Martin Luther King - March on Washington & The Dream

Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream,' written after Rosa Parks sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, ignited the Civil Rights Movement against Jim Crow laws.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream Speech

Never forget the Dream! Happy Martin Luther King Day!

Martin Luther King, starting with Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, came into national prominence fighting Jim Crow laws. I couldn't get enough of the news media coverage of the March on Washington and other civil rights protests around the nation, some violent and others peaceful.

Later in his career, radicals made comparisons between King and Malcolm X, saying that X more accurately reflected a growing sentiment of young people in the black community. Some observers came to believe that Martin Luther King was not radical enough, professing nonviolent protest.What history has taught us is that neither black leader was any more safe than the other. Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965; Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

How radical must one be to put his life on the line every morning he wakes like Martin Luther King did until he was assassinated?

Martin Luther King & Malcolm X

Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech was part of an unprecedented event that attracted a 200,000 star-studded audience of all races. This multicultural gathering of political leaders, celebrities and ordinary citizens rivaled any sporting event that the nation had ever witnessed. 

There it was on national television for me and the country to see. But this was not a stadium of football fans, or Olympics spectators. These were people marching for racial justice and yearning for a means of dismantling Jim Crow laws, a system that had plagued the nation since its inception. See the full video of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivering his "I Have a Dream" speech to 200,000 people on August 28, 1963 on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.

The Dream: 
Martin Luther King, Jr., 
and the Speech That 
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Drew D. Hanson

At the time of the March on Washington, we had no idea that, one day, we would be celebrating Martin Luther King Day as a national holiday.

Google Review: The Dream by Drew D. Hansen - On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., electrified the nation when he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. In "The Dream," Drew D. Hansen explores the fascinating and little-known history of King's legendary address. The Dream insightfully considers how King's speech "has slowly remade the American imagination," and led us closer to King's visionary goal of a redeemed America.

Civil Rights Path Forged in 1939 by Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson.

Eleanor Roosevelt (left)
Marian Anderson (right)

The Lincoln Memorial, the location of the Martin Luther King I Have a Dream speech, had not hosted so many African Americans since Marian Anderson's April 9, 1939, concert welcomed a mixed audience of 75,000 to hear her sing. Reassigned to the location by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Anderson was not permitted to bring song to Constitution Hall for her performance because the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in charge of the facility did not rent the space to nonwhite performers. 

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The civil rights activism of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt have been captured in columns, speeches and journals in a book collection. From 1949 until she died in 1962, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote a column in McCall's, If You Ask Me, in which the former First Lady answered reader questions. In 1963, many of her quotations were collected and became the basis for a book, The Wisdom Of Eleanor Roosevelt. Until her death in 1962, Eleanor Roosevelt was a dedicated supporter of civil rights. Her social activism dates back to the 1939 Marian Anderson and DAR controversy over the use of Constitution Hall in Washington DC, the Tuskegee Airmen (article) in World War II and the peaceful protest doctrine of Martin Luther King. 

When Dr. King led the March on Washington, I had just turned 14 and glued to the television watching all those people surrounding him, looking to him for leadership. I was not aware that his efforts would change the way school children in America got an education. It only dawned on me later that education was a huge part of the dream.

Having observed Martin Luther King on television leading up to the event, I could see that he was one of the most articulate and accomplished men the United States had ever produced, black or white. In 1960, before my eleventh birthday, I had seen Dr. King formulating thoughtful responses to the issues of race relations in America on Meet the Press, a news program, on which he appeared five times. At first, my mother had to make me watch these television shows. Then I got hooked on them. Although television was in its infancy at the time, news coverage of the Civil Rights Movement was like no other coverage ever given to African Americans before.

What impressed me most about Dr. King's interviews was his education, which showed in his ability to think first and then speak--enunciation, vocabulary and organization of ideas--and his incredible command of the English language, even when he was being interviewed by news broadcasters without the convenience of a script prepared in advance. I never forgot that his success on television was his calm manner of articulating an issue without allowing himself to lose control. I was impressed.

Martin Luther King Jr.
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However, contrary to public assumption, although he was articulate and quick minded, King wrote and rewrote speeches he intended to deliver in front of an audience or on television. Using bits and pieces of his writing from many different talks, he sometimes adapted phrases and passages to suit the occasion and carefully selected the right words for each audience. The I Have a Dream speech evolved over the years from sermons and experiences, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Rosa Parks, nights in jail, conferences with powerful leaders and conflicts with Jim Crow laws, culminating in his eloquent speech about the American Dream, which King dared to claim as a dream meant for all Americans.

College education and higher academic degrees proved to be the key to King's success as a writer, public speaker, minister and social, political and civil rights activist. I knew that a college education was a dream I wanted to realize because, without academic training, I could not expect a good job and tolerable future during the era of Jim Crow. King's dream was about school and education that led to equal housing, access to services, jobs, legal representation, voting and political participation. 

Old folks said, "Education was something black people could not get until years after Jim Crow had eased up somewhat." 

I guess that's what made education so important. But my mother took education a little farther. She always said, "Success is no accident. Even people born into wealth aren't guaranteed success and they'd better hold on to the money their folks left them because without desire, hard work, education or some kind of preparation and a break or two, they won't be able to add to that wealth."

In spite of our strides in U.S. race relations, distrust and hate can still be seen in America in the young, old, black, white, every shade in between and every group in the United States, while more and more Americans see themselves as being cheated out of their dream by the others. Martin Luther King's dream is still unfulfilled, and not in the way one may imagine. King's dream was for human equality, racial harmony and the American dream for all Americans, which meant the overthrow of Jim Crow laws, a legal system that was put into the grave. However, the ghost of Jim Crow lingers in hidden recesses at the heart of our nation. No one wants to admit that the legacy of Jim Crow still colors our beliefs, public policy and criminal justice system.

I feel the need to review Dr. Martin Luther King's academic credentials and leadership awards, and to take a careful listen to his I Have a Dream Speech to hear what he said, examine what it meant and determine how we have been affected by his words. King was educated, articulate and a prolific author, speechwriter and orator. What must be remembered about King is that he was a minister and preacher, brought up in a home of preachers. His father, Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr., and maternal grandfather, Rev. Adam Daniel Williams, exposed him throughout his childhood to some of the best preachers in America. From this exposure, King, developed his style of speaking and being.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Boston University
1959 (BU Photo Services)

Martin Luther King's Education & Credentials

We must remember that Dr. King was more than a gifted speaker; he was a highly intelligent man, proof of which showed in his education and academic credentials. Early in his education, King skipped both ninth and twelfth grades, tested his way out of high school at age 15 before graduation. He entered Morehouse College, where he earned Bachelor's degree in sociology. King received a Bachelor of Divinity from Cozier College, while also studying at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1955, three months before Rosa Parks sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and hurled King into national prominence, he received his Doctorate of Philosophy in Systematic Theology from Boston University.

Honorary Degrees from U.S. and international colleges and universities. during his lifetime and posthumously, Dr. King also was awarded:

1957 - Doctor of Humane Letters, Morehouse College; Doctor of Laws, Howard University; Doctor of Divinity, Chicago Theological Seminary

1958 - Doctor of Laws, Morgan State College; Doctor of Humanities, Central State College

1959 - Doctor of Divinity, Boston University

1961 - Doctor of Laws, Lincoln University; Doctor of Laws, University of Bridgeport

1962 - Doctor of Civil Laws, Bard College

1963 - Doctor of Letters, Keuka College

1964 - Doctor of Divinity, Wesleyan College; Doctor of Laws, Jewish Theological Seminary; Doctor of Laws, Yale University; Doctor of Divinity, Springfield College

1965 - Doctor of Laws, Hofstra University; Doctor of Human Letters, Oberlin College; Doctor of Social Science, Amsterdam Free University; Doctor of Divinity, St. Peter's College

1967 - Doctor of Civil Law, University of New Castle Upon Tyne; Doctor of Laws, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa

 Got a question? Look it up.

At age 35, Dr. King was the youngest man in history to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The second American after Theodore Roosevelt, Dr. King is also the second African American in history to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The first African American to win the Nobel Peace Prize was Ralph Bunche in 1950 and the third black recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize is President Barack Obama.

King Receiving Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway CREDIT: Rev. Martin Luther King congratulated by Crown Prince Harald & King Olav Mrs. Coretta King (right)  UPI Photo 1964 Dec 10. Library of Congress

King Receiving Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway

CREDIT: Rev. Martin Luther King congratulated

by Crown Prince Harald & King Olav

Mrs. Coretta King (right) 

UPI Photo 1964 Dec 10. Library of Congress

Scholarly and Leadership Awards received below and others listed in the Archives of the Martin Luther King, Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia.

1957 - Among Time’s most outstanding personalities

1957 - Who's Who in America

1957 - NAACP Spingarn Medal Recipient

1957 - National Newspaper Publishers’ Russwurm Award

1958.- Guardian Association of the Police Department of New York, Second Annual Achievement Award

1959 - Among New Delhi, India, Link Magazine’s sixteen world leaders who contributed most to the advancement of freedom

1963 - Time Man of the Year

1963 - Laundry, Dry Cleaning, and Die Workers International Union’s American of the Decade

1964 - United Federation of Teachers’ John Dewey Award

1964 - Catholic Interracial Council of Chicago John F. Kennedy Award

1964 - Nobel Peace Prize 

1968 - Jamaican Government Marcus Garvey Prize for Human Rights (posthumously)

1968 - Southern Christian Leadership Conference Rosa Parks Award (posthumously)

Many speeches contributed to the birth of the I Have a Dream Speech until it was perfected and set in concrete at the Lincoln Memorial. Right up to his taking the podium, it is said that King made refinements to his talk, against the advice of some of his trusted advisers.

I Have A Dream by Martin Luther King

17-minute Speech

Read and Analyze Complete Text

Martin Luther King: I Have a Dream Speech.

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It all started with a dream, imagined by a man, who had hope, as he was pulled into a movement that would change history. Did Dr. King know so many Americans would be angry when race relations in America changed? Did Dr. King know these angry Americans would pass their anger on to their children like their angry ancestors had passed on to them? 

Essence Magazine
President Barack Obama
First Lady Michelle Obama
First Daughters:
Sasha & Malia

Whether Dr. King anticipated these questions or not, these are issues in U.S. race relations that still haunt our nation. That is precisely why we must open the discussion of race relations in America to realize and then reveal that we still have problems in the area of education, housing, jobs and access to services; and also to demonstrate that we have gained ground in all the time, tears and blood shed over all the years between the Civil War and today. We have gained ground, haven't we? By seeing the gains we have made in race relations in America, we can pass the fruits of those gains on to our children.

We have reached in period in our history where children today see a black president and his family living in the White House as a normal occurrence. This is quite a feat considering, in the  past, under Jim Crow tradition at the founding of our nation, African Americans were only allowed to enter that house through a back servant's entrance.

What a legacy Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., left for all Americans. Proof of that legacy is the first family. Read the full text and view  the full video of President Barack Obama's speech on race relations in America.

Today, we seem to be a nation of people making remarks about each other getting too big a slice of a shrinking American pie and making excuses as to why we should not like each other or work together toward a better America. 

© 2012 Sunny Nash. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

www.sunnynash.blogspot.com

~Thank You~

Buy Books by and about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I Have a Dream: 
Writings and Speeches 
that Changed the World

I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World, Special 75th Anniversary Edition (Martin Luther King, Jr., born January 15, 1929) Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), civil rights leader, advocate of worldwide social justice, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, inspired and sustained the struggle for freedom, nonviolence, and interracial unity. His words and deeds continue to shape the lives and destinies of millions. 

A Testament of Hope

A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. 

"Brings us King in many roles--philosopher, theologian, orator, essayist, interviewee, and author." -- -- San Francisco Chronicle Review - "We've got some difficult days ahead," civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., told a crowd gathered at Memphis's Clayborn Temple on April 3, 1968. "But it really doesn't matter to me now because I've been to the mountaintop. . . . And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land."

Stride Toward Freedom: 
The Montgomery Story 
by King, Martin Luther, Jr 
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Stride Toward Freedom & The Montgomery Bus Boycott 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. brings together the forces of the modern Civil Rights Movement in its earliest stages and draws the political connections between Dr. King and Rosa Parks. Review and purchase Stride Toward Freedom, also available on Kindle and print formats or make your selection later from lists near the end of this post. In an Amazon review, Howard Zinn wrote, "Martin Luther King’s early words return to us today with enormous power, as profoundly true, as wise and inspiring, now as when he wrote them fifty years ago."

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Sunny Nash

Sunny Nash is the author of Bigmama Didn't Shop At Woolworth's (Texas A&M University Press), about life in the Brazos Valley with her part-Comanche grandmother during the Civil Rights Movement. Nash’s book is recognized by the Association of American University Presses as essential for understanding U.S. race relations; listed in the Bibliographic Guide to Black Studies by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York; and recommended for Native American collections by the Miami-Dade Public Library System in Florida.

Nash--author, producer, photographer and leading writer on U.S. race relations in--writes books, blogs, articles and reviews, and produces media and images on U.S. history and contemporary American topics, ranging from Jim Crow laws to social media networking, Nash uses her book to write articles and blogs on race relations in America through topics relating to her life--from music, film, early radio and television, entertainment, social media, Internet technology, publishing, journalism, sports, education, employment, the military, fashion, performing arts, literature, women's issues, adolescence and childhood, equal rights, social and political movements--past and present—to today's post-racism.

There's so much more to learn about U.S. race relations, Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, important speeches in history and more.

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African American
 National Biography
Harvard & Oxford

Bigmama Didn't Shop
At Woolworth's
by Sunny Nash

Bigmama Didn't Shop At Woolworth's (Texas A&M University Press) by Sunny Nash was chosen by the  Association of American University Presses as one of its essential books for understanding race relations in the United States, and also listed in the Bibliographic Guide to Black Studies by the Schomburg Center in New York and recommended for Native American collections by the Miami-Dade Public Library System in Florida.

Sunny Nash has work in the African American National Biography, a joint project by Harvard and Oxford, edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham; African American West, a Century of Short Stories; Reflections in Black, a History of Black Photographers 1840 - Present; Ancestry; Companion to Southern Literature; Texas Through Women’s Eyes; Black Genesis: A Resource Book for African-American Genealogy; African American Foodways L; Southwestern American Literature Journal and other anthologies. Nash is listed in references: The Source: guidebook to American genealogy; Bibliographic Guide to Black Studies; Interdisciplinary Journal for Germanic Linguistics; Ebony Magazine; Southern Exposure; Hidden Sources: Family History in Unlikely Places; and others.

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