August 28 marks the 50th year since 250,000 people peacefully filled the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and heard Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. make his famous “I have a dream” speech. That outpouring helped spark the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Interestingly, Dr. King began his speech with prepared remarks, saying he was there to “cash a check” for “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” and warned his fellow protesters not to “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.”
It was then that he departed from his script and began the “I have a dream” theme he’d used on prior occasions. This speech drew on both “the American dream” and religious themes, and described an America where his children “will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. His passionate words continue to resonate with us these many years later and are particularly relevant in the work we do at ELI and with our clients.
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