Wednesday/ speech of the century

50th_anniversary_i have a dream
Google’s home page tribute to the 50th anniversary of MLK’s speech on the Washington mall.

Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of the ‘I have a dream’ speech by civil rights leader Martin Luther King (August 28, 1963).  a panel of more than 130 scholars got together in 1999 to rate the best speeches of the 20th century and King’s speech ranked No. 1.  Dr King was assassinated 4½ years later, on April 4, 1968 .. but he did see the Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson : a landmark piece of civil rights legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities, and women.

8-29-2013 11-01-51 PM
Check the first page of a draft version of the speech. The ‘I have a dream’ phrase was not even in the final prepared version of the speech. As he spoke, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson called out to King, “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin.”

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *