I Have a Dream: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|1963 speech by Martin Luther King Jr.}}

[[Image:Martin Luther King - March on Washington.jpg|thumb|Martin Luther King, Jr. delivering his speech at the DC Civil Rights March.]]

{{Other uses|I Have a Dream (disambiguation)|I Had a Dream (disambiguation)}}

{{otheruses}}

{{Pp-vandalism|small=yes}}

"'''I Have a Dream'''" is the popular name given to the historic [[public speech]] by [[Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.]], when he spoke of his desire for a future where [[Black people|blacks]] and [[White (people)|whites]] would coexist harmoniously as equals. King's delivery of the speech on [[August 28]], [[1963]] from the steps of the [[Lincoln Memorial]] during the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]] was a defining moment of the [[American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)|American Civil Rights Movement]]. Delivered to over 200,000 civil rights supporters, the speech is often considered to be one of the [[List of speeches|greatest speeches in history]] and was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century by a 1999 poll of scholars of public address.<ref>{{cite web | title="I Have a Dream" Speech Leads Top 100 Speeches of the Century | author=Stephen Lucas and Martin Medhurst | publisher=The [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]] |date=[[December 15]], [[1999]] | url=http://www.news.wisc.edu/releases/3504.html | accessdate=2006-07-18}}</ref> According to [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Congressman]] [[John Lewis (politician)|John Lewis]], who also spoke that day as the President of the [[Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee]], "Dr. King had the power, the ability and the capacity to transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a modern day pulpit. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he informed <nowiki>[not just]</nowiki> the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations."<ref>{{cite news | title=A "Dream" Remembered | publisher=NewsHour | date=August 28, 2003 | url=http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/race_relations/july-dec03/march_08-28.html | accessdate=2006-07-19}}</ref>

{{Use American English|date=August 2019}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2025}}

{{Infobox event

| partof = [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]], the [[civil rights movement]]

| image = Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site (36233249121).jpg

| caption = [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] after delivering the speech

| date = August 28, 1963

| coordinates = {{Coord|38.8893|-77.0499|format=dms|region:US-DC_type:event|display=inline,title}}

| type = Speech

| motive = For African Americans to have civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States

| participants = [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]

}}{{External media | width = 210px | float = right | audio1 = [http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/A_76C3B93B557D4976A032C27C72ACED18#at_89.00_s ''I Have a Dream''], {{start date and age|August 28, 1963}}, Educational Radio Network<ref name="ern2">{{cite web |title=Special Collections, March on Washington, Part 17 |work=Open Vault |publisher=at [[WGBH Educational Foundation|WGBH]] |date=August 28, 1963 |url=http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/A_76C3B93B557D4976A032C27C72ACED18#at_89.00_s |access-date=September 15, 2016 |archive-date=December 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226083309/http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/A_76C3B93B557D4976A032C27C72ACED18#at_89.00_s |url-status=live }}</ref>

}}

"'''I Have a Dream'''" is a [[Public speaking|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.<ref name="MKNYT" /> In the speech, King called for civil and economic rights and an end to [[racism in the United States|legalized racism in the United States]]. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the [[Lincoln Memorial]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], the speech was one of the most famous moments of the [[civil rights movement]] and among the most iconic speeches in [[History of the United States|American history]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hansen |first=D. D. |date=2003 |title=The Dream: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation |___location=New York |publisher=Harper Collins |page=177 |oclc=473993560 }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/I-Have-A-Dream |title=I Have a Dream |last=Tikkanen |first=Amy |date=August 29, 2017 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=May 7, 2019 |archive-date=October 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020183709/https://www.britannica.com/topic/I-Have-A-Dream |url-status=live }}</ref>

Legend holds that King departed from his prepared text and began preaching extemporaneously, but he had delivered a similar speech incorporating some of the same sections in [[Detroit]] in June 1963, when he marched on [[Woodward Avenue]] with [[Walter Reuther]] and the Rev. [[C.L. Franklin]], and had rehearsed other parts.<ref>{{cite web | title = Interview With Martin Luther King III | publisher = [[CNN]] | date = [[August 22]], [[2003]] | url = http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0308/22/se.18.html | accessdate = 2007-01-15}}</ref>

Beginning with a reference to the [[Emancipation Proclamation]], which declared millions of slaves free in 1863,<ref>Echols, James (2004), ''I Have a Dream: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Future of Multicultural America''.</ref> King said: "one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free".<ref name="Alvarez">Alexandra Alvarez, "Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream': The Speech Event as Metaphor", ''Journal of Black Studies'' 18(3); {{doi|10.1177/002193478801800306}}.</ref> Toward the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for an improvised [[peroration]] on the theme "I have a dream". In the church spirit, [[Mahalia Jackson]] lent her support from her seat behind him, shouting, "Tell 'em about the dream, Martin!" just before he began his most famous segment of the speech. [[Taylor Branch]] writes that King later said he grasped at the "first run of oratory" that came to him, not knowing if Jackson's words ever reached him.<ref name="auto">[[Taylor Branch|Branch, Taylor]], ''Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954–63'', pgs. 2761–2763, Simon & Schuster (1998). {{ISBN|978-1-4165-5868-2 }}</ref> [[Jon Meacham]] writes that, "With a single phrase, King joined [[Thomas Jefferson|Jefferson]] and [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]] in the ranks of men who've shaped modern America".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=One Man |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=August 26, 2013 |author=Meacham, Jon |page=26 }}</ref> The speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century in a 1999 poll of scholars of public address.<ref>{{cite web |first1=Stephen |last1=Lucas |first2=Martin |last2=Medhurst |date=December 15, 1999 |title=I Have a Dream Speech Leads Top 100 Speeches of the Century |url=https://news.wisc.edu/i-have-a-dream-leads-top-100-speeches-of-the-century/ |access-date=July 18, 2006 |publisher=[[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] |archive-date=February 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160210180800/http://news.wisc.edu/i-have-a-dream-leads-top-100-speeches-of-the-century/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The speech was described by journalist Sean O'Grady in ''[[The Independent]]'' as having "a strong claim to be the greatest in the English language of all time".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/martin-luther-king-i-have-dream-speech-greatest-all-time-washington-dc-1963-50th-anniversary-death-a8280296.html |title=Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech is the greatest oration of all time |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |first=Sean |last=O'Grady |date=April 3, 2018 |access-date=December 19, 2020 |archive-date=January 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128204429/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/martin-luther-king-i-have-dream-speech-greatest-all-time-washington-dc-1963-50th-anniversary-death-a8280296.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Style==

Widely hailed as a masterpiece of [[rhetoric]], King's speech resembles the style of a black Baptist [[sermon]]. It appeals to such iconic and widely respected sources as the Bible and invokes the [[United States Declaration of Independence]], the [[Emancipation Proclamation]], and the [[United States Constitution]]. Through the rhetorical device of [[allusion]], King makes use of phrases and language from important cultural texts for his own rhetorical purposes. Early in his speech King alludes to Lincoln's [[Gettysburg Address]] by saying "Five score years ago..." Biblical allusions are also prevalent. For example, King alludes to Psalm 30:5<ref>{{ cite web | title = Psalm 30:5 | publisher = Today's New International Version of the Bible | url = http://www.tniv.info/bible/passagesearch.php?passage_request=Psalm+30%3A5&submit=Lookup&kjv=yes&display_option=columns | accessdate = 2007-01-15}}</ref> in the second stanza of the speech. He says in reference to the [[Abolitionism|abolition of slavery]] articulated in the Emancipation Proclamation, "It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity." Another Biblical allusion is found in King's tenth stanza: "No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." This is an allusion to Amos 5:24.<ref>{{ cite web | title = Amos 5:24 | publisher = Today's New International Version of the Bible | url = http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Amos%205:24;&version=31; | accessdate = 2007-01-15}} </ref> King also quotes from Isaiah 40:4 — "I have a dream that every valley shall be exalted..."

==Background==

[[Anaphora]], the repetition of a phrase at the beginning of sentences, is a rhetorical tool employed throughout the speech. An example of anaphora is found early as King urges his audience to seize the moment: "Now is the time..." is repeated four times in the sixth stanza. The most widely cited example of anaphora is found in the often quoted phrase "I have a dream..." which is repeated eight times as King paints a picture of an integrated and unified America for his audience.

[[File:Civil rights march on Washington, D.C. from Lincoln (cropped).jpg|thumb|View from the [[Lincoln Memorial]] toward the [[Washington Monument]] on August 28, 1963]]

The [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]] was partly intended to demonstrate mass support for the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|civil rights legislation]] proposed by President [[John F. Kennedy]] in June. Martin Luther King and other leaders, therefore, agreed to keep their speeches calm to avoid provoking the [[civil disobedience]] which had become the hallmark of the civil rights movement. King originally designed his speech as a homage to [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s [[Gettysburg Address]], timed to correspond with the centennial of the [[Emancipation Proclamation]].<ref name="Mills">{{Cite book |last1=X |first1=Malcolm |url=https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofm00malc/page/280/mode/2up?q=guitars |title=Autobiography of Malcolm X |last2=Haley |first2=Alex |publisher=Ballantine Books |year=1973 |isbn= |___location=New York |pages=281 }}</ref>

===Speech title and the writing process===

==Key excerpts==

King had been preaching about dreams since 1960, when he gave a speech to the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP) called "The Negro and the American Dream". This speech discusses the gap between the [[American Dream|American dream]] and reality, saying that overt [[white supremacists]] have violated the dream, and that "our federal government has also scarred the dream through its apathy and hypocrisy, its betrayal of the cause of justice". King suggests that "It may well be that the Negro is God's instrument to save the soul of America."<ref name="KingInstitute" /><ref>Martin Luther King Jr., "[http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/primarydocuments/Vol5/25Sept1960_TheNegroandtheAmericanDream,ExcerptfromAddressatt.pdf The Negro and the American Dream] {{Webarchive |url=https://swap.stanford.edu/20141218225559/http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/primarydocuments/Vol5/25Sept1960_TheNegroandtheAmericanDream,ExcerptfromAddressatt.pdf |date=December 18, 2014 }}", speech delivered to the NAACP in Charlotte, NC, September 25, 1960.</ref> In 1961, he spoke of the civil rights movement and student activists' "dream" of equality—"the American Dream ... a dream as yet unfulfilled"—in several national speeches and statements and took "the dream" as the centerpiece for these speeches.<ref>{{cite book |title=The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation |publisher=Oxford University Press |___location=New York |last=Cullen |first=Jim |year=2003 |page=126 |isbn=0195158210 }}</ref>

*"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.'"

[[File:Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. (Leaders of the march posing in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln... - NARA - 542063 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Leaders of the March on Washington photographed in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln on August 28, 1963: (sitting L-R) [[Whitney Young]], [[Cleveland Robinson]], [[A. Philip Randolph]], [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], and [[Roy Wilkins]]; (standing L-R) [[Mathew Ahmann]], [[Joachim Prinz]], [[John Lewis]], [[Eugene Carson Blake]], [[Floyd McKissick]], and [[Walter Reuther]]]]

*"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."

On November 27, 1962, King gave a speech at Booker T. Washington High School in [[Rocky Mount, North Carolina]]. That speech was longer than the version which he would eventually deliver from the Lincoln Memorial. And while parts of the text had been moved around, large portions were identical, including the "I have a dream" refrain.<ref name="Stringer">{{cite web |last1=Stringer |first1=Sam |last2=Brumfield |first2=Ben |title=New recording: King's first 'I have a dream' speech found at high school |date=August 12, 2015 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/12/us/north-carolina-mlk-jr-i-have-a-dream-recording/index.html |publisher=CNN |access-date=August 13, 2015 |archive-date=August 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813164024/http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/12/us/north-carolina-mlk-jr-i-have-a-dream-recording/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Crook |first1=Samantha |last2=Bryant |first2=Christian |title=How Langston Hughes Led to a 'Dream' MLK Discovery |url=http://www.wkbw.com/newsy/how-langston-hughes-led-to-a-dream-mlk-discovery |publisher=[[WKBW-TV]] |access-date=August 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170723032743/http://www.wkbw.com/newsy/how-langston-hughes-led-to-a-dream-mlk-discovery |archive-date=July 23, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> After being rediscovered in 2015,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Waggoner |first1=Martha |title=Recording of MLK's 1st 'I Have a Dream' speech found |url=http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2015/08/11/mlk-recording-speech-found/31470821/ |publisher=DetroitNews.com |agency=Associated Press |date=August 11, 2015 |access-date=August 13, 2015 |archive-date=September 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912235921/http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2015/08/11/mlk-recording-speech-found/31470821/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the restored and digitized recording of the 1962 speech was presented to the public by the English department of [[North Carolina State University]].<ref name="Stringer" />

*"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 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."

King had also delivered a speech with the "I have a dream" refrain in Detroit, in June 1963, before 25,000 people in Detroit's [[Cobo Hall]] immediately after the 125,000-strong [[Great Walk to Freedom in Detroit|Great Walk to Freedom]] on June 23, 1963.<ref>{{citation |last=Boyle |first=Kevin |title=Detroit's Walk To Freedom |date=May 1, 2007 |url=http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/michigan/detroits-walk-to-freedom/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518085036/http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/michigan/detroits-walk-to-freedom/ |work=[[Michigan History Magazine]] |access-date=February 15, 2012 |archive-date=May 18, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Garrett |first=Bob |title=Martin Luther King Jr. and the Detroit Freedom Walk |url=http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-54463_19313_20652_19271_19357-205425--,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301072524/http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-54463_19313_20652_19271_19357-205425--,00.html |publisher=Michigan Department of Natural Resources – Michigan Library and Historical – Center Michigan Historical Center |access-date=February 15, 2012 |archive-date=March 1, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Interview With Martin Luther King III |publisher=CNN |date=August 22, 2003 |first=Soledad |last=O'Brien |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0308/22/se.18.html |access-date=January 15, 2007 |archive-date=June 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180603112554/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0308/22/se.18.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Reuther had given King an office at Solidarity House, the [[United Auto Workers]] headquarters in Detroit, where King worked on his "I Have a Dream" speech in anticipation of the March on Washington.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=On the Picket Lines of the General Motors Strike |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/on-the-picket-lines-of-the-general-motors-strike |last=Kaufman |first=Dan |magazine=The New Yorker |date=September 26, 2019 |language=en |access-date=May 12, 2020 |archive-date=June 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603041751/https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/on-the-picket-lines-of-the-general-motors-strike |url-status=live }}</ref> Mahalia Jackson, who sang "[[How I Got Over (song)|How I Got Over]]",<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130827-a-song-that-made-america-believe |title=How Mahalia Jackson defined the 'I Have a Dream' speech |last=Kot |first=Greg |date=October 21, 2014 |publisher=BBC |access-date=August 28, 2018 |archive-date=August 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830041319/http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130827-a-song-that-made-america-believe |url-status=live }}</ref> just before the speech in Washington, knew about King's Detroit speech.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2013/08/28/216141088/for-kings-adviser-fulfilling-the-dream-cannot-wait |title=For King's Adviser, Fulfilling The Dream 'Cannot Wait' |last=Norris |first=Michele |date=August 28, 2013 |publisher=NPR |access-date=August 29, 2018 |archive-date=August 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830005155/https://www.npr.org/2013/08/28/216141088/for-kings-adviser-fulfilling-the-dream-cannot-wait |url-status=live }}</ref> After the Washington, D.C. March, a recording of King's Cobo Hall speech was released by Detroit's [[Gordy Records]] as an LP entitled ''The Great March To Freedom''.<ref>{{citation |last=Ward |first=Brian |title=Recording the Dream |url=http://www.historytoday.com/brian-ward/recording-dream |volume=48 |issue=4 |year=1998 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215054705/http://www.historytoday.com/brian-ward/recording-dream |publisher=[[History Today]] |access-date=February 15, 2012 |archive-date=February 15, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

*"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 a table of brotherhood."

*"This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. 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."

The March on Washington Speech, known as "I Have a Dream Speech", has been shown to have had several versions, written at several different times.{{sfn|Hansen|2003|p=70|ps=. The original name of the speech was "Cashing a Cancelled Check", but the aspired ad lib of the dream from preacher's anointing brought forth a new entitlement, "I Have A Dream".}} It has no single version draft, but is an amalgamation of several drafts, and was originally called "Normalcy, Never Again". Little of this, and another "Normalcy Speech", ended up in the final draft. A draft of "Normalcy, Never Again" is housed in the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection of the [[Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center]] and Morehouse College.<ref>Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection, 2009 "[http://mcmlk.auctr.edu/notable-items.asp Notable Items] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215063552/http://mcmlk.auctr.edu/notable-items.asp |date=December 15, 2013 }}" Retrieved December 4, 2013</ref> The focus on "I have a dream" comes through the speech's delivery. Toward the end of its delivery, King departed from his prepared remarks and started "preaching" improvisationally, punctuating his points with "I have a dream." In the church spirit, [[Mahalia Jackson]] lent her support from her seat behind him, shouting, "Tell 'em about the dream, Martin!" just before he began his most famous segment of the speech. [[Taylor Branch]] writes that King later said he grasped at the "first run of oratory" that came to him, not knowing if Jackson's words ever reached him.<ref name="auto" />[[File:Martin Luther King - March on Washington.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Martin Luther King Jr.]] delivering the speech at the 1963 [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom|Washington, D.C., Civil Rights March]]]]The speech was drafted with the assistance of [[Stanley Levison]] and [[Clarence Benjamin Jones]]<ref name=stanford>{{cite web |url=http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/about_king/encyclopedia/jones_clarence.html |title=Jones, Clarence Benjamin (1931– ) |publisher=Martin Luther King Jr. and the Global Freedom Struggle (Stanford University) |access-date=February 28, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606124248/http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/about_king/encyclopedia/jones_clarence.html |archive-date=June 6, 2008 }}</ref> in [[Riverdale, Bronx|Riverdale]], New York City. Jones has said that "the logistical preparations for the march were so burdensome that the speech was not a priority for us" and that, "on the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 27, (12 hours before the march) Martin still didn't know what he was going to say".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/14/AR2011011406266.html |title=On Martin Luther King Day, remembering the first draft of 'I Have a Dream' |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 16, 2011 |access-date=February 28, 2011 |first=Clarence B. |last=Jones |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629012840/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/14/AR2011011406266.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

*"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!"

==Speech==

{{quote box|bgcolor=#F3F0FD |salign=right| quote = I still have a dream, a dream deeply rooted in the American dream – one day this nation will rise up and live up to its creed, "We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream ...|source= —Martin Luther King Jr. (1963)<ref>Edwards, Willard. (August 29, 1963). ''200,000 Roar Plea for Negro Opportunity in Rights March on Washington''. ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', p. 5.</ref>|align=right| width=250px}}

{{CRM in Washington D.C.|state=collapsed}}

Widely hailed as a masterpiece of [[rhetoric]], King's speech invokes pivotal documents in American history, including the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], the [[Emancipation Proclamation]], and the [[United States Constitution]]. Early in his speech, King [[allude]]s to [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s [[Gettysburg Address]] by saying: "Five score years ago ...". In reference to the [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolition of slavery]] articulated in the Emancipation Proclamation, King says: "It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity." [[Anaphora (rhetoric)|Anaphora]] (i.e., the repetition of a phrase at the beginning of sentences) is employed throughout the speech. Early in his speech, King urges his audience to seize the moment; "Now is the time" is repeated three times in the sixth paragraph. The most widely cited example of anaphora is found in the often quoted phrase "I have a dream", which is repeated eight times as King paints a picture of an integrated and unified America for his audience. Other occasions include "One hundred years later", "We can never be satisfied", "With this faith", "Let freedom ring", and "free at last". King was the sixteenth out of eighteen people to speak that day, according to the official program.<ref>{{cite web |work=Archives.gov |title=Document for August 28th: Official Program for the March on Washington |date=August 15, 2016 |url=https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/index.html?dod-date=828 |access-date=August 31, 2017 |archive-date=July 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721143634/https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/index.html?dod-date=828 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Among the most quoted lines of the speech are "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!"<ref>Excel HSC Standard English, p. 108, Lloyd Cameron, Barry Spurr – 2009</ref>

According to US representative [[John Lewis]], who also spoke that day as the president of the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]], "Dr. King had the power, the ability, and the capacity to transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be recognized. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations."<ref>{{cite news |title=A "Dream" Remembered |publisher=NewsHour |date=August 28, 2003 |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/race_relations/july-dec03/march_08-28.html |access-date=July 19, 2006 |archive-date=May 4, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504001538/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/race_relations/july-dec03/march_08-28.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:I Have a Dream in Color.jpg|thumb|King waves to the crowd after delivering the speech.]]

The ideas in the speech reflect King's social experiences of ethnocentric abuse, mistreatment, and exploitation of black people.<ref>''Exploring Religion and Ethics: Religion and Ethics for Senior Secondary Students'', p. 192, Trevor Jordan – 2012.</ref> The speech draws upon appeals to America's myths as a nation founded to provide freedom and justice to all people, and then reinforces and transcends those secular mythologies by placing them within a spiritual context by arguing that racial justice is also in accord with God's will. Thus, the rhetoric of the speech provides redemption to America for its racial sins.<ref>See David A. Bobbitt, ''The Rhetoric of Redemption: Kenneth Burke's Redemption Drama and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech'', Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004.</ref> King describes the promises made by America as a "[[promissory note]]" on which America has defaulted. He says that "America has given the Negro people a bad check", but that "we've come to cash this check" by marching in Washington, D.C.

===Similarities and allusions===

{{Further|Martin Luther King Jr. authorship issues}}

King's speech used words and ideas from his own speeches and other texts. For years, he had spoken about dreams, quoted from [[Samuel Francis Smith]]'s popular patriotic hymn "[[America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee)]]", and referred extensively to the Bible. The idea of [[constitutional rights]] as an "unfulfilled promise" was suggested by [[Clarence Benjamin Jones|Clarence Jones]].<ref name=KingInstitute/>

The final passage from King's speech closely resembles [[Archibald Carey&nbsp;Jr.]]'s address to the [[1952 Republican National Convention]]: both speeches end with a recitation of the first verse of "America", and the speeches share the name of one of several mountains from which both exhort "let freedom ring".<ref name=KingInstitute>{{cite web |url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/i-have-dream |title=I Have a Dream |date=May 8, 2017 |publisher=The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute |access-date=December 4, 2019 |archive-date=December 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204054210/https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/i-have-dream |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wbez.org/news/culture/long-lost-civil-rights-speech-helped-inspire-king's-dream-108546/ |title=Long lost civil rights speech helped inspire King's dream |first=Derek |last=John |publisher=WBEZ |date=August 28, 2013 |access-date=August 28, 2017 |archive-date=January 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101071457/http://www.wbez.org/news/culture/long-lost-civil-rights-speech-helped-inspire-king%E2%80%99s-dream-108546/ }}</ref>

King is said to have used portions of SNCC activist [[Prathia Hall]]'s speech at the site of Mount Olive Baptist, a [[Church arson|burned-down]] African-American church in [[Terrell County, Georgia]], in September 1962, in which she used the repeated phrase "I have a dream".<ref name="HandsOnTheFreedomPlow">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ElLgCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA180 |title=Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC |author1=Faith S. Holsaert |author2=Martha Prescod Norman Noonan |author3=Judy Richardson |author4=Betty Garman Robinson |author5=Jean Smith Young |author6=Dorothy M. Zellner |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=2010 |page=180 |isbn=9780252098871 }}</ref> The church burned down after it was used for voter registration meetings.<ref>[http://crdl.usg.edu/export/html/ugabma/walb/crdl_ugabma_walb_walb00067.html?Welcome Civil Rights Digital Library] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226171110/http://crdl.usg.edu/export/html/ugabma/walb/crdl_ugabma_walb_walb00067.html?Welcome |date=February 26, 2014 }}: Film (2:30).</ref>

The speech in the cadences of a [[sermon]] is infused with allusions to biblical verses, including {{Bibleverse||Isaiah|40:4–5}} ("I have a dream that every valley shall be exalted ..."<ref>{{cite web |title=Isaiah 40:4–5 |publisher=King James Version of the Bible |url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isaiah%2040:4-5&version=KJV; |access-date=January 13, 2010 |archive-date=November 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121190904/http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isaiah%2040:4-5&version=KJV; |url-status=live }}</ref>) and [[Amos 5:24]] ("But let justice roll down like water ..."<ref>{{cite web |title=Amos 5:24 |publisher=King James Version of the Bible |url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Amos%205:24&version=KJV; |access-date=August 29, 2013 |archive-date=September 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927215320/http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Amos%205:24&version=KJV; |url-status=live }}</ref>).<ref name ="MKNYT">{{Cite news |last=Kakutani |first=Michiko |date=August 28, 2013 |title=The Lasting Power of Dr. King's Dream Speech |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/us/the-lasting-power-of-dr-kings-dream-speech.html |access-date=August 28, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908171736/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/us/the-lasting-power-of-dr-kings-dream-speech.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The end of the speech alludes to [[Galatians 3:28]]: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Neutel |first1=Karin |title=Galatians 3:28—Neither Jew nor Greek, Slave nor Free, Male and Female |url=https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bible-interpretation/galatians-3-28/ |access-date=August 22, 2020 |work=Biblical Archaeology Society |date=May 19, 2020 |language=en |archive-date=August 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805163423/https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bible-interpretation/galatians-3-28/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He also alludes to the opening lines of [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Richard III (play)|Richard&nbsp;III]]'' ("Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer ...") when he remarks that "this sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn ..."<ref>Alvarez, Alexandra (March 1988), "Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream': The Speech Event as Metaphor", ''Journal of Black Studies'', Vol. 18, No. 3 (pp. 337–357), p. 242.</ref>

==Rhetoric==

[[File:Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mathew Ahmann in a crowd.) - NARA - 542015 - Restoration.jpg|thumb|King at the Civil Rights March in Washington, D.C.]]

The "I Have a Dream" speech can be dissected by using three [[rhetoric]]al lenses: voice merging, prophetic voice, and dynamic spectacle.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Vail |first=Mark |title=The 'Integrative' Rhetoric of Martin Luther King Jr.'S 'I Have a Dream' Speech |journal=Rhetoric and Public Affairs |year=2006 |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=52 |doi=10.1353/rap.2006.0032 |jstor=41940035 |s2cid=143912415 }}</ref> Voice merging is the combining of one's own voice with religious predecessors. Prophetic voice is using rhetoric to speak for a population. A dynamic spectacle has origins from the [[Aristotelianism|Aristotelian]] definition as "a weak hybrid form of drama, a theatrical concoction that relied upon external factors (shock, sensation, and passionate release) such as televised rituals of conflict and social control."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Farrell |first=Thomas B. |title=Media Rhetoric as Social Drama: The Winter Olympics of 1984 |journal=Critical Studies in Mass Communication |year=1989 |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=159–160 |doi=10.1080/15295038909366742}}<!--|access-date=October 23, 2013--></ref>

The rhetoric of King's speech can be compared to the rhetoric of [[Old Testament]] prophets. During his speech, King speaks with urgency and crisis, giving him a prophetic voice. The prophetic voice must "restore a sense of duty and virtue amidst the decay of venality."<ref>{{cite book |last=Darsey |first=James |title=The Prophetic Tradition and Radical Rhetoric in America |url=https://archive.org/details/prophetictraditi00dars_0 |url-access=registration |year=1997 |publisher=New York University Press |___location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/prophetictraditi00dars_0/page/10 10], 19, 47 |isbn=9780814718766 }}</ref> An evident example is when King declares that "now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children."

Voice merging is a technique often used by African-American preachers. It combines the voices of previous preachers, excerpts from scriptures, and the speaker's own thoughts to create a unique voice. King uses voice merging in his [[peroration]] when he references the [[Secular hymn (popular)|secular hymn]] "America".{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

A dynamic spectacle is dependent on the situation in which it is used. King's speech can be classified as a dynamic spectacle, given "the context of drama and tension in which it was situated" (during the civil rights movement and the March on Washington).{{sfn|Vail|2006|p=55}}

Why King's speech was powerful is debated. Executive speechwriter Anthony Trendl writes, "The right man delivered the right words to the right people in the right place at the right time."<ref>{{cite web |first=Anthony |last=Trendl |url=https://americanspeechwriter.com/i-have-a-dream-martin-luther-king-jr/ |title=I Have a Dream Analysis |access-date=April 4, 2018 |archive-date=April 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405030542/https://americanspeechwriter.com/i-have-a-dream-martin-luther-king-jr/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Responses==

{{Quote box |quoted=true |bgcolor=#F3F0FD |salign=right||quote =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."|source=M. Kakutani, ''The New York Times''<ref name ="MKNYT"/>|align=right| width=250px}}

The speech was lauded in the days after the event and was widely considered the high point of the March by contemporary observers.<ref>"The News of the Week in Review: March on Washington—Symbol of intensified drive for Negro rights," ''The New York Times'' (September 1, 1963). "The high point and climax of the day, it was generally agreed, was the eloquent and moving speech late in the afternoon by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ..."</ref> [[James Reston]], writing for ''[[The New York Times]]'', said that "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."<ref name=KingInstitute/> Reston also noted that the event "was better covered by television and the press than any event here since President Kennedy's inauguration", and opined that "it will be a long time before [Washington] forgets the melodious and melancholy voice of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King&nbsp;Jr. crying out his dreams to the multitude."<ref>James Reston, {{"'}}I Have a Dream ... ': Peroration by Dr. King sums up a day the capital will remember", ''The New York Times'' (August 29, 1963).</ref>

An article in ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' by [[Mary McGrory]] reported that King's speech "caught the mood" and "moved the crowd" of the day "as no other" speaker in the event.<ref>Mary McGrory, "Polite, Happy, Helpful: The Real Hero Was the Crowd", ''The Boston Globe'' (August 29, 1963).</ref> [[Marquis Childs]] of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' wrote that King's speech "rose above mere oratory".<ref>Marquis Childs, "Triumphal March Silences Scoffers", ''The Washington Post'' (August 30, 1963).</ref> An article in the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' commented that the "matchless eloquence" displayed by King—"a supreme orator" of "a type so rare as almost to be forgotten in our age"—put to shame the advocates of [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregation]] by inspiring the "conscience of America" with the justice of the civil-rights cause.<ref>Max Freedman, "The Big March in Washington Described as 'Epic of Democracy{{'"}}, ''Los Angeles Times'' (September 9, 1963).</ref>

The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI), which viewed King and his allies for racial justice as subversive, also noticed the speech. This provoked the organization to expand their [[COINTELPRO]] operation against the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]] (SCLC), and to target King specifically as a major enemy of the United States.<ref>Tim Weiner, ''Enemies: A history of the FBI'', New York: Random House, 2012, p. 235</ref> Two days after King delivered "I Have a Dream", Agent [[William C. Sullivan]], the head of COINTELPRO, wrote a memo about King's growing influence:

<blockquote>Personally, I believe in the light of King's powerful demagogic speech yesterday he stands head and shoulders above all other Negro leaders put together when it comes to influencing great masses of Negroes. We must mark him now, if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation from the standpoint of communism, the Negro and national security.<ref>Memo hosted by American Radio Works (American Public Media), "[http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/king/d4.html The FBI's War on King] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825153153/http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/king/d4.html |date=August 25, 2012 }}".</ref></blockquote>

The speech was a success for the [[Kennedy administration]] and for the liberal civil rights coalition that had planned it. It was considered a "triumph of managed protest", and not one arrest relating to the demonstration occurred. Kennedy had watched King's speech on television and been very impressed. Afterward, March leaders accepted an invitation to the White House to meet with President Kennedy. Kennedy felt the March bolstered the chances for his civil rights bill.<ref>Reeves, Richard, ''President Kennedy: Profile of Power'',1993, pp. 580–584</ref>

Some Black leaders later criticized the speech (along with the rest of the march) as too compromising. [[Malcolm X]] later wrote in [[The Autobiography of Malcolm X|his autobiography]]: "Who ever heard of angry revolutionaries swinging their bare feet together with their oppressor in lily pad pools, with gospels and guitars and 'I have a dream' speeches?"<ref name=Mills/>

==Legacy==

[[File:i-have-a-dream-site.jpg|thumb|225x225px|The ___location on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial from which King delivered the speech is commemorated with this inscription.]]

The March on Washington put much more pressure on the [[John F. Kennedy]] administration to advance [[civil rights]] legislation in Congress, but in the wake of President Kennedy's assassination later that year, his successor [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] was able to get the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] passed, followed by the 1965 [[Voting Rights Act]].

The March on Washington put pressure on the Kennedy administration to advance [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|its civil rights legislation]] in Congress.<ref name="test">[http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2009/1/2009_1_26.shtml Clayborne Carson] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102160702/http://americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2009/1/2009_1_26.shtml |date=January 2, 2010 }} "King, Obama, and the Great American Dialogue", ''American Heritage'', Spring 2009.</ref> The diaries of [[Arthur M. Schlesinger&nbsp;Jr.]], published posthumously in 2007, suggest that President Kennedy was concerned that if the march failed to attract large numbers of demonstrators, it might undermine his civil rights efforts.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

In the wake of the speech and march, King was named [[Time Person of the Year|Man of the Year]] by [[Time (magazine)|''TIME'' magazine]] for 1963, and in 1964, he was the youngest personman ever awarded the [[Nobel Peace Prize]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Martin Luther King | year=1964 | publisher = The Nobel Foundation | url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html |access-date=April accessdate20, 2007 |archive-date=February 200722, 2011 |archive-04url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222213446/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-20bio.html |url-status=live }}</ref><!---Malala Yousafzai in 2014 was far younger--> The full speech did not appear in writing until August 1983, some 15 years after King's death, when a transcript was published in ''[[The Washington Post]]''.<ref name=Alvarez/>

In 1990, the Australian [[alternative comedy]] rock band [[Doug Anthony All Stars]] released an album called ''[[DAAS Icon|Icon]]''. One song from ''Icon'', "Shang-a-lang", sampled the end of the speech.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

In 2003, the [[National Parks Service]] dedicated an inscribed marble pedestal to commemorate the ___location of King's speech at the Lincoln Memorial.<ref>{{cite web | title = We Shall Overcome, Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement: Lincoln Memorial | publisher = U.S. National Park Service | url = http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/dc1.htm | accessdate = 2007-01-15}}</ref>

In 1992, the band [[Moodswings (band)|Moodswings]], incorporated excerpts from Martin Luther King&nbsp;Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech in their song "Spiritual High, Part III" on the album ''[[Moodfood]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Moodswings's 'Spiritual High (Part III)' – Discover the Sample Source |url=https://www.whosampled.com/sample/72601/Moodswings-Spiritual-High-(Part-III)-Martin-Luther-King,-Jr.-Complete-Speech-(I-Have-a-Dream)/ |access-date=January 29, 2021 |website=WhoSampled |language=en |archive-date=August 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814134151/https://www.whosampled.com/sample/72601/Moodswings-Spiritual-High-(Part-III)-Martin-Luther-King,-Jr.-Complete-Speech-(I-Have-a-Dream)/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Keller |first=Douglas D. |date=January 20, 1993 |title=Varied Moodswings album provides musing to fuel any emotion |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V112/N66/moodswings.66a.html |journal=The Tech |volume=112 |issue=66 |pages=6 |access-date=January 29, 2021 |archive-date=February 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203131310/http://tech.mit.edu/V112/N66/moodswings.66a.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Plagiarism==

Approximately twenty percent, the last two minutes, of King's historic speech bears a resemblance to a speech delivered several years prior by Reverend Archibald Carey, a personal friend of King's. Many, however, believe that the comparisons are so slightly similar that they do not rise to the level of [[plagiarism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/mlking.asp|title=Martin Luther King|work=[[Urban Legends Reference Pages|Snopes]]|accessdate=2007-01-15 }}</ref> See [[Martin Luther King, Jr. authorship issues]].

Also in 1992, rock band [[Extreme (band)|Extreme]] incorporated parts of the Detroit speech into their song "Peacemaker Die" on the album ''[[III Sides to Every Story]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.whosampled.com/sample/326730/Extreme-Peacemaker-Die-Martin-Luther-King,-Jr.-I-Have-a-Dream-(Detroit)/ |title=Extreme's 'Peacemaker Die' sample of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream (Detroit)' |website=WhoSampled |access-date=July 13, 2024 |archive-date=July 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240713220329/https://www.whosampled.com/sample/326730/Extreme-Peacemaker-Die-Martin-Luther-King,-Jr.-I-Have-a-Dream-(Detroit)/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2002, the [[Library of Congress]] honored the speech by adding it to the [[United States National Recording Registry]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The National Recording Registry 2002 |publisher=Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/nrpb-2002reg.html |access-date=December 29, 2017 |archive-date=March 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315025418/http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/nrpb-2002reg.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2003, the [[National Park Service]] dedicated an inscribed marble pedestal to commemorate the ___location of King's speech at the Lincoln Memorial.<ref>{{cite web |title=We Shall Overcome, Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement: Lincoln Memorial |publisher=US National Park Service |url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/dc1.htm |access-date=January 15, 2007 |archive-date=January 5, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070105112750/http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/dc1.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Lincoln Memorial, "I Have a Dream" 50th anniversary.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|President [[Barack Obama]], First Lady [[Michelle Obama]], and former Presidents [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[Bill Clinton]] walk past President Lincoln's statue to participate in the 2013 50th anniversary ceremony of the historic [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom|March on Washington]] and Dr. [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]'s "I Have a Dream" speech.]]

Near the Potomac Basin in Washington, D.C., the [[Martin Luther King&nbsp;Jr. Memorial]] was dedicated in 2011. The centerpiece for the memorial is based on a line from King's "I Have A Dream" speech: "Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope."<ref name="tears">{{cite news |url=http://suitland.wusa9.com/news/news/tears-fall-martin-luther-king-jr-memorial/59395 |title=Tears Fall at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial |publisher=WUSA |date=June 30, 2011 |access-date=September 10, 2011 |archive-date=September 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904030808/http://suitland.wusa9.com/news/news/tears-fall-martin-luther-king-jr-memorial/59395 |url-status=live }}</ref> A {{convert|30|ft|adj=on}}-high relief sculpture of King named the ''Stone of Hope'' stands past two other large pieces of granite that symbolize the "mountain of despair" split in half.<ref name="tears"/>

On August 26, 2013, UK's [[BBC Radio 4]] broadcast "God's Trombone", in which [[Gary Younge]] looked behind the scenes of the speech and explored "what made it both timely and timeless".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b038xmfr |title=God's Trombone: Remembering King's Dream |publisher=BBC |date=August 26, 2013 |access-date=August 26, 2013 |archive-date=August 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826232738/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b038xmfr |url-status=live }}</ref>

On August 28, 2013, thousands gathered on the mall in Washington, D.C. where King made his historic speech to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the occasion. In attendance were former US Presidents [[Bill Clinton]] and [[Jimmy Carter]], and incumbent President [[Barack Obama]], who addressed the crowd and spoke on the significance of the event. Many of King's family were in attendance.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Miller |first=Zeke J |url=https://swampland.time.com/2013/08/28/in-commemorative-mlk-speech-president-obama-recalls-his-own-2008-dream/ |title=In Commemorative MLK Speech, President Obama Recalls His Own 2008 Dream |magazine=Time |date=August 28, 2013 |access-date=September 1, 2013 |archive-date=September 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901135448/http://swampland.time.com/2013/08/28/in-commemorative-mlk-speech-president-obama-recalls-his-own-2008-dream/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

On October 11, 2015, ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' published an exclusive report about [[Stone Mountain]] officials considering the installation of a new "Freedom Bell" honoring King and citing the speech's reference to the mountain "Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2015/10/11/a-monument-to-mlk-will-crown-stone-mountain/ |title=A monument to MLK will crown Stone Mountain |first=Jim |last=Galloway |date=October 12, 2015 |work=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |access-date=April 23, 2016 |archive-date=September 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928182325/http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2015/10/11/a-monument-to-mlk-will-crown-stone-mountain/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Design details and a timeline for its installation remain to be determined. The article mentioned the inspiration for the proposed monument came from a bell-ringing ceremony held in 2013 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of King's speech.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

On April 20, 2016, Treasury Secretary [[Jacob Lew]] announced that the [[US $5 bill]], which has featured the Lincoln Memorial on its back, would undergo a redesign prior to 2020. Lew said that a portrait of Lincoln would remain on the front of the bill, but the back would be redesigned to depict various historical events that have occurred at the memorial, including an image from King's speech.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/04/20/report-lew-considered-anthony-10-bill/83274530/ |title=Anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman to replace Jackson on $20 bill |first=Gregory |last=Korte |date=April 21, 2016 |work=[[USA Today]] |access-date=April 23, 2016 |archive-date=April 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423150303/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/04/20/report-lew-considered-anthony-10-bill/83274530/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Ava DuVernay]] was commissioned by the [[Smithsonian]]'s [[National Museum of African American History and Culture]] to create a film that debuted at the museum's opening on September 24, 2016. This film, ''August 28: A Day in the Life of a People'' (2016), tells of six significant events in [[African-American history]] that happened on the same date, August 28. Events depicted include (among others) the speech.<ref name=Essence-NMAAHC-2016>{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Rachaell |title=Why Is August 28 So Special To Black People? Ava DuVernay Reveals All in New NMAAHC Film |url=http://www.essence.com/2016/09/22/ava-duvernay-premiere-nmaahc |work=[[Essence (magazine)|Essence]] |date=September 22, 2016 |access-date=August 29, 2018 |archive-date=July 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716082304/https://www.essence.com/2016/09/22/ava-duvernay-premiere-nmaahc |url-status=live }}</ref>

In October 2016, [[Science Friday]] in a segment on its [[crowd sourced]] update to the [[Voyager Golden Record]] included the speech.<ref name="Science Friday Updated Version">{{cite web |url=http://apps.sciencefriday.com/goldenrecord/ |title=Your Record |publisher=Science Friday |date=October 7, 2016 |access-date=October 7, 2016 |archive-date=October 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010170249/http://apps.sciencefriday.com/goldenrecord/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2017, the [[Statue of Martin Luther King Jr. (Atlanta)|statue of Martin Luther King&nbsp;Jr.]] on the grounds of the [[Georgia State Capitol]] was unveiled on the 54th anniversary of the speech.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wells |first=Myrydd |date=August 28, 2017 |title=Georgia Capitol's Martin Luther King Jr. statue unveiled on 54th anniversary of "I Have a Dream" |url=https://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-culture-articles/georgia-capitols-martin-luther-king-jr-statue-unveiled-54th-anniversary-dream/ |access-date=July 8, 2020 |website=[[Atlanta (magazine)|Atlanta]] |language=en-US |archive-date=July 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709061040/https://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-culture-articles/georgia-capitols-martin-luther-king-jr-statue-unveiled-54th-anniversary-dream/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2021,''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' partnered with [[Epic Games]] to create an interactive exhibit dedicated to the speech within Epic's game ''[[Fortnite Creative]]'' on the 58th anniversary of the speech.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/marketing/epic-and-time-magazine-debut-interactive-mlk-jr-exhibit-in-i-fortnite-i- |title=Epic and Time Magazine debut interactive MLK Jr. exhibit in Fortnite |first=Bryant |last=Francis |date=August 26, 2021 |access-date=August 26, 2021 |work=[[Game Developer (website)|Game Developer]] |archive-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827023304/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/387521/Epic_and_Time_Magazine_debut_interactive_MLK_Jr_exhibit_in_Fortnite.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Copyright dispute==

Because King's speech was broadcast to a large radio and television audience, there was controversy about its copyright status. If the performance of the speech constituted "general publication", it would have entered the [[public ___domain]] due to King's failure to register the speech with the [[Register of Copyrights]]. But if the performance constituted only "limited publication", King retained [[common law copyright]]. This led to a lawsuit in 1999, ''[[Estate of Martin Luther King,&nbsp;Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc.]]'', which established that the King estate did hold copyright over the speech and had [[Standing (law)|standing to sue]]; the parties then settled. Unlicensed use of the speech or a part of it can still be lawful in some circumstances, especially in jurisdictions under doctrines such as [[fair use]] or [[fair dealing]]. Under the applicable copyright laws, the speech will remain under [[copyright in the United States]] until 70 years after King's death, through 2038.<ref>{{cite news |last=Strauss |first=Valerie |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/08/27/i-have-a-dream-speech-still-private-property/ |title='I Have a Dream' speech still private property |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 27, 2013 |access-date=August 28, 2013 |archive-date=August 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130828024153/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/08/27/i-have-a-dream-speech-still-private-property/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/08/mlk-intellectual-property-problems/ |title=I Have a Copyright: The Problem With MLK's Speech |last=Williams |first=Lauren |date=August 23, 2013 |website=Mother Jones |language=en-US |access-date=January 21, 2020 |archive-date=December 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211150148/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/08/mlk-intellectual-property-problems/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/08/copyright-battle-behind-i-have-dream/311980/ |title=The Copyright Battle Behind 'I Have a Dream' |last=Volz |first=Dustin |date=August 20, 2013 |website=The Atlantic |language=en-US |access-date=January 21, 2020 |archive-date=August 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801211816/https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/08/copyright-battle-behind-i-have-dream/311980/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/01/15/i-have-a-dream-speech-owned-by-king-family.html |title='I Have a Dream' speech owned by Martin Luther King's family |last=Strauss |first=Valerie |date=January 15, 2017 |website=Toronto Star |language=en |access-date=January 21, 2020 |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828130700/https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/01/15/i-have-a-dream-speech-owned-by-king-family.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Original copy of the speech==

Because King distributed copies of the speech at its performance, there was controversy regarding the speech's copyright status for some time. This led to a lawsuit, ''[[Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc.]]'', which established that the King estate does hold copyright over the speech and had [[Standing (law)|standing to sue]]; the parties then settled. Unlicensed use of the speech or a part of it can still be lawful in some circumstances and jurisdictions under doctrines such as [[fair use]] or [[fair dealing]].

As King waved goodbye to the audience, [[George Raveling]], volunteering as a security guard at the event, asked King if he could have the original typewritten manuscript of the speech.<ref name="Suarez2011">{{cite book |first=Xavier L. |last=Suarez |title=Democracy in America: 2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=neuBPlSDwb0C&pg=PA10 |access-date=April 28, 2013 |date=October 27, 2011 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=978-1-4567-6056-4 |pages=10– |archive-date=July 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707091903/http://books.google.com/books?id=neuBPlSDwb0C&pg=PA10 |url-status=live }}</ref> Raveling, a star [[college basketball]] player for the [[Villanova Wildcats men's basketball|Villanova Wildcats]], was on the podium with King at that moment.<ref name="Hossell2005">{{cite book |author=Karen Price Hossell |title=I Have a Dream |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DQmvz0Q24gQC&pg=PA34 |access-date=April 28, 2013 |date=December 5, 2005 |publisher=Heinemann-Raintree Library |isbn=978-1-4034-6811-6 |pages=34– |archive-date=July 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707091310/http://books.google.com/books?id=DQmvz0Q24gQC&pg=PA34 |url-status=live }}</ref> King gave it to him. Raveling kept custody of the original copy, for which he has been offered $3&nbsp;million, but he has said he does not intend to sell it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2009/02/63436791/1 |title=George Raveling owns MLK's 'I have a dream' speech |work=USA Today |first=Tom |last=Weir |date=February 27, 2009 |access-date=April 29, 2013 |archive-date=July 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130702070816/http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2009/02/63436791/1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Brinkley |first=Douglas |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,478839,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030829133936/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,478839,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 29, 2003 |title=Guardian of The Dream |magazine=Time |date=August 28, 2003 |access-date=August 28, 2013 }}</ref> In 2021, he gave it to [[Villanova University]]. It is intended to be used in a "long-term 'on loan' arrangement."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Donohue |first1=Peter M. |author1-link=Peter M. Donohue |title=A Message from the President {{!}} Villanova University |url=https://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/president/speeches/message-08272021.html |website=[[Villanova University]] |access-date=January 17, 2022 |date=August 27, 2021 |archive-date=January 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117161138/https://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/president/speeches/message-08272021.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Chart performance ==

In the wake of King's death, the speech was issued as a single under [[Gordy Records]] and managed to crack onto the [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'']] [[Billboard Hot 100|Hot 100]], peaking at number 88.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/rev-martin-luther-king-jr/ |access-date=March 24, 2022 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US |archive-date=March 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324220953/https://www.billboard.com/artist/rev-martin-luther-king-jr/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References==

{{Reflist}}

<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">

<references/>

</div>

== External links ==

{{Wikiquote}}

* [http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm I Have a Dream] Text, Audio, Video from AmericanRhetoric.com

* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3170387.stm Full text at the BBC]

* [http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/38.htm Text of speech] : [[United States Department of State]]

* [https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/mlk_speech/ Deposition concerning recording of the "I Have a Dream" speech]

* [http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/free_at_last_from.htm Lyrics of the traditional spiritual "Free At Last"]

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070307142153/http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/free_at_last_from.htm Lyrics of the traditional spiritual "Free at Last"]

* [http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/34872/mlk-before-he-won-the-nobel MLK: Before He Won the Nobel]; {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118161156/http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/34872/mlk-before-he-won-the-nobel |date=January 18, 2010 }} – slideshow by [[Life magazine|''Life'' magazine]]

* [https://kr.usembassy.gov/education-culture/infopedia-usa/living-documents-american-history-democracy/martin-luther-king-jr-dream-speech-1963/ I Have A Dream] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201212528/https://kr.usembassy.gov/education-culture/infopedia-usa/living-documents-american-history-democracy/martin-luther-king-jr-dream-speech-1963/ |date=February 1, 2021 }}

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