The Speech “I Have a Dream”

The Speech “I Have a Dream”
I have a dream the commonly known and revered “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. delivered on August 28th of the year 1963. King Jr. was an activist for civil rights in America. He delivered the speech at a time America was under the perceived rule of general Racism and violation of human rights. The speech was delivered to an audience of almost 250,000 people. King Jr. wanted the black Americans to be freed from slavery to which they were subjected even after the passing of the 1863 Act, which was to have freed all the slaves under European captivity.

King Jr. was an orator and an eloquent speaker whom people wanted to listen to. He described his speech with a phrase that created emphasis and created the rhythm, ‘’I Have a Dream.” By using correct diction and carefully choosing his words, he was able to capture the attention of his audience. He had a sound knowledge of the type of audience that he had. Thus, he created a rapport with them through his eloquence and outstanding voice he used in the fight for the rights of black Americans. In fact, his oratory skills can only be compared to former President Lincoln, who was equally a linguist.

The purpose of the speech was to advocate for change. Though he was aware that the anticipated change would not be realized then, he was quite sure that it would be achieved in the future. He had a dream that his children were not going to be judged by the color of their skin, but rather, by the content of their characters.

He said, “I have a dream that my little four children will be judged not by the color of their skin but the content of their character.” He talked majorly of “A Dream” that he knew would be eventually realized.

King Jr. was against racism and slavery of the blacks by the whites. He also advocated for change in the leadership. He used parallelism and clearly explained that even the blacks were human beings who should not be discriminated, but accorded equal treatment just like their white counterparts. The vivid description of how the blacks can work as hard as whites clearly came out in his speech. He predicted that the time would come when the black Americans would take over the reins of leadership, and the whites would dine with the blacks on the same table.

King Jr. concluded his speech by giving hope to the blacks. His dream was going to come true. Indeed, the blacks were going to rule America. The blacks felt motivated to work harder. His language was good. His diction captivated the audience, and the comparison between the previous blacks and the dream black was shaking. He used his speech to call for racial justice that had taken them back for a very long period. His emotional speech element called for the independence of Alabama amongst other states. To ensure that his message was delivered, he carefully chose the appropriate vocabularies to use.

Indeed, “I Have a Dream’’ is a good speech from which every student can learn a lot. The careful manner in which King Jr. used his verbal and non-verbal skills during his speech was quite exceptional. His confidence, eloquence, and voice projection made it possible for him to deliver his message to his audience. It still remains a powerful speech that not only gave hope to the oppressed blacks, but became fulfilled when the blacks were delivered from the yoke of oppression to which they had been subjected for centuries.

Works Cited
King, Martin L, and Kadir Nelson. ‘I Have a Dream.’ New York: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2012. Internet resource.