And I believe the speech was impromptu, he just made it up on the spot. I could be wrong about that. Either way, amazing.
Posted by Tim at August 29, 2004 03:52 PMIt's easy to make an impromptu speech when it is from the very soul of the person. Love to see an impromptu speech by Georgie.
Posted by Judith at August 29, 2004 06:08 PMI doubt it was impromptu. Like most public speakers, King probably had a solid stock of material in his head that he could draw from, and he would re-assemble it based on the audience. I'm not denigrating what he did, just describing what probably happened.
If you want an interesting assignment, read "The Gettysburg Address", and then read "I Have a Dream" and see how strongly King is influenced by Lincoln's famous speech.
Posted by Trent at August 29, 2004 07:55 PMSnc ffrmtv ctn s bsd n th clr f n's skn rthr thn th cntnt f thr chrctr, t s sf t sy th drm hs bn dtrd.
[Editor: ignore=off]Thanks for the audio link. I have read the speech many times, but haven't heard it in its entirety in many years.
It is one of the greatest of American speeches, addressing the greatest of American social, political and cultural issues. Our nation was founded and built on the enslavement of one people and the genocide of another.
Racism, overt and covert, still dominates the politics of this country. I like to point the finger at the Republicans, who have trashed their heritage as the party of Lincoln by making themselves the party of choice among racists, but the better idea is for all of us and each of us to take a look in the mirror and examine our own lives. What do we do to make that dream come true?
Posted by James E. Powell at August 30, 2004 12:04 AMHis message has been hijacked. The current leadership in the NAACP is doing a great disservice to a great man. What a shame.
Posted by muckdog at August 30, 2004 08:19 AM