Mikka Jenkins, Essay Example

It is 1963 and I am in Washington near the Lincoln memorial attending the civil rights rally and speeches. This is an extremely exciting time as it is the first time I have left my home town of Elberton, Georgia.  My parents and my brother Norman are with me on this day.  We have just heard a wonderful speech by Dr Martin Luther King who described his dream and vision for the  African Americans in the USA.  As a young black person I found the speech extremely moving and it inspired me with renewed confidence, courage and hope for the future.  My parents, who had been very active civil rights campaigners and equally believed in a non violence approach to reform , were extremely moved.

The trip to Washington was attended by a very large crowd of Civil Rights activists. All were deeply moved by Dr.King’s speech. He praised the efforts of President Abraham Lincoln  but stated to this day the negro in America was still not free from bondage.  The people are witness to the shameful situation  of where the negro remains an excile in his own land. Dr King however offered a vision or dream for the future.. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. ( Dr Martin Luther King).

The speech inspired millions of black Americans and was a pivotal turning point in the Civil Rights Movement.  The speech was deeply symbolic, spiritual and religious from a man who passionately believed in the human race and non violent reformation.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today! ( Dr Martin Luther King).