by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Genre: Persuasive Speech
Comprehension Strategy: Generate Questions Think-Aloud Copying Master number 1
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“I Have a Dream”
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excerpt from a speech given at the March on Washington, 1963 by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Th is momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the fl ames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free.
One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and fi nds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. . . .
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. Th ere are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfi ed?”
. . . We can never be satisfi ed as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.¹ We cannot be satisfi ed as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfi ed as long as our children are stripped of their selfh ood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “for whites only.” We cannot be satisfi ed as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfi ed and we will not be satisfi ed until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
¹ I have questions about the history of civil rights, but Dr. King gives examples of ways African Americans were treated unfairly in the United States. This helps me understand why he feels so strongly about demanding civil rights.
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. . . I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the diffi culties 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 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. . . .
My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, From every mountainside, let freedom ring!²
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that: Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.³ From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last!
Th ank God Almighty, we are free at last!
Genre Study Persuasive Speech:
The writer of a persua-sive piece shares his or her opinions and may express them with great emotion and force. Dr. King feels strongly about the injustices he speaks about and he expresses great emotion as he describes his vision of true freedom and equality.
² I can make a connection when Dr. King says to let freedom ring. These are the lyrics from the song
“America the Beautiful.”
I think Dr. King includes the lyrics to show that even though we sing about America being a free country, this was not true for all people.
³ I wonder why Dr. King is mentioning so many states. He must be including them all in his dream.
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“I Have a Dream”
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After Reading
Take Notes: Have students discuss examples of word choice that Dr. King uses to achieve the purpose of his message. Ask students to revisit the purpose for reading and determine if the speech was meaningful and infl uenced the listeners.
Use Copying Master number 1 to prompt students to share questions they may have about the speech and its origins.
Cultural Perspective
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was infl uenced by the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, who had spent much of his life trying to free the people of India from British rule.
Dr. King went to India in 1959 and studied satyagraha (Sanskrit for “truth and fi rmness”), Gandhi’s principle of peaceful persuasion. Discuss the relevance of ethnicity, culture, and history in relation to Gandhi and King’s works.
“I wonder . . .”
Think and Respond
1. President Abraham Lincoln ended slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation.
Why do you think Dr. King mentioned this decree at the beginning of his
speech? Possible response: He wanted to show that even though African Americans were freed from slavery 100 years ago, they were not truly free to live their lives.
Inferential
2. What phrases does Dr. King repeat in his speech? Why do you think he does this? Possible responses: One hundred years later, we can never be satisfi ed, I have a dream, let freedom ring; I think he repeats these words because he wants people to remember what he is saying. Evaluate
3. Why do you think it is important to read and think about Dr. King’s speech? Why is his message still important to people today? Possible response: We need to remember that freedom and rights need to be protected. Author’s Purpose
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