I'm told that he had written his intended speech out in full and that shortly before the "I have a dream" part the wind whipped the pages out of his hands and so for then on, as he moved into his preaching cadence, he was speaking extemporaneously. Thanks TC
JL, the "I have a dream" section was expemporaneous to this speech, but it was not totally unrehearsed; the substance was known to his associates. Mahalia Jackson shouted "Tell them about the dream, Martin …. Tell them about the dream." And he did. And now I must go dry my tears.
Yep – we have Mahalia Jackson to thank for Dr. King's iconic "I Have a Dream" speech:
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had originally prepared a short and somewhat formal recitation of the sufferings of African Americans attempting to realize their freedom in a society chained by discrimination. He was about to sit down when gospel singer Mahalia Jackson called out, "Tell them about your dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream!" Encouraged by shouts from the audience, King drew upon some of his past talks, and the result became the landmark statement of civil rights in America — a dream of all people, of all races and colors and backgrounds, sharing in an America marked by freedom and democracy.
This may be an appropriate post to mention that March 7th will mark the 50th Anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" – the march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the way from Selma to Montgomery.
MLK Jr's "I Have A Dream" speech is, IMO, always important, and should never get old for anyone. I have heard it many, many times and I come away with something new every time. Today I heard the words "…meeting physical force with soul force…" which is indeed a reminder of Mahatma Gandhi's non violent resistance, and in the Bible, the meaning behind Matthew 5: 38-39.
"38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."
By way of explanation of this "turn the other cheek" passage,
"The scholar Walter Wink, in his book Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination, interprets the passage as ways to subvert the power structures of the time. He says that at the time of Jesus, striking someone deemed to be of a lower class with the back of the hand was used to assert authority and dominance. If the persecuted person "turned the other cheek," the discipliner was faced with a dilemma. The left hand was used for unclean purposes, so a back-hand strike on the opposite cheek would not be performed. An alternative would be a slap with the open hand as a challenge or to punch the person, but this was seen as a statement of equality. Thus, by turning the other cheek the persecuted was demanding equality."
"This will be a very short diary. It will not contain any links or any scholarly references. It is about a very narrow topic, from a very personal, subjective perspective.
The topic at hand is what Martin Luther King actually did, what it was that he actually accomplished.
What most people who reference Dr. King seem not to know is how Dr. King actually changed the subjective experience of life in the United States for African Americans. And yeah, I said for African Americans, not for Americans, because his main impact was his effect on the lives of African Americans, not on Americans in general. His main impact was not to make white people nicer or fairer. That's why some of us who are African Americans get a bit possessive about his legacy. Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy, despite what our civil religion tells us, is not color blind.
Head below the fold to read about what Martin Luther King, Jr. actually did. …"
I hope you'll read the rest because it is excellent.
I did read Hamden Rice's article when it was re-recommended in the Daily Kos "rec list" email, yesterday or the day before. Those of us who are white and who were involved even marginally with the Civil Rights struggle thought that our goal was to be "color blind." Unfortunately, some of us succeeded too well. The fact is, that being color blind doesn't just blind you to skin color, it blinds you to racism. As long as there is one racist in the world, the rest of us cannot afford to be color blind.
Thanks TC – Dave C has some very good ideas for MLK Day, not that they stand a chance in today's political climate.
MLK Jr. would be saddened and angry to see how far our Nation has regressed since his death.
I'm told that he had written his intended speech out in full and that shortly before the "I have a dream" part the wind whipped the pages out of his hands and so for then on, as he moved into his preaching cadence, he was speaking extemporaneously. Thanks TC
Amy Goodman "Democracy Now!"
MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2015
The Lost Dr. Martin Luther King Speech: How the Pacifica Radio Archives Unearthed a Piece of History
Exclusive: Newly Discovered 1964 MLK Speech on Civil Rights, Segregation & Apartheid South Africa
Speaking in London, December 7, 1964
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/1/19/exclusive_newly_discovered_1964_mlk_speech?
autostart=true&get_clicky_key=suggested_related
The Lost Dr. Martin Luther King Speech: How the Pacifica Radio Archives Unearthed a Piece of History
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2015/1/19/the_lost_dr_martin_luther_king
Nobel Peace Prize – 1964
Acceptance Speech by Martin Luther King Jr. (12 minutes)
http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1853
Speaking in London, December 7, 1964 should be this link from my comment above. The question mark did not become "hot".
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/1/19/exclusive_newly_discovered_1964_mlk_speech?autostart=true&get_clicky_key=suggested_related
JL, the "I have a dream" section was expemporaneous to this speech, but it was not totally unrehearsed; the substance was known to his associates. Mahalia Jackson shouted "Tell them about the dream, Martin …. Tell them about the dream." And he did. And now I must go dry my tears.
Yep – we have Mahalia Jackson to thank for Dr. King's iconic "I Have a Dream" speech:
http://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/democrac/38.htm
And as Civil Rights activist and author Roger Wilkins wryly noted: "With that voice, if Mahalia told you to do something – you did it!"
This may be an appropriate post to mention that March 7th will mark the 50th Anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" – the march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the way from Selma to Montgomery.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_to_Montgomery_marches
Happy MLK day to all… 😆
MLK Jr's "I Have A Dream" speech is, IMO, always important, and should never get old for anyone. I have heard it many, many times and I come away with something new every time. Today I heard the words "…meeting physical force with soul force…" which is indeed a reminder of Mahatma Gandhi's non violent resistance, and in the Bible, the meaning behind Matthew 5: 38-39.
By way of explanation of this "turn the other cheek" passage,
I want to share with you this piece from the Daily Kos written by Hamden Rice for the anniversary of MLK's death in 2011 http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/08/29/1011562/-Most-of-you-have-no-idea-what-Martin-Luther-King-actually-did?detail=email
I hope you'll read the rest because it is excellent.
Sorry, forgot to list the source for the biblical quote and Walter Wink.
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_the_other_cheek
I did read Hamden Rice's article when it was re-recommended in the Daily Kos "rec list" email, yesterday or the day before. Those of us who are white and who were involved even marginally with the Civil Rights struggle thought that our goal was to be "color blind." Unfortunately, some of us succeeded too well. The fact is, that being color blind doesn't just blind you to skin color, it blinds you to racism. As long as there is one racist in the world, the rest of us cannot afford to be color blind.
Thanks, TC. It is too bad his legacy has not lived on and that we now have race relations almost as bad as they were then. We need a Dr. King now.
Thanks all. Nameless is correct about the speech.
Overslerpt. Way late.