An Analysis Of Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

One blazing hot, summer day on August 28, 1963, about a quarter of a million people, black and white alike, showed up for a peaceful march in Washington D.C. The march included walking from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln memorial. Passionate about civil rights, these people wanted to peacefully get legislature to give them the freedom that they rightfully deserve. They wanted to have non-segregated schools, protection against police cruelty, equality among workers, and a number of other rights. (Ross) When the marchers reached the Lincoln memorial, a few great speeches were given, including the well-known “I have a dream speech” which was given by the person who led it all: Martin Luther King Jr. He will forever be known for his leadership

They thought that in order to bring about change they need to be forceful because they mean business. In 1959, King traveled to Gandhi 's birthplace which turned out to be a very inspiring trip. (Ross) King then dedicated himself to non-violence which I believe is a courageous thing to do. This is considered courageous because he endured jailing, bombing, and threats but yet he still pushed for nonviolence. Even in his famous speech he says, "In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force." (King) People noticed this dignity about him and awarded him the Nobel peace prize in 1964 while he was still 25 making him the youngest person to receive one at that time. (Hamberman) Not only was he awarded this prize, but he also was featured on Time Magazine as Man of the Year in the January 1964 issue.

Now we know what kind of man Martin Luther King Jr. was: passionate yet peaceful, nonviolent, patient, great yet imperfect, popular, a great leader, and an ideal american. We can apply his successes to ourselves and whatever injustice we may be facing. It took time and perseverance to be successful, but he did it. In the face of much opposition it is important to not lose our dignity and resort to nonviolence: it won 't make us successful. None of us are perfect so that includes King but we can still make a change by doing our very