November 27, 1962 – Initial “I Have a Dream” Speech – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Booker T. Washington High School, Rocky Mount, North Carolina
(Before the August 28, 1963 March on Washington)
“So my friends of Rocky Mount, I have a dream tonight. It is a dream rooted deep in the American Dream.
I have a dream that one day down in Sasser County Georgia, where they burned two churches down a few weeks ago because Negroes wanted to register and vote, one day, right down there little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and little white girls and walk the streets as brothers and sisters.
I have a dream that one day right here in Rocky Mount North Carolina that sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down at the table of brotherhood, knowing that of one blood God made all men to dwell upon the face of the Earth.
I have a dream.
That one day men all over this nation will recognize that all men were created equal, and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights.
I have a dream tonight.
One day the words of Amos will become real: let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I have a dream tonight.
One day, every valley shall be exulted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
Crooked places will be made straight, the rough places will be made strange, the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
I have a dream tonight.
One day, men will do unto others as they would have done unto them.
I have a dream tonight.
One day, my little daughters and my two sons will grow up in a world not conscious of the color of their skin but only conscious of the fact that they are members of the human race.
I have a dream tonight.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Speaking to Audience (Source: Charlotte News-Observer Video Screenshot)
Reportedly to be available in digital form in the Fall of 2015
Charlotte News-Observer: Shaking history’s dust off King’s 1962 Rocky Mount speech
Daily Mail: Earliest discovered recording of Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech reveals Declaration of Independence reference may have been added later
