The speech, “I have a dream” by Martin Luther King is recognized as one of the best speeches ever given. More than 40 years ago, in August 1963, Martin Luther King electrified America with his momentous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, dramatically delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  The key message in the speech is that all people are created equal and, although not the case in America at the time, King felt it must be the case for the future. He argued passionately and powerfully.  Stylistically the speech has been described as a political treatise, a work of poetry, and a masterfully delivered and improvised sermon, bursting with biblical language and imagery.

This speech is very relevant to what is going on in today’s society because justice still isn’t served. So much black on black crime, and whites against blacks still all killing one another. We also have police brutality and even when there is great evidence none of the officers are being charged and it is very sad.

If King was still alive, he would be very disappointed and ashamed of our culture because these are neither the principles we live upon nor the way we should be acting. It’s crazy how a speech can say so many words and have actions to go with it years later.

The first half portrays not an idealized American dream, but a picture of a seething American nightmare of racial injustice. It calls for action in a series of themed paragraphs. “Now is the time” is the first:

“We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.”

The most famous paragraph carries the theme “I have a dream” and the phrase is repeated constantly to hammer home King’s inspirational concepts:

“I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment 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 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 that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor’s lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.”

I believe if you hold a certain image for yourself, then you can help other people who may need help with their problems. As Dr. King would not be pleased with the way society is today, I pray that we can come together as one for the sake of ourselves, and Dr. King.

Sources:

http://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086

http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/i-have-a-dream-speech/