Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream Speech

The organization I work with, www.Ending-Racism.org, is coordinating with Grace and Race, LLC, founded by Rev. Brenda Girton-Mitchell, to organize a virtual Virtual Commemoration on the 59^th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The conference will be held at 7 PM ET on August 28. As plans develop, details are being shared on the Heeding King’s Call page. Registration for the conference, Heeding King's Call, is required and free at https://bit.ly/3IXeGej

Although I have read what is commonly referred to as Martin Luther King's Dream speech several times in the past, preparation for this conference sent me back to read the speech again. What strikes me most today is how contemporary the speech is. With just a few changes to update the language to what we use today and several clarifications, the speech would be a powerful expression of our current situation and a description of where we need to go from here.

King begins the speech by reminding us that the war that ended slavery marked an important transition of America that was filled with promise. However, that promise has not been fulfilled. Modernizing his language, we would say, "Today, the hoped-for end of racism and the expectation that all Americans would have equal participation in the nation's political, economic, and cultural life is far from a reality." To use King's words, America is in a "shameful condition."

Standing below the statue of Abraham Lincoln, King refers back to the founding of the nation. Today we might give a nod to the fact that the founders of America accepted slavery, but King's point is also important today. There is a promise in our Declaration of Independence, as it is understood today, that "Black people as well as white people – would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." He says that we must refuse to accept that America will never become a land with "the riches of freedom and the security of justice." Then as if he were speaking in 2022, King tells the crowd, "We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take a tranquilizing drug of gradualism."

King reminds us of some basic strategies of the civil rights movement – the avoidance of hatred, the importance of non-violence, the necessity of people of color and whites working together, the importance of keeping the final goal in mind, and the reality that there is suffering ahead for those who work for justice. All of these are important strategies for today, 59 years later.

King's famous dream of the end of racism where biases, both conscious and unconscious, do not impede our interpersonal relationships is still a dream. Along with addressing institutional racism and the racism built into our structures of government and the economy, ending racism requires making this dream a reality.

At the end of the speech, King returns to the theme of how the goals can be accomplished. He tells those in attendance that they must go home "to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together." By only changing the word 'men' to 'people,' King's final words are as relevant for us today as they were 59 years ago:

"And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black people and white people, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last."

Since 1963 many people have heeded this call to go to work in the hamlets, villages, cities, and states where we live. The Heeding King's Call conference on August 28, 2022, is a time to recognize the challenges we face today, to celebrate with each other what we are doing, and to recommit ourselves to the task of ending racism.