Martin Luther King’s I have a Dream speech is recognized as one of the famous speeches in American history. Over hundred thousands of African American and other Americans gathered in Washington, Dc. on August 1963; it was time for injustice to end. Dr. Martin Luther King amazed America with his incredible “I Have a Dream” speech. The end of injustice began as Dr. King dramatically delivered front 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.
The location of where the speech was given made it more special and deeply. The speech was given in the nation’s capital and front of Lincoln Memorial Washington, DC so that the eyes of America and the world could witness it. The symbolism of Dr. King standing in front of Abraham Lincoln’s statue as Lincoln watches not only him but the millions that have descended upon his monument sends chills down my spine every time I see it. There is a sense of Lincoln keeping a watchful eye on Dr. King as he delivers his epic speech. This image of Dr. King standing in front of Lincoln is why the speech is heightened. Abraham Lincoln was a man who freed the slaves. It was Lincoln who brought this country out of the hell that was the civil war and help to being its healing. It was he who signed the emancipation proclamation that ended slavery and gave African-Americans freedom for the first time in this country. It was Lincoln who spoke so greatly of the black soldiers fighting in the civil war for not only their freedom but freedom for future generations. It was Lincoln who showed strength in dealing with the issue of slaver after the founding fathers had kicked the issue down the road for future generations to deal with. Lincoln kept our country together and helped in the creation of a new more free country after the civil war. Unfortunately he died at the hands of an assassin and never got to see the country he helped save or help in its rebuilding. Now sadly one hundred years later the ground work for freedom Lincoln had laid out was still unfinished. Now as his monument stands tall and watches the horizon, his spirit will witness the cry for freedom one more time as Dr. King delivers his speech.
A different location would not have had the same effect. Now the speech holds its own ground, it is so powerful no matter where it is delivered from. The Lincoln monument is important due to the history of Lincoln and what he did. As Dr. King says in his speech about one hundred years ago the man behind him gave slaves freedom yet still now a hundred years later African-Americans in the country are not free. These words were elevated from the presence of Abraham Lincoln. The location is just as important as the speech itself. The “I have a dream” speech is a speech that inspires change. Martin Luther King hopes for a day where little black and white boy/girl could sit in the same class. He hopes for a new day in America. He wants a country that lives up to its ideals that every man is free and is endowed with certain unalienable rights that cannot be taken away. He hopes that the American dream can be achieved by anybody no matter what their color is. He dreams of a free and united America. This dream of his would fully come true. It is in his memory and other civil rights workers that we celebrate the freedom that has come to all of us and we fight to continue this dream.
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I would have to agree with you that the speech was significant at its location. I am totally with you on how you explain the significance of Lincoln as he was the one who started the liberation of African Americans. The importance of King standing at Lincoln’s monument indicates how he wants change to take place. King was trying to compare himself to the former President who brought about emancipation. I kind of think it’s ironic how Lincoln and King are both fighting for the freedom of African Americans, however, Lincoln is white while King is black. There are both up on the platform representing the same principle but both of different colors. I also agree with how you explain the impact of the speech. I don’t think the speech would have had a great influence over the audience if it was taken anywhere different. Being at the nation’s capital and alongside the Lincoln Memorial creates a triumphant atmosphere that gets the audience to be thrilled to listen to King’s speech. It is so amazing how we have progressed in our society from Lincoln’s time, to King’s period, to the present. Your sentence, “He [King] dreams of a free and united America”, is a realization to today’s society where we have accomplished a goal, the American Dream, which would have never been dreamt about in the beginnings of our country. We have voted to put a colored man, Obama, into the Oval Office that was once never thought about. It just unbelievable to see what the future will bring us. I really enjoyed your blog.
ReplyDeleteWow, you are a great writer. I really enjoyed reading you blog so much so that I actually read it several times. I completely agree with your reasons on the medium of the speech. The place, lines and the use of Lincoln make the speech everything it is. Do not get me wrong Martin Luther King Junior's speech is incredibly well written and delivered flawlessly so it would have been historical either way. Mr. King given his background was the perfect person to deliver a speech of this magnitude and with that amount of passion involved. The setup of the speech like the location and lines are a perfect combination and help the people see what injustices even though they were outlawed were still going on. Over a hundred years before Mr. King Junior’s speech Lincoln freed the slaves and outlawed slavery but he did not know the magnitude of the issue and how it was going to take many more decades to completely get rid of this problem. Even today we have issues with color, race, gender and even sexuality. People are treated differently because of how they look not who they are. This in a way is just as bad as slavery and is just as important of an issue to.
ReplyDeleteYour analysis of “I Have a Dream” is great! I have done same topic for my blog, and I really agree with your idea. After reading your blog, I encountered some of the ideas I did not cover; those gave me delight of knowing other opinion. First, I really like you title, “A Dream Come True.” That’s first thing I wanted to point out. You have good sense of words. There are couple points I did not come up and impressed by you. The first one is that, “DC so that the eyes of America and the world could witness it.” I knew giving speech in front of Lincoln memorial is significant since he is the father of abolitionists; however, I did not realize that the fact, Washington DC is the capital of the U.S. and center of the attention of the world. I was focusing too much on Lincoln Memorial itself. As I studied African American History last semester, I have learned that there was an idea to liberate all African people as whole; not only African Americans, but Africans in Caribbean and Africa as well. Therefore, I can imagine how Dr. king impacted whole world through having speech in Washington DC. Another point I became convinced was that, “There is a sense of Lincoln keeping a watchful eye on Dr. King as he delivers his epic speech. This image of Dr. King standing in front of Lincoln is why the speech is heightened.” I do not usually think in spirit, but your point of Lincoln as a guardian for Dr. King is a wonderful scene. I am impressed with your imagination. I appreciate your point of view that acknowledged me to enjoy Dr. King’s speech even more.
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