The Speech: The Story Behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream

Name: The Speech: The Story Behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)

Gary Younge

Aug 2013 · Haymarket Books

5.0

1 review

Ebook

208

Pages

Eligible

Ratings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More

About this ebook

In this “slim but powerful book,” the award-winning journalist shares the dramatic story surrounding MLK’s most famous speech and its importance today (Boston Globe).

On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where he delivered the most iconic speech of the civil rights movement. In The Speech, Gary Younge explains why King’s “I Have a Dream” speech maintains its powerful social relevance by sharing the dramatic story surrounding it. Today, that speech endures as a guiding light in the ongoing struggle for racial equality.

Younge roots his work in personal interviews with Clarence Jones, a close friend of Martin Luther King Jr. and his draft speechwriter; with Joan Baez, a singer at the march; and with Angela Davis and other leading civil rights leaders. Younge skillfully captures the spirit of that historic day in Washington and offers a new generation of readers a critical modern analysis of why “I Have a Dream” remains America’s favorite speech.

“Younge’s meditative retrospection on [the speech’s] significance reminds us of all the micro-moments of transformation behind the scenes—the thought and preparation, vision and revision—whose currency fed that magnificent lightning bolt in history.” —Patricia J. Williams, legal scholar and theorist

Ratings and reviews

5.0

1 review

About the author

Gary Younge is an author, broadcaster, and award-winning columnist for the Guardian, based in Chicago. He also writes a monthly column for The Nation magazine and is the Alfred Knobler Fellow for The Nation Institute. Born in Britain to Barbadian parents, Younge reported all over Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean before being appointed the Guardian’s US correspondent in 2003. In 2009 he won Britain’s prestigious James Cameron Award for “combined moral vision and professional integrity.” His first book, No Place Like Home: A Black Briton’s Journey through the Deep South, was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. His third book, Who Are We—and Should It Matter in the 21st Century?, was shortlisted for the Bristol Festival of Ideas Book Prize. The Speech is his fourth book.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets

Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.

Laptops and computers

You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.

eReaders and other devices

To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.

Report illegal content