In a time of refugees begging for asylum and receiving abuse and neglect, of self-styled commandoes gunning down those they consider in some way impure, of venomous lunatics with bad hair preaching hate, hate and more hate… it’s easy to forget that on one hot August afternoon in 1963, someone was able to put into words a dream that was and remains the dream of many – a dream of justice, equality, freedom, peace and love.
Nice ideas, you might argue, but do they have any objective reality
outside the mind of the dreamer? But here is where words like ‘objective’ and
‘reality’ lose their meanings. Does it really make any difference if equality
is only a concept, love only an instinct, freedom only a fantasy? If we are indeed
in the business of creating the world,
if every second of our consciousness is in fact a creative act, then the debt
we owe to those individuals who have used their personal vision to benefit all
of humanity can never be overstated.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was certainly one of those individuals.
On that August day, standing before the Lincoln Memorial and addressing a crowd
of 250,000, he delivered the real ‘shot heard round the world’ – an impassioned
16-minute speech that ranks among the most important of the twentieth century. Not
a plea, but a declaration of human
rights regardless of race, colour or creed, expounded in thunderous biblical
language whose medium of transmission is the music of pure emotion. Nearly 70 years
later, its famous leitmotif, ‘I have a
dream…’, is still immediately recognizable to millions all over the world.
This modern Moses, however, was no stranger in the wilderness, nor
was he alone in his vision. He was speaking the minds of a new generation, of
all colours, who were dreaming the same dream. And when the Civil Rights Act
was signed the following year, it seemed as if that rarest of occurrences –i.e.
a dream coming true– was actually taking place. That we live in a world still
torn by racism is a sad fact, but the dream is unchanged and, who knows, may
one day yield its final fruit.
Anyway…
How lucky we digital-agers are to have access to the original video footage of Dr. King’s speech! To watch it for the first (or third or fourth…) time is a thrill like no other, and we can certainly spare 16 minutes of our busy lives to experience it once again.
(Heartfelt thanks to all of the YouTube contributors who have
uploaded video and audio of this speech, as well as other speeches and sermons
of Dr. King’s. See the links below.)
(the speech as it appeared on TV)
(audio with text)
Some facts about the ‘I Have A Dream’ speech:
1. Dr. King had given a longer version of the speech a week before at a rally in Detroit and had not planned to give the same speech at the Washington march. He was already into his prepared remarks when behind him he heard the voice of his friend Mahalia Jackson urging him to “tell ‘em about the dream, Martin!”. Following his preacherly instincts and feeling that the time was right, he put down his notes and began improvising around the dream theme, building on the energy of the crowd and raising it to a dramatic climax. Keep in mind that Dr. King was not a politician, but a practising minister who preached a sermon every Sunday (most famously at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia), even through the busy civil rights years.
2. The great gospel singer Mahalia Jackson was one of Dr. King’s closest friends. He appreciated not only her musical talent but also her cooking, and was a frequent visitor to her home in Chicago. In this video, she sings a rousing ‘Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho’ to his somewhat shy admiration.
3. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was largely organized by Bayard Rustin, a gay black activist who had a long and fearless career promoting human rights, pacifism, socialism and civil disobedience. Read more about him here.
4. The event featured a variety of musical performances. Look for
them on YouTube!
Mahalia Jackson (How I Got Over)
Marian Anderson (He’s Got The Whole World In His
Hands)
Peter, Paul and Mary (If I Had A Hammer, Blowing In
the Wind)
Bob Dylan (Only
a Pawn In Their Game)
Joan Baez (We Shall Overcome, Oh Freedom)
Joan Baez and Bob Dylan (When The Ship Comes In)
Odetta (I’m On My Way)
6. The opening section of the speech is a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which formalized the abolition of slavery in 1863. It was signed by Abraham Lincoln at the height of the American Civil War. A hundred years later, Dr. King was speaking on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, which faces the Washington Monument across the Reflecting Pool. Another historic document guaranteeing equal rights was then being prepared in collaboration with President Kennedy. This was the Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed in July of 1964 by Lyndon Johnson. Kennedy was assassinated in November of 1963, less than three months after the March.
Two archival sources of information about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Some worthwhile speeches and sermons available on YouTube
Magic Bob
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