Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In the days before a planned march on the National Mall on August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gathered with his advisors to draft his speech – a draft that did not, in fact, include the now-iconic words, “I have a dream.” Dr. King had delivered versions of the “Dream” speech  before – in Birmingham and Detroit, he shared his dream of equality, where Black Americans and White Americans live together in peace, community, and shared prosperity – but the idea was cut from the initial drafts of the address at the Lincoln Memorial. That morning, though, as Dr. King delivered his prepared remarks to more than 250,000 people gathered around the Reflecting Pool, his close friend, renowned gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, called out to him, “Tell them about the dream, Martin!” Dr. King then improvised what would become one of history’s most famous speeches, whose words still echo through history today. 

Dr. King devoted his life to this dream, and his advocacy for nonviolent mass action and civil disobedience became a cornerstone of the civil rights movement. He organized countless protests, marches, and boycotts, first in Alabama and then across the country. And he led national campaigns against racial segregation and discrimination alongside the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. 

Of course, Dr. King dreamed of equality and justice not just in this nation, but every nation. As he said in a commencement address to the 1959 graduates of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, the struggle for decolonization was being waged by the communities “tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression.” He hoped a “new order of freedom and justice” would prevail. 

His message was so resonant that streets and avenues from Port-au-Prince to Bonn, as well as schools and institutes from Johannesburg to Accra, bear his name. Croatian newspapers published articles about his vision and accomplishments on the fiftieth anniversary of his death. Busts of his face overlook a public park in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the western entrance of Westminster Abbey in London. And New Delhi is home to a garden named after Dr. King and Mahatma Gandhi, who shared a deep belief in the power of nonviolence and civil disobedience to bring about justice.

This commitment to helping build a more equal, free, and humane world is what drives so much of our work at USAID, from building schools and working with teachers, to training health care workers and delivering vaccines, to supporting community leaders working to change unjust policies and empower those who have been marginalized. As we celebrate Dr. King’s tremendous legacy today, let us continue our efforts to fight against injustice and discrimination wherever we can, and help build the world he dreamed of – a world that is more just, equal, and prosperous for all.