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Jan 18, 2010 · 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...
- Civil Rights Movement Before The Speech
- March on Washington
- ‘I Have A Dream’ Speech Origins
- ‘Free at Last’
- Mahalia Jackson Prompts MLK: 'Tell 'Em About The Dream, Martin'
- ‘I Have A Dream’ Speech Text
- MLK Speech Reception
- 'I Have A Dream' Speech Legacy
- Sources
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 als...
Thanks to the efforts of veteran organizer Bayard Rustin, the logistics of the March on Washingtonfor 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 ...
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 fe...
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. Constitutionand other universal themes into his oratory. Pointing out how the country’s founders had signed a “promiss...
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 co...
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 slaveswho had...
King’s stirring speech was immediately singled out as the highlight of the successful march. James Reston of The New York Timeswrote 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 w...
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 Congressadded the speech to the National Recording Registry in 2002, and the fol...
“I Have a Dream,” Address Delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. National Park Service. JFK, A. Philip Randolph and the March on Washington. The White House Historical Association. The Lasting Power of Dr. King’s Dream Speech....
Read the full text of King's historic speech delivered at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, where he called for racial justice and equality. Listen to the audio or watch the video of his powerful oration that inspired millions.
Learn how King's famous speech at the 1963 March on Washington synthesized his previous sermons and speeches, drawing on material from his own life and the Bible. Explore the sources, drafts, and revisions of the speech that articulated the American Dream and the dream of racial justice.
"I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, King called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States.
- Martin Luther King
- 1963
Explore the written and spoken version of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s iconic speech, delivered at the 1963 March on Washington. Learn about the historical context, multimedia images, and activists' voices that shaped the Civil Rights movement.
Feb 23, 2024 · I Have a Dream, speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., that was delivered on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington. A call for equality and freedom, it became one of the defining moments of the civil rights movement and one of the most iconic speeches in American history. March on Washington.
