'I have a dream' - a quote from the heart of Martin Luther King

AMERICA There was a team of speechwriters, but when he stepped on the stage, Martin Luther King decided to speak from his heart: 'I have a dream'.

On August 28, 1963, in front of more than 250,000 people, Pastor Martin Luther King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

Along with Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg speech in 1863, Winston Churchill's "Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat" in 1940, Martin Luther King's speech is considered the most influential in human history. It sparked a civil rights movement and was the stepping stone to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

However, few people know of four from the famous "I Have a Dream" ( I Have a Dream), which are not included in the manuscript.

Martin Luther King while giving a speech that shocked the United States on August 28, 1963. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Photo: AFP.

Martin Luther King was the second of three children of a pastor and teacher, living in an affluent African-American neighborhood. Like so many blacks during this period, Martin witnessed and was a direct victim of racism. Ever since he was a student, he has participated in many activities to fight for the interests of his community. From the mid-1950s to before his assassination in 1968, he traveled extensively, giving more than 2,500 speeches .

Martin was known as an eloquent and influential person in the black community. That's why civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph contacted Martin, along with many other prominent figures, to organize the March on Washington event for jobs and freedom, the day August 28, 1963.

Among these are many speakers who are leaders of student movements, veterans and famous actors and singers. Since everyone gets to speak first, Martin takes the last, with a speech limited to four minutes. Still, he had a very clear goal in mind: to make a speech that would have an impact on the nation, much like President Lincoln's Gettysburg.

The three major broadcasters at the time, ABC, CBS and NBC all promised to cover the event, so Martin knew the responsibility was huge. He assigned two advisers Stanley Levison and Clarence Jones to write the speech for him.

Although satisfied with the manuscript, the pastor still wanted to receive as much input as possible. The night before the event, he gathered his associates in the lobby of the Willard Hotel, rather than in his private room, in case he was overheard. Each person gives an opinion.

The phrase "I have a dream" has been omitted because it has been a theme throughout previous speeches. Martin spoke of the "dream" in April 1963, at a church meeting about "seeing black boys and girls walking to school with white boys and girls, together play in the park and go swimming." He continued that dream at a speech in Detroit in June 1963, hoping that "black people could buy or rent a house anywhere with the money they had and they would be able to get a job." .

Therefore, all agreed to cut this sentence. One advisor even strongly countered: "Don't use statements like 'I have a dream.' It's cliché. You've used it too many times." With many opinions, finally at 4 am, Martin Luther King greeted everyone to their rooms to go to bed.

On August 28, despite the heat in the capital, people flocked to the square, where many celebrities appeared. "It was amazing. It far exceeded our estimates. The number of participants had to be at least 250,000. And even now we didn't know what Martin was going to say," Jones said.

By the time the pastor spoke, the crowd had relaxed from the heat and stuffiness. In the same way that Lincoln began with the now-temporal statement "Four score and seven years ago," Martin Luther King also invoked "Five score years ago" and emphasized emphasized the importance of the Emancipation Proclamation. " But a hundred years later, the blacks are still not free ," he said, before describing the state of African-American life in America.

Then he turned to the purpose of the march. Martin's words were powerful, but not as powerful as he expected. Suddenly he stopped for a moment. At that moment, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson stood more than four meters from the podium, shouting: "Tell them about the dream, Martin."

Putting aside his speech, the 34-year-old pastor said, " I still have a dream. It's a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

" I dream that one day our country will rise and truly exist with conviction: "We take this truth for granted: that human beings are created equal.

I dream that one day, in the red hills of Georgia, the children of slaves and the children of slave owners will sit together as brothers.

I dream that one day, even arid lands suffocated with injustice and oppression like Mississippi will turn into oases of freedom and justice.

I dream that one day my four children will live in a country where they are not judged by the color of their skin, but by their dignity.

Today I have a dream... ".

From here, he comes to a dramatic end, ringing bells from one end of the country to the other.

Looking back at the event, Dr. Jones noted an amazing change as soon as Martin threw out all the prepared words. "From the moment he put the text aside, he took on the posture of a evangelist. And that's the message America needs to hear," Jones said. Even Martin admits, nothing resonates more than public speaking than believing in yourself.

Although the speech was scheduled to last 4 minutes, it eventually reached 16 minutes and was like the decisive shot creating a favorable context for Congress and the Federal Government to recognize the demands of black Americans. such as the right to vote, equal treatment and other civil rights to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The location where Pastor Martin delivered his immortal speech was marked and became a historical monument. Photo: AP

At the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's speech, former president Barack Obama cited himself as a testament to the progress racial equality has been made, though he said the path to realizing his latent dream. Pastor Luther King is still long. "No one can match King's brilliance, but the same fire that lights the hearts of all those who are willing to fight for justice, I know that fire remains," he said.

"More than half a century later, Martin Luther King's speech is still mentioned every day, as it is delivered in schools, printed in college textbooks, featured in documentaries, and even in the quoted in the music of Michael Jackson and rapper Common", the New York Times commented.

Pastor Martin was assassinated on the evening of April 4, 1968 while standing on a balcony in Memphis, where he had come to support a strike, which shocked American and world public opinion. Five days later, US President Johnson announced a day of mourning.

Today, the ideas of Martin Luther King are preserved and continue to inspire generations to advocate for social justice and equal rights for all, regardless of color or social class.