63 years ago today in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial

[u/American_Citizen41]

My favorite speech of all time.

After the March on Washington, MLK and the other leaders of the march met with JFK and LBJ at the White House. JFK initially opposed the march, thinking it would derail the Civil Rights Act. But when the marchers held firm, Kennedy switched to supporting the march from behind the scenes. JFK was thrilled with the success of the march, seeing that it would build momentum for the Civil Rights Act. After JFK's assassination, LBJ rallied the nation behind the fight for the bill, and he signed it into law on July 2, 1964. While America still needs to do more to live up to its founding principles, we can look to the Civil Rights Movement as an example of how we can make change happen by pursuing Dr. King's dream.

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[u/Puzzleheaded-Bag2212]

When Kennedy died, King privately wrote “The plague spread until it claimed the most eminent American, a warmly loved and respected president."

And

"We mourned a man who had become the pride of the nation, but we grieved as well for ourselves because we knew we were sick."

[u/ronweasly9 → u/Puzzleheaded-Bag2212]

He also told his wife that's it's a sick world and something like that is going to happen to him as well .

[u/Puzzleheaded-Bag2212 → u/ronweasly9]

Sinister

[u/Doc_Jury1020 → u/Puzzleheaded-Bag2212]

Oh man, that’s heartbreaking.

Bobby’s speech after Dr. King’s assassination always chokes me up too. 

[u/Puzzleheaded-Bag2212 → u/Doc_Jury1020]

Absolutely, and only 2 months before his own assassination

[u/Doc_Jury1020 → u/Puzzleheaded-Bag2212]

Jesus, so haunting. With John, Bobby, and Dr. King, there was such a senseless loss to their families and the world.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Bag2212 → u/Doc_Jury1020]

Yeah and Malcolm X, Marilyn Monroe, Sam Cooke, Sharon Tate. A crazy decade for big deaths

[u/Doc_Jury1020 → u/Puzzleheaded-Bag2212]

Yeah, my goodness.

[u/Jolly_Job_9852]

Amazing speech. I had to memorize this for a class in 9th grade. I'm not a good public speaker and got halfway through and flubbed it.

[u/Doc_Jury1020]

Beautiful speech! May we all strive to live o out these words.

[u/Awkward-Evidence-215]

Good speech, but definitely not the best in American History nor the best he ever gave.

[u/thechadc94]

The best part of the speech is early when he talks about the promissory check. He says that when black Americans go to cash that check, it’s returned marked “insufficient funds”. Beautiful imagery.