I have a dream - 50 years on

[Denn Forever]

It is hard to believe it's 50 years since one of the most iconic/powerful speeches. 

Listen and read the text  of it.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

But some things never change.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23827252

Jobs, voting rights and gun violence topped the concerns of many of those who marched to the Lincoln Memorial.

[stew]

A magnificent speech that was a work in progress minutes before delivered to the masses.

MLK was a great man who had the vision, focus and intellect to drive his cause forward and he did so with class and dignity.

That no one has commented on this thread is a sad commentary on the apathy of society and people in general.

[45]

A speech that should never have had to be made .

[Rossfan]

That no one has commented on this thread is a sad commentary on the apathy of society and people in general.

True. Then again most of the posters here were caught up in an oul football match today.
We could badly do with someone in power having Mr King's vision and intellect today.
Then again someone like that would long since have been sidelined in the Kutehoor politics and society we've now got.

[J70]

Apparently he ad libbed the I Have a Dream stuff at the end at the prompting of Mahalia Jackson. He had done it in previous speeches, but it was not in the prepared draft.

Inspirational stuff from one of the greatest American leaders ever! However, it still disturbs me that such a speech and the movement it represented was so necessary so recently in US history.

[magpie seanie]

MLK was a great man who had the vision, focus and intellect to drive his cause forward and he did so with class and dignity.

Stew summed it up perfectly for me there.

[Fiodoir Ard Mhacha]

He used the "power of three" several times in the speech so effectively. I have a dream; With this faith; We will never be satisfied; Go back to... Such a powerful piece that should be taught in every school and be abbreviated in posters in every office and factory.

BBC Radio 4 has a commemorative programme on Wednesday at 9am if you're interested.

[lawnseed]

And it was a "dream" .50 years on young black american men are 3% of the population in the states but are guilty of 60% of the crimes committed and 50% of the murders committed. Sadly mlk was way off the mark.
When i listen to this speech i think 'bait car'
Jkfs no larger nation speech is something else

[seafoid]

A magnificent speech. Incredible dignity.
Now israel runs Jim Crow. Same shite as 50 years ago in alabama.

[Oraisteach]

The sad thing is that Jim Crow is alive, well and thriving today in the States as exemplified by the systematic attempts by states and jurisdictions throughout the country to disenfranchise black voters. Even before the Supreme Court saw fit to dismantle the Voting Rights Act, there had been unabashed attempts to submarine the democratic process through gerrymandering and other tactics in states such as Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and many more.

Then, in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision, a number of states, most notably Texas and North Carolina, took only a matter of hours to enact overtly discriminatory measures to deny blacks the vote.  A good example occurred in Boone, NC, home of Appalachian State University, a largely black college.  The state removed the voting center from ASU, requiring students to travel miles to vote, also eliminating other nearby polling centers.  Though the state legislates that each precinct should accommodate no more than 1,500 voters, the newly appointed voting center for ASU is intended to handle over 9,000 voters, a venue that has no more than 36 parking spaces.  In addition, voters are required to show state-issued ID cards, except that university-issued student ID cards are not valid, even though ASU is a state university.  Strangely, though, permission to carry concealed weapons cards are acceptable.
There are many more examples worthy of a new civil rights movement.

Earlier, J70 mentioned Mahalia Jackson's influence on MLK, whose rendition of "We Shall Overcome" is as good as any:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmR1YvfIGng

[muppet]

Posted this already on another thread but it fits nicely here:

http://www.newslo.com/texas-board-of-education-revises-textbooks-slaves-were-unpaid-interns/

In Texas, students will now be taught that slaves were not kidnapped and exploited against their will, but were actually "unpaid interns."

I wonder how we would react if somewhere in Britain schools taught: The Famine didn't happen, the Irish were merely anorexic.

[Shamrock Shore]

I watched the full speech again today on youtube.

Still puts shivers down my spine.

[Orior]

Heard someone on the radio this morning saying that more people should be like MLK in their beliefs.

But I could believe in a fair and peaceful Ireland united once again. But I might as well be talking to the wall.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Posted this already on another thread but it fits nicely here:

http://www.newslo.com/texas-board-of-education-revises-textbooks-slaves-were-unpaid-interns/

In Texas, students will now be taught that slaves were not kidnapped and exploited against their will, but were actually "unpaid interns."

I wonder how we would react if somewhere in Britain schools taught: The Famine didn't happen, the Irish were merely anorexic.

Lots of Brits I meet over in UK think most of what Irish people say happened under London rule is exaggerated or made up. Bascially the Irish had a famine, no way Britain's fault, Britain provided them refuge sure and they still moaned. Ungrateful Irish fought a war or something and some of it may or may not be in the UK, sure who could be sure. Irish fought alongside the Nazi's in WW2. IRA bombed Britain out of nowhere for no reason just coz the Irish are a bit thick. Irish history according the the vast majority of U.K. folk. Much worse interpretation if they have any Orange loyalties.

[boojangles]

I watched the full speech again today on youtube.

Still puts shivers down my spine.

+1