MLK Jr "I have a Dream" Speech - August 28, 1963

[rareboy]

One of the greatest speeches in history.

 

[chrisrobin]

Thanks BD!

Every time I hear this speech I get a little bleary-eyed. Happy birthday Dr. King!

The Emma Lazarus poem on the Statue of Liberty ranks a close second:

"The New Colossus"
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

What's happened to us?

 

[sid6p8]

Sure is a great speech; thanks for posting it.

Sad though, that his dream still hasn't come true.

 

[Jack Springer]

Too bad he's not around today.

I can't think of any other leader in the black community who has ever come close to his vision and desire.

 

[Kulindahr]

For those who might not know:

The networks didn't like having a black woman on Star Trek. Nichelle Nichols, Lt. Uhura, had decided to quit.

None other than Martin Luther King, Jr. made the trip to tell her to not quit. He said she was needed there, that it let people see a black woman in an important position in a better future.

She stayed, and fought for better roles. Shortly thereafter came Kirk and Uhura, white man and black woman, kissing.

 

[MoltenRock III]

BD... how did you feel about this speech originally back in 1963?

I've read my parent's journals on this speech and day, so know their thoughts from a 1st generation Asian immigrant perspective. It's amazing how far the USA has come since 1963 regarding race relations. Granted the USA has a long way to go, but really has done one of the best jobs of integrating everyone.

 

[Jack Springer]

BD... how did you feel about this speech originally back in 1963?

I've read my parent's journals on this speech and day, so know their thoughts from a 1st generation Asian immigrant perspective. It's amazing how far the USA has come since 1963 regarding race relations. Granted the USA has a long way to go, but really has done one of the best jobs of integrating everyone.

I never heard my parents ever say anything derogatory about minorities. They both grew up in the same rural, Christian environment that I did.

The only minorities around were blacks, descendants of slaves that settled in the area after the Civil War. Since they lived in town I wasn't around them very often.

I was always taught that we were all God's children. We were all the same color on the inside -- and that's what really mattered.

Guess I was blessed.

 

[Kulindahr]

I had a grandmother who stood up to the Klan and is one of the reasons there weren't any such in most of the county for two generations. When Lt. Uhura appeared on Star Trek, people I knew thought it was kool. We had one black kid in high school, who quickly became one of the most popular -- though being 5' 6" and able to jump high than anyone else on the basketball team might have had something to do with it.

 

[Knucklehead]

I like his anti war speech much better..

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Az0bdbHOI[/ame]

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b80Bsw0UG-U&feature=related[/ame]

 

[bkool2785]

Don't we all believe that while MLK championed civil rights, aren't gay rights, civil rights? And how can we dishonor his name with words like the n-word or even the f-word?
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuEZY7-czGA[/ame]

 

[Knucklehead]

one of the conspiracies about his assassination claims that is why he was killed

he was beginning to make a call for all blacks to refuse to go to 'Nam, dodge the draft

the Military Industrial Complex couldnt have that

I agree with that to a certain extent.But I'd stop short of saying he was only encouraging poor blacks not to enlist or be drafted.He recognized that poor kids of all colors were fighting and dying in disproportionate numbers to the children of wealthy people.People who could afford to send their kids to college so they could sit the war out and rack up deferments didn't die.Poor people who couldn't afford college or get a deferment went in the mud and had to fight their way back home.Of course, many never made it..

Towards the end of his life MLK started to switch gradually from civil rights to economic justice.They aren't really that far removed from one another when you think about it..He was killed in Memphis after helping striking garbage men organize into becoming union workers.

About the war though, he knew first,our involvement was wrong and couldn't be justified.He also recognized that the war was robbing the country of much needed social spending.Kinda like now. I like his last sentence in the second video..''I ain't gonna study war..no more.''

 

[chrisrobin]

It was so heartwarming to hear Glenn Beck hawking his new book on MLK Day portraying himself as a present-day Martin Luther King Jr. Puke City.

 

[Jack Springer]

Don't we all believe that while MLK championed civil rights, aren't gay rights, civil rights? And how can we dishonor his name with words like the n-word or even the f-word?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuEZY7-czGA

Thank you.

 

[ilikelmao]

Thanks for your comments, bkool. I was walking to work yesterday and was saddened to hear a group of high school African Americans using the N word with each other. I understood it as they were using it pejoratively toward each other in a way they wanted to put each other down instead of respecting each other. Why is that? The same with the F word. People need to build each other up, not make them feel low. It's part of their age, but still, it doesn't need to be. It only reinforces ignorant and immature behavior and doesn't need to be part of the growing up process.