A couple of days ago was the anniversary of the I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King.
I usually write about my family taking me to Gettysburg in 1964. It’s a trip I recommend for everyone. As we left, my parents said I could get two items from the gift shop. At eleven going on twelve, I eyed the bullets found on the battlefield, or facsimiles more likely.
But I saw three parchment-type documents in the area where the books were for sale. One was the Gettysburg Address, the second was John F. Kennedy’s
inaugural speech, and the third was King’s I Have a Dream speech. I decided I wanted all three, but I was limited to two. My parents probably would have sprung for the third, but kids tended to do what their parents said back then.
I knew who JFK was. I remember the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, a time scarier for my parents than me. I understood little about nuclear bombs except I was safe at school if I bent forward with my head under my desk. I understand today, it was my vaporization position.
I knew who King was because we were on vacation, and King was leading a March, and roads were shut down for travel, so we, like everyone else, sat in our vehicle and waited for the parade to move past so the road would reopen. I’ve always told people it was Georgia, but I’m unsure today.
I chose the JFK address and MLK I Have a Dream speech. When home, I framed each to hang in my bedroom. I still have both in the original frames I bought.
I’m awed by the dreams expressed in the final minutes of the speech. There were five, most everyone recalling. The first was, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” It’s noble and right. Judging by the color of their skin is neither. Yet the racial divide appears greater today than in previous years.
Here’s what you may not have known. Close advisers of the King rejected the “Dream” part of the speech.
However, a well-known gospel singer encouraged King to remember the dream. As he was concluding, he threw away his notes. The most important part of King’s speech, considered one of the most important speeches in history, was ad-libbed.