Dr. King’s Dream and Our Call To Service

Hundreds of people stood with the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. nearly 60 years ago when he spoke these words: “I have a dream.” His words expressed a vision that has inspired me my entire life. I’ve always admired Dr. King for flipping the script to advance the greater good, and in this case, he actually went off script during his most famous speech. He did so at the urging of a fellow civil rights trailblazer, Mahalia Jackson, a renowned gospel singer and one of the world’s most influential 20th century vocalists. She was with Dr. King that day at the Lincoln Memorial. As his longtime advisor Clarence B. Jones described in an interview, Dr. King initially stayed very close to a prepared outline for the speech. For seven paragraphs, he eloquently went point by point through a series of facts and ideas that steadily drew his audience of 250,000 people closer together. He never mentioned the dream. Instead, he was drawing from a more intellectual metaphor of a “bad check.” But Mahalia Jackson, who earlier captured the attention of the crowd by singing two songs at the start of the rally, knew Dr. King had more personal material to draw on and could do so as only a preacher could. He did have a dream. He’d already talked about it publicly—an actual dream. So with the speech well underway, Mahalia Jackson suddenly gave Dr. King a nudge, a jolt of energy to connect with the crowd in emotional, deeply human terms. As Clarence Jones recalled later, “Watching him, I said to the person beside me … these people don’t know it, but they’re about ready to go to church!” Today, after 60 years and 2,500 other speeches he made, I wonder how we’d remember everything that followed if Mahalia Jackson hadn’t shouted, “Tell them about the dream, Martin.” Because much did follow once he started sharing the dream, one which everyone can relate to instinctively. As we observe Dr. King’s birthday in 2023 and reflect on his transformative legacy, let’s be careful not to say “the rest is history” when we think back to the events of 1963. History happens in the present, and it’s all in the doing. Dr. King’s dream remains as vital for all of us in the present day because it continues gathering strength as a guiding force for good. It can bring us closer now as it did during his lifetime. As Dr. King said, we must “stand up for freedom together.” As I’ve noted before, Dr. King left us with invaluable lessons of peaceful service in the pursuit of justice. Mahalia Jackson’s life is also an inspiration. When she passed away in 1972, Coretta Scott King stated that “the causes of justice, freedom, and brotherhood have lost a real champion whose dedication and commitment knew no midnight.” MLK Day serves as a powerful annual reminder to live up to ideals that Dr. King’s set forth, that everybody can be great because everybody can serve. I’m grateful for the nudge and continued support of family, friends and colleagues to keep striving for greatness, always speak up and be ready to take action. Looking for service opportunities near you? Visit VolunteerMatch.