“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about
things that matter." ~ MLK
This speech had to be
different. While the young man was well
on his way to becoming a national political figure, relatively few outside the
human rights movement had heard him speak.
He’d given plenty of speeches but none had been regarded as notable.
He had to nail this one.
With all three major TV networks covering it live, this would be his
rhetorical introduction to the nation.
It had to be relevant to millions of people – to calm, assure and
inspire a nation.
After a wide range of conflicting suggestions from trusted
colleagues, the young man needed some privacy.
“Thank you for your advice,” he said modesty, “I’m going back to my room
now to consult with my Lord.” With that
he left the room.
He finished the final outline about midnight; then spent the
next few hours committing his thoughts to longhand. The final draft was almost unreadable; words had
been crossed out and overwritten three or four times. It was as if he were crafting a poem;
searching for the perfect cadence.
He fell asleep about 4am, giving the text to his aides to
print and distribute. His most famous
lines were not in it.
Speech Day was unusually hot and muggy. Weary from long travels, the crowd’s mood
began to wane as the young man (the program’s 16th speaker) stepped
to the microphone-crammed podium. There
were no high definition jumbotrons back in 1963. All people could see was a speck crowded by
dignitaries and their entourages.
Wearing a black suit, black tie and white shirt, the young man
started slowly and stuck to a prepared text filled with newly crossed-out
phrases and scribbles. It was a decent
speech, but rather boring. Portions of
the crowd started walking away; seeking respite from the heat under the trees
on the Mall.
The young man sensed it too; he was falling way short. So his set his text aside, paused and stared intensely
into the crowd. From that moment, he
transformed himself from a lecturer to a Baptist Preacher.
For all of his careful preparation, the part of his “I Have
A Dream” speech that went on to enter history books was added extemporaneously
while he was standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Aides had warned him not to use the lines
about ‘I have a dream.’ It was
considered trite, cliché, and King had used it too many times already.
But the Spirit moved him that day. He turned aside his prepared remarks and
didn’t return to them. On August 28,
1963, the Reverend Martin Luther King stepped up to the podium, and stepped
down on the other side of history.
“I have a dream that my four little children
will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of
their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!” ~ MLK
