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40 years later, Martin Luther King`s words remembered
Washington, Aug 23: Four decades after Martin Luther King Jr.`s demand for equality stirred a nation, civil rights activists commemorated his `I have a dream` speech by celebrating the inscription of those words on the monument where his call rang out.
Washington, Aug 23: Four decades after Martin Luther King Jr.'s demand for equality stirred a nation, civil rights activists commemorated his "I have a dream" speech by celebrating the inscription of those words on the monument where his call rang out.
His widow, Coretta Scott King, stood on the steps of
the Lincoln Memorial yesterday as officials uncovered the
words chiseled into the granite of a landing. "The inscription
adds a sense of wholeness to this spot," she said.
About 1,000 people came in stifling heat to begin two days of observances tied to the coming 40th anniversary of the march on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. Organisers also put together a prayer vigil and poetry jam on the eve of a rally today.
At the vigil, a children's hip-hop choir performed against skies flashed through with lightning. The stormy weather brought attendance down to roughly 250.
It was on those granite steps - on a hot summer day before a crowd of about 250,000 - that king delivered his historic call for justice.
"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal'," he said.
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Bureau Report
About 1,000 people came in stifling heat to begin two days of observances tied to the coming 40th anniversary of the march on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. Organisers also put together a prayer vigil and poetry jam on the eve of a rally today.
At the vigil, a children's hip-hop choir performed against skies flashed through with lightning. The stormy weather brought attendance down to roughly 250.
It was on those granite steps - on a hot summer day before a crowd of about 250,000 - that king delivered his historic call for justice.
"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal'," he said.
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Bureau Report