Martin Luther King's 'Dream' Speech Was Improvised

As we celebrate Black History Month, I am amazed at all the information I did not know. I love researching information and getting knowledge about the past. This fact is very interesting to me and actually makes a lot of sense now!

According to pbs.org, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr's 'I Have A Dream' speech was pretty much improvised. He wrote the speech the night before he presented it, and the speech included a lot of political rhetoric and less history.

But during the speech it is reported songstress Mahalia Jackson kept saying, "Tell 'em about the dream, Martin, tell 'em about the dream." And from that point on, Dr. King pushed his notes to the side and started talking about THE dream. It was something like a sermon! That is some kind of talent to be able to speak with such eloquence without any notes.

Although Dr. King's 'I Have A Dream' speech didn't get much traction initially, it is recognized as one of the greatest speeches in American history.


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