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Beyond black-and-white: Essential moments from MLK's historic 'I have a dream speech'

By PhotoBlog

On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his historic “I have a dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, forever changing race relations in America.

I have a dream today.

Martin Luther King, Jr. waves to supporters on the Mall in Washington DC, on Aug. 28, 1963.
Martin Luther King, Jr. waves to supporters on the Mall in Washington DC, on Aug. 28, 1963.AFP - Getty Images
A crowd gathers at the Lincoln Memorial.
A crowd gathers at the Lincoln Memorial.AP

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.

A young woman listens during the civil rights rally.
A young woman listens during the civil rights rally.National Archives via Getty Images
A civil rights protest button at the March on Washington.
A civil rights protest button at the March on Washington.Express Newspapers via Getty Images
Demonstrators gather in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
Demonstrators gather in front of the Lincoln Memorial.National Archives via Getty Images

My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.

The view down Constitution Avenue.
The view down Constitution Avenue.Hulton Archive via Getty Images
A woman is calmed by police during at the March on Washington.
A woman is calmed by police during at the March on Washington.Hulton Archive via Getty Images

When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men,  Jews and Gentiles, Protestant and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

NAACP group from Wilmington, N.C., sing in the street near the Washington monument grounds.
NAACP group from Wilmington, N.C., sing in the street near the Washington monument grounds.AP

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MLK and me: How rookie photographer captured history

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