How Does Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

To further analyze Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a dream” speech, one must understand the context of the 1960’s as well as the events leading up to the march on Washington. Two years prior to the March on Washington, newly elected President John F. Kennedy spoke to the American people at his inaugural address: “We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution…the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.” This new generation of Americans protested materialism and consumerism, demanded desegregation and unrestricted free speech, denounced the war in Vietnam and challenged their parents’ traditions. Advancements in science and various ideologies lead to an aura of optimism throughout the 1960’s – people
With facilitated communication and travel, precise publicity and increased education, African Americans and any person who was against segregation were able to unite. “Public relations is a very necessary part of any protest [or] civil disobedience,” King wrote “Without the presence of the press,” he said, “there might have been [an] untold massacre in the South” (Sundquist 38). [[ “Only the ‘luminous glare’ of photography and television, ‘revealing the naked truth to the whole world,’ King said of the nonviolent crusade of 1963, could make evident the riveting brutality of the South’s response (Sundquist 38).
For the civil rights movement, timing and perception were keys to its progress. According to MLK’s “Letter from a Birhmingham Jail,” there are four steps to a nonviolent campaign. (1) Collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive. Proof of injustice appears all throughout the city: In a 22-month period, Birmingham had twenty four bombings of homes and churches. Governor George Wallace’s chant “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!” paired with Eugene “Bull” Connors violent police enforcement constitutes a legitimate investigation into “Bombingham” (Sundquist 35). The white mob that attacked the freedom riders on Mothers day in 1961 subsists as solid evidence of racism. And finally, the bombing of the 16th street Birmingham church that took the lives of four young African-American girls (Sundquist 20). In reaction to the church bombings, mass demonstrations swept the country – 10 thousand in Boston, 15 thousand in the greater New York area, 10 thousand in Washington and 1,500 in Miami all in protest. (2) Negotiation. A petition for the repeal of city ordinances requiring segregation and the institution of a merit hiring policy in city employment were both rebuffed. [[Footnotes 4, 5 and 6 are all from the SCLC Newsletter in July of 1963. Unsure how I should continue citing it throughout…]](3) Self-Purification. Personal sacrifices were