The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech That Inspired a Nation - Hardcover

Drew D. Hansen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 078626232X ISBN 13: 9780786262328

Publisher: Thorndike Press, 2004

Synopsis

Forty years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. electrified the nation when he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. King's prophetic utterances galvanized the civil rights movement and became a touchstone for all that the country might someday achieve. The Dream examines that speech on several levels: as a political treatise, a work of poetry, and as a masterfully delivered sermon.

About this title

About the Author:

Drew Hansen is a lawyer and legislator who serves in the Washington State House of Representatives.  He practices law in Seattle and lives on Bainbridge Island with his family.

From Booklist:

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the 1963 march on Washington and King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech, which thrust King into the national spotlight, provided a barometer of the national conscience, and reflected on both our past transgressions and future moral objectives. Hansen examines King's speech on numerous levels and in many contexts, revealing the confluence of forces that account for its unprecedented impact. He explores King's theological and intellectual focus and his roots in the tradition of black Baptist sermons. Hansen uses King's speech to examine the competing elements of an American society divided along North-South, black-white lines and to explore the contradictions of such interests along a moral continuum. King's speech provided a common code of moral respect, but not consensus of action, as diverse elements agreed to its greatness or purpose but not its call to act. Readers interested in the moral issues tied to the civil rights struggle will enjoy Hansen's analysis. Vernon Ford
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About this edition

• Publisher: Thorndike Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 078626232X
• ISBN 13: 9780786262328
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 369