Home Essays I Have a Dream
Topics: Civil disobedience, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. Pages: 2 (820 words) Published: March 8, 2013
In the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech from the march on Washington in 1963, I'm concerned of the risk of making this essay appear as another academic exercise. So, I will do my best to make this essay appeal to those of my generation, in doing so I will ask two questions, and identify three important points. The questions: "Why is this speech important to my generation? Why should we care?" The points:
* The importance of this speech in American history.
* The representation of an unheard collective voice
* The important social ideas my generation need to understand (Adams-Trujillo, 2013) Let me begin by stating that the call to action that is known as the "I Have a Dream" speech would not have been possible without the people and the events of the civil rights movement pre-dating the speech. It all started with one woman who was not trying to make a stand, or trying to make history, but was just simply tired. Tired of being pushed around, tired of being mistreated, tired of the racist, segregated society, tired of the Jim Crow laws that paraded as legal Apartheid. That woman was Rosa Parks. (Dash, 2002) On December 1st, 1955 in a segregated Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, was told to stand up from her seat on a city bus so a white man could sit down. Please note, the white man did not sit in her seat. There was no more room on the white section of the bus, so the man demanded that four people stand up from their seats in the "Colored Section" so that he may sit. (Dash, 2002) Parks was sick and tired of the mistreatment, so she refused to stand from her seat. The bus driver called the police, and she was promptly arrested. Her court case lasted only five minutes, and was charged with civil disobedience. Those five minutes ignited a revolution. (Dash, 2002) The following events in the civil rights movement led up to the iconic "I Have a Dream" speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King...
Cited: Adams-Trujillo, D. M. (2013, March 03). Personal Communication. (S. McClure, Interviewer)
Dash, J. (Director). (2002). The Rosa Parks Story [Motion Picture].
Sullentoys (Director). (2011). Martin Luther King - I Have A Dream Speech - August 28, 1963 [Motion Picture].
Trujillo, R. (2013, Mar 03). Personal Communication. (S. McClure, Interviewer)
I Have a Dream Essay
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