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I have A Dream... (578 hits)


March on Washington, 1963
Main article: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Leaders of the March on Washington posing in front of the Lincoln Memorial

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (1963)

King, representing the SCLC, was among the leaders of the "Big Six" civil rights organizations who were instrumental in the organization of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which took place on August 28, 1963. The other leaders and organizations comprising the Big Six were Roy Wilkins from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Whitney Young, National Urban League; A. Philip Randolph, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; John Lewis, SNCC; and James L. Farmer Jr., of the Congress of Racial Equality.

Bayard Rustin's open homos*xuality, support of democratic socialism, and his former ties to the Communist Party USA caused many white and African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin, which King agreed to do. However, he did collaborate in the 1963 March on Washington, for which Rustin was the primary logistical and strategic organizer. For King, this role was another which courted controversy, since he was one of the key figures who acceded to the wishes of United States President John F. Kennedy in changing the focus of the march.

Kennedy initially opposed the march outright, because he was concerned it would negatively impact the drive for passage of civil rights legislation. However, the organizers were firm that the march would proceed. With the march going forward, the Kennedys decided it was important to work to ensure its success. President Kennedy was concerned the turnout would be less than 100,000. Therefore, he enlisted the aid of additional church leaders and Walter Reuther, president of the United Automobile Workers, to help mobilize demonstrators for the cause.

File:The March (1964 film).webm

The March, a 1964 documentary film produced by the United States Information Agency. King's speech has been redacted from this video because of the copyright held by King's estate.

The march originally was conceived as an event to dramatize the desperate condition of blacks in the southern U.S. and an opportunity to place organizers' concerns and grievances squarely before the seat of power in the nation's capital. Organizers intended to denounce the federal government for its failure to safeguard the civil rights and physical safety of civil rights workers and blacks. The group acquiesced to presidential pressure and influence, and the event ultimately took on a far less strident tone. As a result, some civil rights activists felt it presented an inaccurate, sanitized pageant of racial harmony; Malcolm X called it the "Farce on Washington", and the Nation of Islam forbade its members from attending the march.


King gave his most famous speech, "I Have a Dream", before the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

I Have a Dream

30-second sample from "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963

The march made specific demands: an end to racial segregation in public schools; meaningful civil rights legislation, including a law prohibiting racial discrimination in employment; protection of civil rights workers from police brutality; a $2 minimum wage for all workers (equivalent to $17 in 2019); and self-government for Washington, D.C., then governed by a congressional committee. Despite tensions, the march was a resounding success. More than a quarter of a million people of diverse ethnicities attended the event, sprawling from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National Mall and around the reflecting pool. At the time, it was the largest gathering of protesters in Washington, D.C.'s history.

I Have a Dream


King delivered a 17-minute speech, later known as "I Have a Dream". In the speech's most famous passage – in which he departed from his prepared text, possibly at the prompting of Mahalia Jackson, who shouted behind him, "Tell them about the dream!" King said:

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; one day right there 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 today.

"I Have a Dream" came to be regarded as one of the finest speeches in the history of American oratory. The March, and especially King's speech, helped put civil rights at the top of the agenda of reformers in the United States and facilitated passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The original typewritten copy of the speech, including King's handwritten notes on it, was discovered in 1984 to be in the hands of George Raveling, the first African-American basketball coach of the University of Iowa. In 1963, Raveling, then 26 years old, was standing near the podium, and immediately after the oration, impulsively asked King if he could have his copy of the speech, and he got it.
Posted By: Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Monday, January 18th 2021 at 11:30AM
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Just think of it, it was all for nothing, all that progress of nearly 60 years reversed because you spent 4 entire years fight-fight-fighting the President, the leader of the world. Just look at what you've done Ron. Your Inauguration Day could not be a more pathetic display to the world of your wholesale destruction of democracy. And worse is yet to come. You can't even trust the National Guard. "WOW."

Monday, January 18th 2021 at 1:07PM
Steve Williams
You didn't even care enough to celebrate his birthday, you're SO busy with your hate. All you've got is a hollow Federal Holiday.

Monday, January 18th 2021 at 1:10PM
Steve Williams
Steve, did you understand of this article? If so, was your understanding of this post.


Monday, January 18th 2021 at 2:59PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
I understand your article just fine Ron. My understanding is that when King gave the speech, a very large portion of the country believed in "white supremacy" and eventually, maybe around the start of the new millenium, most Americans believed King's dream was realized. Now according to you, half the country is back to believing in "white supremacy". I call that a kick in the face to the memory of Martin Luther King. I think you're a hypocrite to post this article Ron.

Monday, January 18th 2021 at 5:45PM
Steve Williams
Why Steve? What part of the blog post is hypocritical about this post?




Monday, January 18th 2021 at 9:10PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Why Steve? What part of the blog post is hypocritical?


Monday, January 18th 2021 at 9:11PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
1. Because you stole the election.
2. Because you've blocked Robert.

You only could note on January 15 that King "would have been 92". I say he would have been appalled if he had to read the STUFF you post Ron.

Monday, January 18th 2021 at 11:24PM
Steve Williams
YOUR REPLY: 1. Because you stole the election

MY REPLY: Do you have that proof of that, Steve? If you don’t have that proof, then you need to “SHUT THE DUCK 🦆 UP!!!!

YOUR REPLY: 2. Because you've blocked Robert.

MY REPLY: oh look at you trying to protect your boyfriend. THE BLOCK stands.


Tuesday, January 19th 2021 at 4:55AM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Now this is a blog that has a heart felt topic: 'I have A Dream... By Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., please stay to the topic, THANK YOU.


Tuesday, January 19th 2021 at 12:11PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
That dream has no relevance in 2021 Joe Biden's America.

Tuesday, January 19th 2021 at 12:59PM
Steve Williams
Steve, 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.' Don't you want to see this happen?

Don't you want to see this happen, 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.

That dream has a better chance of coming together under Joe Biden's America, have you been paying attention to what happen on TRUMP's watch?



Tuesday, January 19th 2021 at 1:51PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Don't tell me things can't change because that is the ascents of life, just look in the mirror.


Tuesday, January 19th 2021 at 2:07PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Biden's plan is to demonize WHITE people as SUPREMACISTS. It's already started Ron, with the DNI, with the push supposedly to crack down on your dream "domestic terrorists." Also with the Pentagon briefing going on now. There is no room for MLK in any of Biden's scenarios.

Tuesday, January 19th 2021 at 2:42PM
Steve Williams
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