When did MLK first say 'I have a dream?' Earlier than you might think.
Martin Luther King, Jr. is remembered for giving his 鈥淚 Have a Dream鈥� speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington. But that wasn鈥檛 the first time a variation of that speech saw the light of day.
A recent discovery confirmed historians鈥� suspicions that eight months before the historic march, Dr. King gave a version of his most famous speech in a more humble venue: a high school gymnasium at Rocky Mount, N.C.
Jason Miller, an English professor at North Carolina State University, found a recording of what he says is the first time King ever gave the speech. Professor Miller discovered the tape in an unmarked box in a library while researching how the civil rights icon was influenced by black poet Langston Hughes, .
The restored recording was played publicly for the first time Tuesday at NC State鈥檚 Centennial Campus. For several people in the audience, hearing the recording may have stirred up old memories: three people present Tuesday had also sat in King鈥檚 original Rocky Mount audience in 1962. Tolokum Omokunde, a pastor who met King during his visit to Rocky Mount, told the Associated Press that King鈥檚 words flowed like liquid. Herbert Miller, a senior at the Rocky Mount high school when King gave the speech, spoke at the presentation of the recording about what it was like having King visit the town during that era, WTVD reported.
The discovery of the relic documenting the debut of King鈥檚 iconic speech could not come at a more significant time: As in the 1960s, race relations are now at the forefront of national discussion as the death of black teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., at the hands of a white cop reaches its one-year anniversary.
Mr. Brown鈥檚 death, and many similar ones that followed, sparked national outrage over the perceived prevalence of racially motivated police brutality and push for reform, encompassed in the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
海角大神鈥檚 Patrik Jonsson writes,
Policing reforms proposed after Ferguson have gained various amounts of traction. Body cameras are becoming more commonplace, and are widely seen as a safeguard for both civilians and police. Washington has modified the process for allowing police departments to receive used military equipment. Some states, including New York and Connecticut, now appoint special prosecutors to look into controversial use-of-force incidents.
Still, protests in Ferguson and beyond continue out of frustration over a perceived lack of real change. The Monitor鈥檚 Henry Gass writes,
Some residents are wondering whether the apparent changes in Ferguson may be only temporary, like the 鈥榠nterim鈥� tags on the new senior officials.
鈥業 don鈥檛 think you can judge people on political victories a year out,鈥� says Brendan Roediger, a professor at the St. Louis University School of Law.
鈥楾he answer is Ferguson now is largely the same as it was a year ago,鈥� he adds. 鈥楾he difference is now people are fighting.鈥�
While the original recording of King鈥檚 speech was being presented in North Carolina, another reenactment of the 1960s civil rights movement was taking place not far away. Marchers with the NAACP鈥檚 Journey for Justice, a march from historic Selma, Ala., to Washington, D.C., were on their way from Georgia to South Carolina, according to the The march 鈥� like the original March on Washington 鈥� is meant to bring awareness to issues affecting black Americans, like voting discrimination. 鈥淥ur lives, our votes, our jobs, and our schools matter,鈥� goes the event鈥檚 slogan.
NAACP Southwestern Region organizer Quincy Bates when the march began on Aug. 1 that the work of King and his contemporaries was being undone.
"Fifty years ago, they gave us the right to vote and fifty years later, we're being challenged again," he said."This is my turn. This is my time. They did it for me and I will be doing it for someone else."
This report contains material from the Associated Press.
