Hundreds of thousands of people stood in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial yesterday, to hear about a dream.
In the sweltering heat of the late August afternoon, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. voice rang out to the masses, telling them all about the dreams he has: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."”
With this the crowd, a mix of both black and white people, cheered for the man and his dream, a dream shared by everyone in attendance.
The speech captivated the crowd unlike any speech had ever done. According to James Reston, a New York Times reporter who was in attendance, “Dr. King touched all the themes of the day, only better than anybody else. He was full of the symbolism of Lincoln and Gandhi, and the cadences of the Bible.”
The gathering was at first met with opposition from Washington officials, for fear that the speech made by Dr. King would lead to a riot by the audience. But he made it clear this was not his purpose during his speech, stating “We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.” This was met with a boom of applause, and the masses heeded this message of non-violence, as no riot broke out after the rally had ended.
King, a well-known civil rights leader, captivated the crowd with his passion and adept skill as a speaker.
