I Have a Dream

"I Have a Dream" is a public speech 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 calls for an end to racism in the United States and called for civil and economic rights. 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 American Civil Rights Movement.

Beginning with a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed millions of slaves in 1863, King observes that: "one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free". Toward the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for a partly improvised peroration on the theme "I have a dream", prompted by Mahalia Jackson's cry: "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" In this part of the speech, which most excited the listeners and has now become its most famous, King described his dreams of freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred.Jon Meacham writes that, "With a single phrase, Martin Luther King Jr. joined Jefferson and Lincoln in the ranks of men who've shaped modern America". The speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century in a 1999 poll of scholars of public address.

I Have a Dream (oratorio)

I Have a Dream is an oratorio by James Furman written in tribute to the composer's friend, Martin Luther King, Jr., to whose memory it is dedicated. The title of the work is derived from the "I Have a Dream" speech that Martin Luther King, Jr. made in Washington, D.C. during the August 1963 civil rights march, and the libretto is based on statements and writings by King.

Furman described I Have a Dream as "an oratorio in symphonic form which conveys some of the basic concerns of today's world. These concerns are dramatized within a thirty-five minute musical journey focusing upon human dignity, love, hate, the tragedy of war, peace, beauty, poverty, and the hope for genuine freedom." The composer points out that "each group, representing a segment of society, speaks as an individual and in conjunction with other groups."

The work is in three parts. The musical style is varied, ranging from jungle rhythms to passages of contemporary serial and rock music. Igbo phrases are chanted in the final section of Part I and combined with English words in the coda of Part III. The climax of Part III is an elaborate interweaving of hymnss, spirituals, and patriotic songs. Despite its variety in mood and orchestration, the composer says that he aimed at an overall effect of childlike simplicity and innocence.

I Have a Dream (disambiguation)

"I Have a Dream" is a 1963 speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.

I Have a Dream may also refer to:

Music

Songs

Other uses

See also