A Dream for All—His speech's rhymes vibrate in the sky like Heaven's spirit, like drumbeats. They echo in our hearts, driving us to march together toward equal justice under the law. The first time I heard his speech was in an English class when my teacher played it on a cassette player. I was struck by the powerful volume of his voice—passionate and filled with love for humanity. It made my blood boil with hope.
I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the civil rights movement and among the most iconic speeches in American history. Under the applicable copyright laws, the speech will remain under copyright in the United States until 70 years after King's death, through 2038.
"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character".
hashtag#OnThisDay, 28 August 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke these immortal words to a crowd of over 200,000 people who gathered for the now historic March on Washington to demand an end to racial segregation in the USA and equality in jobs and civil rights.
King began his speech by referencing the Emancipation Proclamation, which had declared millions of enslaved African Americans free 100 years prior. Originally, King had only prepared a short speech. Toward the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text and partly improvised the most well-known part of his speech, where he dreams of freedom and equality.
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«not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character»
This is neither a statement on nor a speech in support of 'colour'/race/ethnicity blindness--just a vision to not judge a person through the superficiality of social constructs.
Seeing someone's identity is fine. In fact, it is more than fine. More than ok. We should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.
PhD | MBA | Research Scientist | Research Project Manager | Founder at BioConsult4.0 |
(edited)
60+ years on and this dream is still very much a dream. Despite having been an African American leader with the painful heritage of his community, Martin Luther King Jr did not adhere to a gregarious vision of humanity. This famous quote talks to us about our double identity. An animal one we don’t choose which ties us to our ancestors and ethnicity, and a spiritual one which reflects our character, value system and beliefs. Although education and culture influence one's character, I believe it is mainly the result of an individual's life experiences, reflection on life, and importantly value choices. Values such as Freedom, Equality, Fraternity, and the respect for others' lives they imply are the core values of modern civilisations, which I believe are consensual to most people in Western societies. But there are the values we believe in and those we live by, the latter being much more accurate markers of one's character. The sad truth is that often, even people sincerely believing in humanistic values support awful leaders, in a gregarious reflex, by fear, or simply gullibility, leading to very detrimental outcomes for society. Values are the fault line in humanity, not ethnicity because we are more than animals we are humans!
But we still live in a nation where Latinos are in many cases judged by their color, accent, etc. We all are still working 56 years later working to have people judged by their character. Not a dream but a social reality.
Would that humanity could focus on universal values, ideals and strategic understandings appropriate for all regardless of religious belief, identity or political stance; MLK’s messages were masterfully aimed at unification.
It is sad that the USA was built on African slaves, and, even though they were given freedom and independence, the racial issue is still standing over some right oriented characters and people. It is more likely the police will draw a gun on a coloured man than a white one.
Whatever Martin Luther King Jr said was a dream and not a reality. This is true in every country of the world. There are and will be distinctions between minority and majority as we have not progressed mentally.
PhD | MBA | Research Scientist | Research Project Manager | Founder at BioConsult4.0 |
(edited)
Prasun Chakraborty Indeed, a famous far-right leader sharing his vision of life simply said: “I prefer my children over my siblings, my siblings over my first-degree cousins, my first-degree cousins over my second-degree cousins, and so forth and so on.” That’s a very gregarious, even caveman kind of perspective on life which completely ignores important human values such as equality, justice, truth, merits etc. Unfortunately, many people still live with this mentality causing unnecessary conflicts and struggles.
PEACE WORLDWIDE ( Words and Paintings Dedicated to PEACE worldwide . For 365 days a year : Words & Thoughts of hope for WORLD PEACE ) : https://lnkd.in/d8i43Vg