Martin Luther King, Jr.: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Speech Referring to the Promise of the Declaration and Constitution

“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. This note was a promise that all men would be granted the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check… But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.…

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.”

Bayard Rustin and A. Phillip Randolph, had to contend with leaders of more than a dozen Civil Rights organizations, so, officially, Dr. King had the same 5-minutes slot as the other most prominent leaders. However, privately, Rustin and Randolph agreed that King could go longer.

Watching different films of the speech, we can see that Dr. King was “on script,” frequently glancing down to the Advance Text until he arrived at the last paragraph. Just then, whether he consciously heard it or not, Mahalia Jackson called out, “Tell them about the dream, Martin.” It is possible that King wasn’t even aware that he heard her. But at that moment, hardly pausing, he looked up and launched into “I Have a Dream.” He didn’t look down again until nearly ten minutes later, when he returned to his advanced text to finish delivering what became one of the most consequential and famous speeches in American history.  

“Let us work and march and love and stand together until that day has come when we can join hands and sing, ‘Free at last, free at last; thank God almighty, we are free at last.’”

★ Martin Luther King, Jr., Advance Text mimeographed by the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Press Office, August 28, 1963. #26368