On August 28th 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. his infamous "I Have a Dream" Speech. This speech is perhaps one of the most influential speeches ever given throughout American history.  King's speech is a powerful to any reader who reads it just as a text.  However: the real influence of the speech comes from the man himself.  The most powerful aspect of the speech comes from how it was delivered.  King gave his speech with a powerful passion in his voice that could not be ignored.  Kings Delivery is the real reason for the success of the speech as well as the Civil Rights Movement. 

100 years had passed since the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, and African Americans were still not viewed as equal Human beings.  Blacks were still scrutinized by the white population.  Blacks were not allowed to eat in white restaurants, drink from white water fountains, or sit in same places whites sat on buses.  The African American population had become fed up with the racism that had cultured in America.  There was a long history of events that sparked the civil rights movement.  The civil rights needed leaders but it was very dangerous to be a leader in the civil rights movement because of the violence that often fell upon those who stood up to make change. Dr. King stepped up to lead the movement event after his life as well as the lives of his family were threatened.  Dr. King received many death threats over the years.  King's home was bombed while his family was inside.  Luckily nobody was hurt.  For most, something like this would discourage most people from continuing with their quest.  None of this stopped Dr. king from continuing with his mission.  King believed that Peaceful protests where the way to the promise land while others leaders such as Malcom X believed that blood would have to be shed in order gain equality in America.  There where many peaceful protests such as sit-ins where blacks would sit at white restaurants and then be beaten by whites.  These small deviances moved the cause toward the end goal, but there is one single event that had the most impact for the Civil Rights Movement.

On August 28th 1963 Dr. King and 200000 peaceful protestors marched through the streets of Washington D.C. to the Lincoln Memorial to show support for equality. Many speeches where given by leaders on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that day.  All 200000 African Americans and white supporters had listened to leaders speak all day and had became exhausted.  Then in the late afternoon on the hot summer day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Stepped onto the stage.  When he came onto the stage The massive audience became revitalized by their excitement to hear Dr. King.  

Dr. King began with "I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation." This statement shook the audience with excitement as if King Knew that his speech would actually go down in history as one of the greatest speeches ever given.  Dr. King continued his speech by talking about the Emancipation Proclamation was signed 100 years ago but the black population was still not free. "But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the

Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition."  By saying this King demonstrated how the American people can make something official without actually believing in or acting upon it.  Saying this in his speech practically called out to the governments inability to stand behind their ideology.  King continued his speech with his talking points until he got to the most powerful part of his speech.

Dr. king had made it through about half of his prepared speech when nearby, off to one side, Mahalia Jackson shouted: "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" King looked out over the crowd and felt compelled to leave his prepared script and improvise his speech with his dream.  King did not know that doing this would have the most influence in his speech.  Dr. King looked up from his notes and began the speech that would forever change America. "Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.  And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream."  This is where The famous "I Have a Dream" speech was born.  Dr. King was a southern Baptist preacher.  Being a preacher allowed King to connect to his audience.  King had the charm and power in his voice that only a southern black preacher could deliver.  His experience giving speeches allowed him to draw from his experience and insert religious scripture into his speech.  Religion was a big part of American lifestyle during the time period and this played a big part of being able to connect with Kings target audience.  Dr. King used a lot of repetition in his speech.  Specifically, the phrase "I have a dream". The repetition of this phrase emphasized the importance of his main idea.

It wasn't one speech that put an end to racism in the United States. It wasn't one march or one sit-in. It was multiple acts of demonstration that pushed the movement. Dr. King had to have patience during this time if he truly wanted to make a change. He knew that things wouldn't change overnight. After the march on Washington the civil rights movement had been set into overdrive in order to create momentum to create equality.  The march on Washington and the speech Dr. King gave was not an ending, but instead it was a milestone in the civil rights movement.  The civil rights movement is not yet over still.  Many minorities believe that American culture has still not reached total equality.  The issue of racism still remains.  People still have their prejudices towards certain races regardless of their moral beliefs.  Dr. King said that it will be a long battle to reach total equality.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the perfect man to give the the history making speech.  Dr. King had the power to influence the people he spoke to which is the main reason for the success of his speech.  The civil rights movement would not have made the ground it did if it wasn't for Dr. King.  Between his strong belief in the cause, as well as his powerful presence King forever changed the way America perceived equality. 

