Samantha Jackson

August 28, 1963

Washington DC

Today is the day Martin Luther King is going to walk up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and promise everyone the opportunity for a life filled with freedom, equality and the pursuit of happiness. He is going to change the course of American history and demand equal opportunity to all.

Marian is standing by the pool amongst two hundred and fifty thousand others who are eager to hear what he has to say. She has tears in her eyes as she thinks back to the stories of slavery and abuse she heard from her family. They told her how their fight for freedom eventually turned into a fight for survival. They lacked nourishment and medical care which resulted in death for many African Americans, especially children. They told her how thrilled they were when Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, but it turned out to be another empty promise from America. 

Today will be different, she thinks. Today will be the day Marian and her family will start being treated as equals and not judged by the colour of their skin. The last American promise was broken, but she had a hopeful feeling in the pit of her stomach that this time would be different. 

Some time later…

She was in awe, Martin Luther King had taken Marian’s breath away.

He made everyone in the crowd, black or white, feel sorrow for those who had been at the receiving end of injustice and cruelty. They felt for the Negro slaves who are, as he so forthrightly put it, “crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” She believed King’s ability to use words in such a way to truly connect with an audience was an admirable trait not many people possessed, including Marian. 

She applauded the way King immediately declared the speech was going to be “a great demonstration of freedom”. This one sentence cleared any doubt in the minds of the audience as to what the speech was aiming to achieve. 

Being a child in a family which never had the opportunity for education was difficult. Marian had little in the bank of vocabulary but was stunned at how easily she understood King’s language. He managed to hold her attention for the entire duration of his speech by using clear language and a slow deliverance of words. The way his emotions came out of his mouth and into the hearts of the audience left the crowd mesmerised by his every word.

“I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation” were the words spoken from someone with genuine confidence. His choice of powerful words were intended to affect the audience in a way to encourage thought about those being treated unfairly and understand that America needed to change.

Marian admired the way King used repetition to keep all aspects of his speech carved into the minds of the audience. During his forty five minute speech, he said the inspiring ‘I have a dream’ line eight times. That one line was now engraved into her mind. She too had a dream that the monumental speech she had just witnessed would create the equality for all as it was intended to. 

Marian considers great writing to be something that remains etched in the minds of people for the rest of their lives. In fifty years it will still have the ability to bring readers to tears. In fifty years ‘I have a dream’ will still be a line that most will associate with Martin Luther King.  In fifty years this will still be known as one of the most admired speeches of all time.