Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. His dream is an idealistic vision for the . 189-213, Indiana University Press on behalf of FSR, Inc, The University of Chicago Law Review, Vol. The purpose of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" Speech is to expose the American public to the injustice of racial inequality and to persuade them to stop discriminating on the basis of race. 1 (Sep., 2001), pp. We cannot walk alone. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. ', At times warning of the potential for revolt, King nevertheless maintained a positive, uplifting tone, imploring the audience to 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. hide caption. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. King stated, ''One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. Nearly every paragraph of "I Have a Dream" contains a metaphor. 1/4, Vindicating the Race: Contributions to African-American Intellectual History (Winter - Autumn, 1996), pp. "Still, you have to do it right to make it work.". Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. An anecdote is a brief narrative describing an incident or series of incidents that possess special significance for its audience. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. "I Have a Dream" - The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education It's as though he's speaking right from his heart.". In this speech, King eloquently and passionately called for an end to racial segregation and discrimination in the United States. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. 337-357, Critical Inquiry, Vol. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Imagery is a concept that is quite easy to understand, it is simply the use of vivid descriptions in order to explain a situation to a reader or listener.