Jeff - that is one of the strongest speeches of all time. Unfortunately, MLK was way ahead of his time. The world wasn't ready for true peace and tolerance. It still isn't. Thanks for sharing.
As I mentioned in my note, thanks for posting the speech. Forgive the repitition, but I responded when there was no place to comment. I remember where I was very well. The reflecting pool was luke warm and the air hung heavy with the sweat of a quarter million people taking part in the largest demonstration that the city had ever seen. The afternoon air was still and the hundreds of armed police officers never had to unholster a weapon. They stood, armed protectors of yesterday, listening to the promise of tomorrow.
It was late summer. I was a member of the SNCC and saw the poster for the event in our office. It mentioned Bob Dylan and Joan Baez would be appearing at the march. At the age of 17, that was enough for me. It was as much a happening as it was a protest. It promised to be a melting pot of all those that were unhappy with the continued behavior of the Dixiecrats. Camelot was nearing the end of it's first term in office. Other than the violence that we witnessed in southern towns, our country remained innocent.
The cold war was over. We had plans to put a man on the moon. The cuban missle crisis had passed and we had stared the Soviets down. The Attorney General was standing up to those that stood in the way of intergration. For middle class white America, it was a time of hope. For black America, still reeling from the assassanation of Medger Evers, it was "time."
The march was about equality and getting home rule in dc. I seem to remember that we also wanted the minimum wage to jump up to $2 per hour. (at that time it was about $1.25 per hour) The crowd was very large and I believe we began marching on our own. The leaders had not yet shown up. I don't recall any Klan members or civil rights haters being in the area. We marched and sang. (It was much easier to protest under the eye of the capital police. Bull Connor was not in town and no dogs were chomping at the bit to devour us).
So I went for the music and left with a burning fire for equality. When I listen to the speech, I remember the day. I remember the hope. I remember the power felt being in a crowd of 250,000 like minded people. I also remember the other speech. It was delivered by the SNCC leader. I forget his name, but he was not exhorting the crowd to be patient. In the end, Dr. King won. His genuine leadership created an environment in which the government had no alternative but to pass the Civil Rights Bill.
We didn't know that day in August that within 3 months the world would turn upside down with the Kennedy assassanation. We did not realize that the movement would find horror, tragedy and death as it moved through the south. We had no understanding that believing in a dream and acting on that dream would lead to the death of three young men in Philadelphia, Mississippi. We didn't know that the same senseless violence would take Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy in less than 5 years. We didn't know that while we were witnessing the powerful beginning, we were also witnessing the very movement that would cost so many their lives. We did know that there was truth in the words.
I guess I was lucky to live in DC and have a fondness for folk music.
The dream is alive and now the miracle of the internet and your posting have made those words available to anyone with a computer and an internet connection.
Wow! It's just as powerful after 40 years isn't it? I hope that God allow MLK to have a glimpse of the great changes from then to now. We have come a long way and have more to go...but, we're moving in the right direction.
Many of the ugly pages of American history have been obscured and forgotten...America owes a debt of justice which it has only begun to pay. If it loses it's will to finish or slackens in it's determination, history will recall it's crimes and the country that would be great will lack the most indispensable element of greatness - justice.
I love how you do stuff. I had never heard the whole speech before. Also I especially appreciated John MacArthur's first-hand report of that day. How perfect!
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Thanks Jeff~
Without dreams there is nothing!