On August 28, 1963, more than 2,000 buses, 21 chartered trains, 10 chartered airliners, and too many cars to count converged from all over the United States, carrying only a fraction of the 250,000 civil rights supporters who joined Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Thousands of voices carried a hymn-like tune, and the words “we shall overcome” echoed through the masses. While they marched, followers carried signs inscribed with “We Demand Voting Rights Now,” “End Segregated Rules in Public Schools,” and “Jobs for All Now” bobbed over their heads. As the crowd neared the steps, their song became a cheer as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. took the podium and began a speech that would be a defining moment of the civil rights movement and among the most iconic speeches in American history.
“I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.”
In his speech, King called for civil and economic rights, and an end to racial injustice in the United States. He spoke about Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which declared millions of slaves free in 1863. He spoke about how, even 100 years later, Black Americans were still not free. Toward the end of his speech, he gave a statement that every American could connect with.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”
Although we have come a long way since his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, there is still much to be done when it comes to human rights issues in the United States. His life and activism is still very much revered in American history today. Born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. grew up watching his father stand up against segregation and various forms of discrimination. Once, when King's father took him into a shoe store in downtown Atlanta, the clerk told them they needed to sit in the back. King's father refused, stating "we'll either buy shoes sitting here or we won't buy any shoes at all" before taking King and leaving the store. He told King afterward, "I don't care how long I have to live with this system, I will never accept it." In 1936, King's father led hundreds of Black Americans in a civil rights march to the city hall in Atlanta to protest voting rights discrimination.
King grew up understanding that violence was not the way to win fights, especially fights that were racially charged. After developing a large vocabulary from reading dictionaries, the Bible, and history books, King often won his battles by using his knowledge and words to prevent physical altercations. After becoming a pastor, King moved from Atlanta to Montgomery, Alabama. In his twenties, King became the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement after he led the Montgomery bus boycott. In the south, Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation and encouraged discrimination, were very present. Sadly, even something like sitting on a public bus was a challenge for Black Americans. Black workers were not allowed to hold jobs as bus drivers, people of color had to sit in the back of the bus, and often had to give up their seats to white riders even though Black people made up over 75% of bus riders.
The Montgomery bus boycott, which lasted 385 days, was a turning point in the ongoing civil rights movement. King’s leadership of this campaign put him on the historical map, and he became more renowned after his house was bombed and he was arrested and jailed for a large part of the campaign. The controversy ended when the United States District Court issued a ruling in Browder v. Gayle that prohibited racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses. Black Americans resumed riding the buses again, and were able to sit in the front with full legal authorization.
King’s activism did not stop there. Inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi, King participated in and led many marches against racial discrimination in federal and state law through nonviolence and civil disobedience. His legacy helped Black Americans gain the right to vote, end segregation, and gain labor rights, as well as other basic civil rights that unfortunately were not applied to American minorities at the time.
On March 29, 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee in support of the Black Sanitary Public Works workers, who had been on strike for 17 days in order to receive higher wages, better treatment, and fair conditions amongst both white employees and employees of color. On Thursday, April 4, 1968, as King stood on the balcony of Room 306 at the Lorraine Hotel, speaking with his fellow civil rights leaders about the strike in Memphis, he was fatally shot by James Earl Ray at 6:01 p.m. The events that followed were chaotic, as King’s assassination brought civil unrest to the communities that supported him. Just days after King's assassination, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Title VIII of the Act, also known as the Fair Housing Act, prohibited discrimination in housing and housing-related transactions on the basis of race, religion, or national origin and was later expanded to include sex, familial status, and disability. This legislation was seen as a tribute to King's struggle in his final years to combat residential discrimination in the United States.
As we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy this January, we encourage everyone to remember what he stood for: Freedom. Equality. Justice. Perhaps above all, he stood for peace. In remembrance, we leave you with the final words of King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.
“And when this happens, when we allow freedom to 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 men and white men, 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!"
Every year on MLK Day, we reflect on the "I have a dream" speech as well as on the passion and sacrifice to improve the world through freedom, equality and justice. In this article, we highlight the history, legacy and inspiration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
