Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech was an important part of the civil rights movement. What's not widely known is that its famous words were largely improvised.
On August 28, 1963, the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place. Its goal was to push for civil rights and economic rights for Black Americans and to call for an end to racism. The event included speakers and musical performances. Dr. King was set to deliver the closing speech. But organizing the protest march took most of his time. Dr. King never got a chance to nail down exactly what he was going to say.
Clarence Jones was Dr. King's lawyer and speechwriter. According to Jones, Dr. King sat down with his team to draft the speech 12 hours before the march. Team members had different ideas about what he should say.
Jones took notes to keep track of ideas. He wrote a first draft. Everyone in the room thought it wasn't ready. It needed more work. But it was late. The meeting ended so everyone could get some sleep.
It was the morning of the march. Dr. King had a handwritten final copy of the speech. It was basically what Jones had written the night before. It didn't include the line "I have a dream."
In a few short hours, Dr. King stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. He spoke to a crowd of about 250,000 people. At first, Dr. King read what was on the paper. He spoke about the Constitution. He compared America's commitment to civil rights to a check that couldn't be cashed. Dr. King's original speech was scheduled to be about four minutes long. Then, something happened. He ended up speaking for 16 minutes. His speech would become one of the most famous in human history.
Standing close to the stage was Dr. King's friend, famed gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. She had a powerful voice. Jones said that Jackson yelled out, "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" Historians don't know whether Dr. King heard Jackson or not. But at that moment, he put aside his notes. Then he said, "Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream."
And from that point on, Jones said, Dr. King ad-libbed.
Jones said Dr. King had a special talent. He could speak about ideas he had read about or things he'd said before. For the improvised parts, Dr. King drew on sources like the song "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" and the old spiritual "Free at Last." The "I have a dream" phrase didn't come out of nowhere, either. Dr. King had used the words before. They were in a speech he'd made a couple of months earlier in Detroit. The words didn't have a big effect then. This time, they did.
Dr. King's delivery at the March on Washington stood apart from his previous speeches. Many audience members had traveled cross-country to join together to protest. The summer heat was strong. People may have been exhausted. But Dr. King's four simple words were powerful. They sparked the listeners' energy, emotions, and imaginations. On that hot, historic day, "I have a dream" took on a special meaning. Those words expressed Dr. King's commitment to freedom, nonviolence, and social justice. It is an expression that still carries hope more than 50 years later.
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QUESTION 1
QUESTION 1 OF 8
1 / 8
Which of these sentences would not be important to put in a summary of this Article?
A.Dr. King spoke at the March on Washington.
B.Clarence Jones wrote speeches for Dr. King.
C.Mahalia Jackson and Dr. King were friends.
D.Dr. King made up his "I Have a Dream" speech.