LAD/Blog #27: MLK Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech

LAD/Blog #27: MLK Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech



Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech is one of the most famous speeches of all time. He begins this by referencing Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. He says that it was a huge step, but African Americans are still not free. He says that America has not kept its promise of giving all citizens their rights, and that they need to take action. He says they must take action and cannot turn back, they cannot stop until civil rights are given. However, he says that African Americans must not resort to violence while fighting to end discrimination. He then speaks the well known line, “I have a dream…” Multiple times he repeats this, with his dreams of a free America for all peoples. It is the hope he has for America. I think some of the strongest dreams are the ones in which he calls out specific states- he is sparking change, and when he says, “I have a dream today.” He calls to America to help make his dreams come true, and ends the speech saying, “when all of God’s children… 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!”

This famous speech supports the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination. First proposed by Kennedy, the act did not end up being passed until Lyndon B. Johnson, and is one of the cornerstones of the Civil Rights Movement.




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MLK Jr. at his "I Have a Dream" Speech

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Rosa Parks (synthesis):
Like MLK Jr., Rosa Parks was an incredibly influential person in the Civil Rights Movement. Well known for the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rosa Parks stood up against segregation and discrimination, just as MLK Jr. did.

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