US reflects on anniversary of Martin Luther King ‘I have a dream’ speech
50 years since March on Washington
It’s the most memorable line from one of history’s greatest speeches, yet civil rights leader Martin Luther King never planned to say “I have a dream” when he addressed the March on Washington a half-century ago. King was the last speaker of the day when he took the lectern on August 28, 1963 and looked out over the unprecedented crowd of 250,000 that filled the National Mall for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
In the hands of the oratorically gifted Baptist preacher from Georgia was a text that he and his associates had painstakingly finalised the night before. The phrase “I have a dream” was not in it.
“For all King’s careful preparation, the part of the speech that went on to enter the history books was added extemporaneously while he was standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, speaking in full flight to the crowd,” wrote US-based columnist Gary Younge of Britain’s Guardian newspaper in an excerpt of his new book The Speech.
Video: Americans reflect 50 years on from 'I have a dream' speech
King had used the “I have a dream” line before, including in a sermon in Detroit recorded by Motown two months earlier. But King’s adviser Wyatt Walker counselled against its re-use, contending it was “trite” and “cliche” and basically unworthy of a nationally televised event.