Today we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday and his dream that the United States of America would become a nation of equality and unity. Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is one of the best known and most inspirational speeches of all time. But did you know…
- The speech was originally titled Normalcy, Never Again.
- While Dr. King began the speech reading from prepared text, he abandoned that mid-way through the speech. The “I have a dream…” portion of the speech was improvised.
- The speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century by a 1999 poll of scholars of public address.
- An official from the Kennedy administration was on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with a switch to turn off the sound system if the government thought any speaker was inciting violence. (Reference)
- Bob Dylan was 22 years old when he performed before Dr. King’s speech.
- For more than 35 years there was a dispute over whether Dr. King’s estate owned the copyright to the speech. See Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc.
- A group of teenagers walked 225 miles from New York City for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom which included Dr. King’s speech. (Reference)
Every movement, every triumph, every success – big or small – starts with a dream. Every one of us can envision a better world. And every one of us can picture ourselves as a part of the solution, making the world a better place. What’s your dream? If you’re not sure, you don’t have time NOT to dream. This is your one and only life.
Watch Dr. King’s speech and be inspired…
Paul,
Some great “Unknowns” about that awesome, inspiring speech. Thanks for sharing them. My post for today covered a part of the “I have a dream” speech as well. There are tons of pieces of that speech to post about. He was a true leader in every aspect of the word. Here’s the link to my post if your interested: http://tinyurl.com/6djw9f2 Thanks again Paul for this very interesting post and the time it took for you to share it.
Gregory Farley (Voices of Leadership)
Thanks for you comment & your post today. The tinyurl isn’t working for me, so I’m gonna post the long version for people to follow:
http://voicesofleadership.blogspot.com/2011/01/content-of-your-character.html
Video isn’t there anymore. See this post for some great videos http://bit.ly/wACLzG
Hey Erik, thanks for letting me know. New video of the speech inserted.
Some very interesting facts. What a great way to celebrate MLK Day, learning more about the man himself. Thanks Paul.
Thanks Dana!
Great post, Paul! Learned a few facts I didn’t know or remember! Numbers 1, 4, and 6 are new to me. An amazing man, Martin Luther King Jr! Even after so many years, he keeps inspiring us to dream and dream big!
Thank you Paul!
Blessings and Light!
Thanks Katina!
Very intersting. Thanks for sharing
Cheers from germany
Hansjörg
My pleasure, Hansjörg. Glad you found it interesting.
Thanks Paul. Especially for citing your resources, a habit that has almost disappeared from the internet.
Loved it! No matter what, he said those inspiring words! And you very last comment above the video is also very inspiring and I just read it at the right time for me!!!! Thank you!
Awesome, Linda!
I’m not from USA so I know about Martin Luther King only what I saw on TV. It’s very interesting, thx Paul for sharing.