Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech Essay

Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech - Essay Example But that is not what was desired by Martin Luther King. The purpose of the speech was to demand equality and justice for African Americans. What makes the speech remarkable is its content and the passion with which it was delivered. Before the success of American Civil Rights Movement the condition of blacks in America was deplorable. They didn’t have equal rights and were discriminated against because of the color of their skin. The whole movement was triggered by small resistances such as that of Rosa Parks. On 1st December 1955, she refused to give up her seat for a white man. As a consequence of her refusal action was taken against her and she lost her job. This incident created a furor in the black community. Martin Luther King was a great admirer of non-violence. He was greatly inspired by Gandhi and wanted to campaign for his people’s rights in a non-violent manner. He indeed visited India in 1959 and was impressed by the way Indians had fought for Independence with non-violent methods (Ramdin, 2004). After the speech, Martin Luther King cemented his position has one of the greatest political orators of all time. It is a lesser known fact that much of the speech was an improvisation. There was an original speech and it was present right before him on the podium. But after sensing the mood and sentiments of the people and on encouragement from Mahalia Jackson, Martin Luther King decided to touch their hearts. He spoke from his heart about the pain of African Americans and how they felt under the oppressive laws. He spoke about his dream of seeing black and white people living together in harmony. The dream stretched far beyond the present times and touched the future generations as he dreamed about black and white kids playing together and going to school together. Many experts believe that after this speech Martin Luther King became the most powerful person in America at that time. He was the founder of Southern Christian