I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World, Special 75th Anniversary Edition (Martin Luther King, Jr., born January 15, 1929) [Paperback]

Martin Luther King (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 29, 2003

"His life informed us, his dreams sustain us yet."*

On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial looking out over thousands of troubled Americans who had gathered in the name of civil rights and uttered his now famous words, "I have a dream . . ." It was a speech that changed the course of history.

This fortieth-anniversary edition honors Martin Luther King Jr.'s courageous dream and his immeasurable contribution by presenting his most memorable words in a concise and convenient edition. As Coretta Scott King says in her foreword, "This collection includes many of what I consider to be my husband's most important writings and orations." In addition to the famed keynote address of the 1963 march on Washington, the renowned civil rights leader's most influential words included here are the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," the essay "Pilgrimage to Nonviolence," and his last sermon, "I See the Promised Land," preached the day before he was assassinated.

Editor James M. Washington arranged the selections chronologically, providing headnotes for each selection that give a running history of the civil rights movement and related events. In his introduction, Washington assesses King's times and significance.

*From the citation of the posthumous award of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., July 4, 1977

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), civil rights leader, advocate of worldwide social justice, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, inspired and sustained the struggle for freedom, nonviolence, and interracial unity. His words and deeds continue to shape the lives and destinies of millions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1 edition (April 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062505521
• ISBN-13: 978-0062505521
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( K ) > King, Martin Luther
  • #99 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Specific Topics > Civil Rights & Liberties

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The essential King October 26, 2001

By Michael J. Mazza HALL OF FAME

Format:Paperback

"I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World," by Martin Luther King, Jr., is a fine collection of texts by this important figure. The book has been edited by James M. Washington. Coming in at less than 300 pages, this is a concise but meaty book.

Washington includes King's most important texts: the "Letter from Birmingham Jail"; the "I Have a Dream" speech; his Nobel Prize acceptance speech; "My Trip to the Land of Gandhi"; "A Time to Break Silence," his 1967 speech criticizing the United States war in Vietnam, and more. These writings and speeches cover King's great themes: nonviolent resistance, the African-American civil rights movement, etc.

Those seeking a more comprehensive collection of Kings' work should seek out "A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr." also edited by James M. Washington. At more than 700 pages, this is a truly monumental collection, and includes much material not found in "I Have a Dream": the 1965 "Playboy" interview, transcripts of television interviews, and more. But for those who want a shorter text that cuts to the heart of King's life and work, "I Have a Dream" is perfect.

"I Have a Dream" reveals King to be a true Christian prophet, and a man with a global vision. As literature, these texts also show King to be the heir of such American thinkers as Henry David Thoreau and W.E.B. DuBois. Highly recommended.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to Dr. King's works October 20, 2000

By John M

Format:Paperback

This collection of Dr. King's writings includes all the major speeches -- such as I Have A Dream and I See the Promised Land, as well as important writings such as Letter from A Birmingham Jail. It also has great essays on the lessons Dr. King learned from Ghandi and a wonderful introduction from Mrs. King. This is a great collection to get started learning about Dr. King -- from his own pen. I highly reccomend it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational June 21, 2000

By Meredith Mani

Format:Paperback

Reading the speeches of Dr. King are inspiring. You get a glimpse into his mind and to genuinely understand the struggle he was up against. I'm not just refering to the Civil Rights movement. you also get insights into the responsibilities and pressure he felt as the leader of this movement. He was a man who changed history. This book offers glimpses into his humanity as well as his motivational and inspirational speeches. A must for anyone interested in American history, the Civil Rights movement or in biographys. It will continue to effect you long after you have put the book down.

25 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best anthology of King's writings. March 17, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This book includes the most popular of Martin Luther King Jr's writings and speeches. The forward by Coretta Scott King just adds to the already excellent book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Intellectual, A Scholar, A Prophet, A Hero, A Rebel, and A Freedom Fighter all rolled into one: October 20, 2011

By BlackJack21

Format:Paperback

I don't care what race; color, creed or religious denomination you belong to. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's message is for everyone. In other words this book is a must read!

Dr. King was adroit with his methods of teaching nonviolent recalcitrance as he preached his salubrious message throughout the segregated United States and in many parts of the world. Dr. King's dream was that everyone in the world would let goodness and morality somehow engulf their hearts, change their minds and enchant their souls. And to this day we need to be resolute in practicing his ideas of tolerance, forbearance, and compassion toward our fellow man.

Moreover, his influences were mainly Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi in this regard. He amalgamated their philosophies in preparation for the battle at hand, which was for the soul of the United States itself. And unfortunately, that battle continues to this day since blacks are still deem second-class citizens in this country considering the disparaging high unemployment rates in the black community, the lack of ownership of property, and let's not forget the segregation, which is a euphemism for apartheid conditions that continue throughout the inner cities of America.

Also, unions have drastically become weaker since Ronald Reagan's union busting tactics in the 1980's, and with that in mind, these insalubrious conditions need to be dealt with and every citizen whether rich or poor, black or white needs to be treated evenhandedly, and everyone needs to make a conscientious effort to effect change for the better as Mrs. Rosa Parks did in Montgomery, Alabama when she refused to relinquish her seat on the bus to a white man.... She was later arrested for her recalcitrancy, and this started a chain reaction of bus boycotts and shortly thereafter, Dr. King was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and this organizations goal was to quell the intolerance in the region.

Martin Luther King Jr. had to pay a heavy price of taking on this leadership responsibility when a bomb was thrown onto his front porch. Meanwhile, a lawsuit was filed in federal district court over the constitutionality of segregation on city bus-lines. Subsequently the courts ruled in favor of the MIA, which meant that Dr. King and his organization won the argument, deeming segregation on the bus-lines unconstitutional. Later on, December 20, 1956 a federal injunction was enacted and it prohibited segregation on buses.

Twenty-one days later Dr. King was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and by September 1957, "President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard to escort nine [Black] students to an all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas."
On September 9th of that same year the first civil rights act was passed through Congress. But Dr. King was not out of the woods yet. A Mrs. Izola Curry (A mentally unhinged woman) stabbed Dr. King, while he was autographing his latest book. King managed to recover quickly.

By 1960 the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was formed and its duties were to coordinate student protest in Raleigh, North Carolina.
On October 19th "Dr King was arrested at an Atlanta Georgia sit-in. He was charged with violating state trespassing laws. King was also held for a traffic arrest and was transferred to DeKalb County Jail in Decatur, Georgia. He was then transferred yet again to another facility, the Reidsville State Prison where he was later released on $2,000 bond.

The situation gets worse. On May 4, 1961 A "group of Freedom Riders, intent on integrating interstate buses, leaves Washington, D.C., by Greyhound bus. The group, organized by Congress for Racial Equality (CORE), leaves shortly after the Supreme Court has outlawed segregation in interstate transportation terminals. The bus is burned outside of Anniston, Alabama, on May 4th. A mob beats the Riders upon their arrival in Birmingham. The Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, and spend forty to sixty days in Parchman Penitentiary." Nonetheless, in 1963 Dr. King participates in a series of sit-in demonstrations and is later arrested. He then writes his famous "Letter from Birmingham." And we mustn't forget that many of the protesters had to face police attack dogs and fire hoses during this time period.

Afterward, President John F. Kennedy had to send in the Alabama National Guard because Governor George C. Wallace defied a court order to let Black students enter the University of Alabama. Subsequently, a march on Washington transpires and Dr. King and other civil rights leaders met with President Kennedy. Then after the meeting transpired Dr. King delivered the most compellingly yet powerful speech in the history of mankind, which was dubbed "I Have A Dream!"

King gets involved in a demonstration in St. Augustine, Florida with SCLC and was arrested because the white controlled establishment refuses to allow blacks to use public accommodations.

More killings and disenfranchisements transpire which is pointed out in the book's timeline, but in-spite of it all the Voting Rights Act of August 6, 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Overall, Dr. King wrote five books over his lifetime, published many articles, and was a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Some of those articles were reprinted in this book. In some respects this collection of essays, speeches and articles may have not been intended to resemble a manifesto, but it comes across as one considering his stance on Vietnam, which he wrote about in chapter 15 "Nonviolence: The Only Road to Freedom," this chapter should be read by everyone since little has changed in the world since its publication.

It was unfortunate that after the sanitation workers strike in Memphis, Tennessee, Dr.King delivered his last speech "I've Been to the Mountaintop" before he was assassinated. And it was James Earl Ray (who claimed to be innocent of all charges) who may have assassinated him, but was he really innocent is the question, or was there a conspiracy to suppress the messenger? I guess we'll never truly know the answer for sure, but let's not forget these powerful worlds that Dr. King left for us to remember him by.

"When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children--black men and white men, Jews, and gentiles, Catholics and Protestants--will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'"

Only through love can we win our freedom because freedom is love. Read more ›

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars AMERICANS SHOULD REALIZE THIS 'DREAM' TO THE FULLEST! November 27, 2002

By reviewer

Format:Paperback

Dr. Martin Luther King's collection of writings and speeches, "I Have A Dream", brings aspiration to light. The events that surrounded the life and death of this true hero reveals the shameful fact that no matter how great the United States of America is today, it is one country that was nurtured with inhumane machinery: slavery, racism, injustice, Mickey-Mouse freedom, and Mickey-Mouse democracy. I hate to think about it, but it is an honest fact, which we should all come to terms with. Nobody can rewrite history.
The 256 pages that is "I Have A Dream" was enough to highlight the wickedness and the violence that were deliberately sustained in America, for a full century, after a bloody Civil War ended her tenacity on slavery.
One question that will always beg for answer is: How on earth did U.S. Presidents who presided over the ruthless color-bar era qualified for those Nobel Peace Prizes that they received? Knowing what life was like in the U.S.A. just a couple of decades ago melts my heart. "I Have A Dream" is a big eye-opener!