Speech In 50Th Anniversary Of MLK’s Historical Speech

Thank you everyone for joining our “National Action to Realize the Dream” rally, here today in the same place where our hero delivered his historical speech “I Have a Dream”, and allowing me to speak to you on this 50th anniversary of MLK’s inauguration. Many of you know me and my work. You know me as Rep. John Lewis, who at 23 was the youngest speaker at the 1963 march. Many of you know my works as an American Politician and a civil rights leader. And for those who know my works intimately, you know that the words and dream of Martin Luther King are dear to me. They have influenced my thinking. They have shaped us all. I stand before you today to tell you why I think King made his words still ring true today, 50 years later. I was only one of hundreds of thousands of people who rushed to Washington on August 28, 1963. People of all races specifically the black Americans, people from all corners of the world and local citizens came to hear his words on that day. It is therefore no wonder that all the words he used, “I have a dream today” most frequently used to build an anaphora to motivate people to make themselves a part of the change. The abstract noun “today” is used to make the audience believe that there shall not be any further delay in the search for the most basic human right - equality and freedom. This single sentence paragraph is repeated to emphasise Martin Luther King’s main points and reinforce his ideas. Martin Luther King directly criticizes the rich and therefore powerful to convey to the audience that one should not be afraid of being the change they wish to see in the world.

In his speech, he calls for racial equality. Throughout his speech, Martin Luther King inspires and motivates us all to create a social movement for the betterment of the standards of living for black people in America. The transcript deals with the themes of equality and freedom by using a variety of literary techniques. He was targeting the USA: the public, the government and more specifically the African American society. The most basic of human rights is stolen from us. MLK’s use of the word “little” shows innocence (pathos) and so this example is used to open the eyes of the bias to the fact that no one man is of more value than another. The word builds up pace and emotional intensity. He metaphorically declares that the lips of Alabama’s governor are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification. The metaphoric comparison to a filthy and dirty dog in the dynamic verb “dripping” is used to implicitly insult those who discriminate against the poor and helpless for they can only be related to animals. He uses the noun “freedom” to motivate and inspire people. He created a bond between him and his audience by using the pronoun “we” 30times and this shows the he is involving everyone in the issue as it is everyone’s goals. “We” represents the African American public. He used imagery too, “Island (of poverty); ocean (of prosperity); valley (of segregation and later…of despair)”. This was used to illustrate rugged individualism in America and compare white and black people statuses’ in the American society. He used allusion too to make his ideas believable. He used reference to the Bible; “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. ” He also talked about Lincoln’s Inaugural Address; “Five score years ago…” and this speech had the same goal of MLK’s speech so it was a good reference. He also used the Declaration of Independence: “…a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. ” Martin Luther King Jr. ’s large impact on our society granted him a day marked as an official U. S. federal holiday to honour him.

This shows that the language he used affected people and helped him achieve his goal. His vision changed our society a lot stopped racism and started to have some kind of equality between all people from different cultures, races and religions. Poll taxes were abolished and voting right act succeeded. Racial discrimination became illegal for every agency that accepted federal funds. Racist signs and symbols disappeared. Thank you again for being here today August 24, 2013. The words of our leader are as relevant today as they were in 1963. And when we meet on this day for decades to come, I hope that we can say that this huge dream is a huge success in the whole world.