The Speech
The Story Behind Martin Luther King's Dream
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
THE night before the March on Washington in 1963 Martin Luther King asked his aides for advice about the next day's speech. "Don't use the lines about "I have a dream," Wyatt Walker told him "It's trite, it's cliché. You've used it too many times already."
Martin Luther King delivered many speeches (at least 350 in 1963 alone). Many speeches have been delivered on civil rights and, indeed, were delivered at the March on Washington. So what was it that made that particular speech historical? And what makes it great? Why do we remember it? How do we remember it? What is it about it that we like to remember? And what about it have we chosen to forget?
Published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's famous address, Gary Young examines what made the speech so timely ... and so timeless. Few at that time could imagine the world he was evoking but to continue being involved all had to believe it was possible.Fifty years on it is clear that in eliminating segregation - not racism but formal, codified, explicit discrimination - the civil rights movement delivered the last significant moral victory in America for which there is still a consensus. The speech's appeal endures because it remains the most eloquent, poetic, unapologetic and public articulation of that victory.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, author and Nation columnist Younge (Who Are We And Should It Matter in the 21st Century?) carefully examines the political and emotional climate of August, 1963. In the weeks preceding, there were 758 related demonstrations in 186 cities all of which added to the "condition that made the March on Washington possible and King's speech so resonant." As Clarence Jones, who helped draft the speech, later reflected, "Text without context, in this case especially, would be quite a loss." Younge takes on this mission in his terse book, which is divided into three parts: "The Moment," "The March," and "The Legacy." He provides just enough context to convey the anticipation and chaos leading up to the speech and adds meaningful layers to the rhetoric. Vivid details instill the emotional importance of the event. Younge balances his account using outside and original commentary from rhetoricians, activists, and scholars, including different interpretations of the speech itself and its relevance in the civil rights movement. A grand blend of history, horrors, and honor.
