approach King in his more domestic and strategic moments.

From there, Harrison studied writings by and about King, and by the philosophers King admired. “And then you throw it in a pot,” he said. “I’m from New Orleans, you put it in a pot. You take some sausage, you take some shrimp, you put some crab in there. It’s gumbo, baby.”

Those involved with the series agree on one thing: Malcolm X and King are two sides of the same coin, different men who took different approaches toward the same goal of fighting inequality in the United States and, as they progressed through their short lives, throughout the world.

The series begins with their famous meeting on Capitol Hill, where they were closely following a Senate filibuster on the 1964 Civil Rights Act. “MLK/X” suggests that, as Malcolm X moved away from the Nation of Islam (which he left in 1964), and King moved toward issues like labor rights and ending the Vietnam War, the two men were converging more than separating.

“It’s an evolution in terms of how they get there,” said Joseph, who has also written books about the Black power movement (“Waiting ’Til the Midnight Hour”) and contemporary race relations (“The Third Reconstruction”), over lunch in Austin, where he teaches at the University of Texas. “Dr. King’s whole thing in one word is citizenship, and Malcolm’s whole concept is dignity. But over time, they come to see you need dignity and citizenship.”

Reggie Rock Bythewood recalled that National Geographic originally approached him and Gina Prince-Bythewood about telling the King story for “Genius.” Their response, as he put it: “You don’t get to have Dr. King without Malcolm X.”

Malcolm is more palatable to a mass audience now than in his own time. “MLK/X” details the making of the 1959 television documentary “The Hate That Hate Produced,” which introduced the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X to the general public and, per the title, helped to establish his early reputation among white Americans as a hateful demagogue. But King, despite the increasing radicalism of his final years, remains a safer option, widely embraced or at least quoted by people of varying political persuasions.

“Updating the format of ‘Genius’ this season and showcasing two stories in Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X is a tremendous honor and also a responsibility,” Brian Grazer, an executive producer of the series (with his Imagine Entertainment partner Ron Howard) wrote in an email. “We aimed to delve deep into their complexities, humanize their struggles and shed light on the impact they had on our society as a tribute to their enduring legacies and as a reminder of the power of unity and social change.”

That Washington encounter was their only meeting; both men were killed at the age of 39. Now they share a screen as young men in a hurry to make their mark. For Joseph, the performances of Pierre and Harrison, both 29, are particularly poignant because they allow viewers to see these historical figures as vital, youthful men figuring things out as they went.

“You never really get actors portraying them in their 20s,” Joseph said. “These were exceedingly young folks. They were young when they got married, young when they were killed, young fathers, young husbands. So I think this adds a fuller portrayal to both characters.”

A Guide to Black History Month

The monthlong celebration honors how african americans have shaped the united states through both triumphs and trauma..

Carter G. Woodson’s house, the birthplace of Black History Month, was a hub of scholarship, bringing together generations of intellectuals, writers and activists .

Wondering how Black History Month  came to be? Learn about the history of this celebration .

Dig deeper with the 1619 Project , an initiative by The Times Magazine that aims to reframe America’s history by placing the consequences of slavery at the very center of the nation’s narrative.

Expand your knowledge with Black History, Continued , our project devoted to pivotal moments and transformative figures in Black history.

Explore Black love in all its forms and expressions with this collection of heart-warming stories .

Celebrate the contributions of Black authors to literature by diving into the works of Octavia Butler  and Toni Morrison .

Over the years, many important African American landmarks have disappeared or fallen into disrepair. Here are eight historical sites  that are being preserved.

South Dakota State University students celebrate belated Martin Luther King Day, postponed by snow

essay on martin luther king jr i have a dream speech

BROOKINGS − Students, staff and community members at South Dakota State University spent their President’s Day honoring Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with its second annual rally and marade — a march and parade — across campus.

The events, which were rescheduled from Martin Luther King Day in January because of weather, included a keynote speech from Rev. France Davis, a prominent civil rights activist who knew King and marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama with King.

Davis, who is the pastor emeritus of the Salt Lake City Calvary Baptist Church, touched on the writings and quotes from King, Langston Hughes and others Monday morning.

He said when he heard King’s “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on Aug. 28, 1963, it “was like electrical power” or “turning on an electrical current in a dark room.”

More: Sioux Falls School District teachers spend inservice day back at college at SDSU

He spoke of King’s life and legacy and said when Barack Obama was elected as the first Black president of the United States, that was a fulfillment of King’s dream for many people. However, now, we “seem to be turning the clock backward, politically speaking,” Davis said.

“Dr. King also said that it’s important that we go from here, not to chaos, but to community,” Davis said, noting that when King died in 1968, people broke out in riots just as they did when Minneapolis police restrained and killed George Floyd in 2020.

“I ask you today, are we satisfied with the riots that flow from the death of people like Robert Marshall, the last person lynched in the United State of America? Like the man who was killed not far from here, in Minnesota, just a couple of years ago?" Davis said. "Are we prepared to leave those lynchings and killings and go forward?”

Abolitionists, civil rights activists 'laid their life on the line'

After presentations from Davis, SDSU President Barry Dunn, SDSU students, Brookings Mayor Ope Niemeyer and others, more than 100 people participated in the marade across campus.

Jay Molock, a student success advisor in the Office of Multicultural Affairs at SDSU and the SDSU Black Student Alliance advisor, said in the early days of the civil rights movement, people faced water hoses, bites from police dogs, hangings and nightsticks when they marched in protest.

Today, people did so in celebration of “the things that we don’t have to endure like they did back then,” he explained.

“The significance of the marade will always have a greater impact than the rally,” Molock said. “You all were part of another history-making event in South Dakota and at South Dakota State University.”

More: SDSU Space Trajectory team advances to next level in NASA's Break the Ice Lunar Challenge

Dunn said King’s battle for civil rights and social justice is centuries-old, and that King was one of the most fierce, determined and eloquent leaders in the fight. Dunn said he marched Monday not just to honor King, but also his own great-grandparents, who were abolitionists in the Underground Railroad along the Missouri River in Iowa in the 1850s, he said.

“They fought a fierce fight, too, and laid their life on the line for what we’re here for today,” Dunn said. “I’m very proud of them, and I’ve been inspired by them my whole life.”

'Education is power'

Oluwaseyi Babatunde, a sophomore nursing student at SDSU from Nigeria, said it’s important for people to come together and talk about these revolutionary events. She said there’s still a lot of work to do and it’s not perfect, but, “We’re going to get there.”

Alivya Bollen, a sophomore sport management major on the softball team, said oftentimes, there isn’t a designated time or place to celebrate Black History Month or Martin Luther King Day, and that’s why she felt it was important to join the marade and speak in the rally Monday.

“It’s important to not get complacent and still strive for unity of all diversity and cultures,” Bollen said. “Education is power. Through all of his important speeches, big or small, (King) always emphasized the idea of knowledge and understanding. As soon as you acknowledge a problem or situation, taking that first step in being able to create change is super important.”

More: House Appropriations committee votes to take $7.5M back as SDSU won't build new dairy farm

Jocelyn Carrillo, a graduate student studying nutrition and exercise science and a softball athlete, said she sees a lot of progress in universities with technology, education and innovation, but not enough people reflect on their spiritual and moral advancementstoo.

“Celebrating what Dr. King did is a good reminder and challenge to embrace that radical notion to be maladjusted to this world of hatred, injustice and inequality,” Carrillo said. “Look at me and my sister (Bollen) right here. He had this dream where this nation could be united with love, and that’s a good example with me and her right here.”

The day’s events included a land acknowledgement, presentation of colors, recitation of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often referred to as “The Black National Anthem.”

Area K-12 students Michelle Huh and Stanturf Dwomoh also read their winning essays about King during the rally. In their essays, each shared proposals to realize King’s dream. Huh proposed a local mentoring program, cultural celebrations and community forums to discuss and debate local issues. Dwomoh talked about anti-bullying measures that should be taken, and ways to prevent climate change.

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VIDEO

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  2. Martin Luther King "I Have A Dream" 50 years ago

  3. The 34th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Awards Program

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  5. Martin Luther King

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COMMENTS

  1. Essay on Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream Speech

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  2. Transcript of Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech : NPR

    Monday marks Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Below is a transcript of his celebrated "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on Aug. 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. NPR's Talk...

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    'I Have a Dream' is one of the greatest speeches in American history. Delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-68) in Washington D.C. in 1963, the speech is a powerful rallying cry for racial equality and for a fairer and equal world in which African Americans will be as free as white Americans.

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  5. "I Have a Dream" Speech Summary

    Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington, a major civil rights demonstration. King references the US Constitution...

  6. "I Have a Dream"

    August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered at the 28 August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, synthesized portions of his previous sermons and speeches, with selected statements by other prominent public figures. King had been drawing on material he used in the "I Have a Dream" speech ...

  7. Text to Text

    "I have a dream," he proclaimed, "my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

  8. MLK's I Have A Dream Speech Video & Text

    The "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. before a crowd of some 250,000 people at the 1963 March on Washington, remains one of the most famous speeches in...

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    MLK. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial toward the end of the March on Washington. On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., took the podium at the March on Washington and addressed the gathered crowd, which numbered 200,000 people or more.

  11. The 'Integrative' Rhetoric of Martin Luther King Jr.'S 'I Have a Dream

    Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream " speech exhibits an " integrative " rhetorical style that mirrors and maintains King's call for a racially integrated. America. Employing the theoretical concepts of voice merging , dynamic spectacle , and the prophetic voice , this essay examines how text and context converge to.

  12. I Have a Dream Speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. Plot Summary

    In his "I Have a Dream" speech, minister and civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. outlines the long history of racial injustice in America and encourages his audience to hold their country accountable to its own founding promises of freedom, justice, and equality.. King begins his speech by reminding his audience—the 250,000+ attendees at the March on Washington in August of 1963 ...

  13. Freedom's Ring: King's "I Have a Dream" Speech

    Freedom's Ring is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, animated. Here you can compare the written and spoken speech, explore multimedia images, listen to movement activists, and uncover historical context.

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    Martin Luther King I Have a Dream Speech - American Rhetoric M artin L uther K ing, J r. I Have a Dream delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. Video Purchase Off-Site Audio mp3 of Address [AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio. (2)]

  15. "I Have a Dream": an Analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Iconic Speech

    Introduction. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech is one of the most iconic and powerful orations in American history. Delivered on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, King's speech called for racial equality and justice, and has come to symbolize the Civil Rights Movement.

  16. I Have a Dream Speech Analysis Research Paper

    I Have a Dream: Summary & the Key Messages. "I Have a Dream" is a representation of the "America Dream" about a free and equal society. As Leff & Kauffeld (1989) mention, "Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech won immediate and sustained praise and has become a moral compass in American political culture" (p. 181). The speech had a ...

  17. "I Have a Dream" Speech Analysis

    Introduction. "I have a dream" speech was given by Martin Luther King on 28 th August 1963. There was an audience of about 250,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington where the speech was given. This speech was mainly based on the freedom for the black's referred to as Negros. He was much concerned about the oppression and ...

  18. "I Have a Dream" Rhetorical Analysis

    Details On August 28,1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a public speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. This speech would go on to be known as the most famous speech in history, the "I Have a Dream" speech.

  19. Looking back on Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech ...

    On Aug. 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous speech at the March on Washington. Part of his speech was impromptu and those words became a pillar of the civil rights movement.

  20. PDF Full text to the I Have A Dream speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Junior

    Full text to the "I Have A Dream" speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Junior I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

  21. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream": Speech Analysis

    The "I Have a Dream" speech is a testament to Martin Luther King Jr.'s leadership, courage, and vision. Through his words and actions, he inspired a movement that changed the course of American history and paved the way for a more just and equitable society. His legacy continues to inspire people today, reminding us of the power of hope ...

  22. Rhetorical Analysis of Martin Luther King Jr's 'I have a Dream' Speech

    On August of 1963, Civil Rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr., made his infamous "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C. In this memorable speech, King confronts the lack of free will that African Americans had in society. One of the largest demonstrations seen by the nation's capital was conveyed to thousands of Civil Rights ...

  23. 5 MLK speeches you should know besides 'I Have a Dream' : NPR

    Martin Luther King Jr.'s iconic 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech is well known, but there are several other key speeches that also resonate as historical signposts of the Civil Rights Movement.

  24. "I Have a Dream" Speech by Martin Luther King Jr

    This journal entry focuses on the historic speech that was delivered by Martin Luther King Jr at the Lincoln Memorial. It highlights moments that characterized the delivery of the "I Have a Dream" speech. The crowd anticipated positive and inspirational declarations from the iconic leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States of ...

  25. Martin Luther King Jr.

    Martin Luther King Jr. Biographical . M artin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin ...

  26. MLK Celebration Gala pays tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and his

    After a week of festivities around campus, members of the MIT community gathered Saturday evening in the Boston Marriott Kendall Square ballroom to celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Marking 50 years of this annual celebration at MIT, the gala event's program was loosely organized around a line in King's essay, "The Purpose of Education," which he penned as an ...

  27. 'Genius: MLK/X' Offers Portraits of the Icons as Vital Young Men

    The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are among American history's most thoroughly chronicled figures, their voices and mannerisms captured forever on recording after recording ...

  28. SDSU holds march and parade honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

    He said when he heard King's "I Have a Dream" speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on Aug. 28, 1963, it "was like electrical power" or "turning on an electrical ...