DYK? “I Have a Dream”
DYK? The "I have a dream" portion of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 's famous speech was largely improvised and not written down beforehand.
Dr. King realized about 3/4 of the way through his remarks that he was not eliciting the reaction he wanted from the 200,000 citizens gathered on the Washington Mall that day. Perhaps sensing the same (it is unclear) gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who was standing right behind Dr. King yelled "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" Ms. Jackson had heard Dr. King practicing the "I Have a Dream" oratory some months before as he had done in a speech in Detroit earlier that summer.
My favorite section:
"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together."
(via On the Media).