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Born January 15, King came from a comfortable middle-class family steeped in the tradition of the Southern Black ministry: both his father and maternal grandfather were Baptist preachers. His parents were college-educated, and King’s father had succeeded his father-in-law as pastor of the prestigious Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. King went to Boston University, where, in seeking a firm foundation for his own theological and ethical inclinations, he studied man’s relationship to God and received a doctorate

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As a child, Martin Luther King, Jr. had something special that set the stage for his greatness: a father who mentored him.

It was Martin Luther King, Sr., an esteemed pastor in Atlanta, who taught his son not only to stand against the system of hate surrounding them but also to forgive the people caught up in it. His father taught him to live as a man of character, love and courage. His father taught him never to let go of the dream of freedom. His father knew his most important ministry was in his own home, and that focus changed the history of the world.

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While Dr. King drew on a variety of rhetorical techniques to “Educate, Engage, & Excite” his audiences – e.g., alliteration, repetition, rhythm, strong verbs, allusion, and more – his ability to capture hearts and minds through the creative use of relevant, impactful, and emotionally moving metaphors was second to none.

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King uses anaphora when he urges his audience to seize the moment: “Now is the time…” is repeated four times in the sixth paragraph of the I Have a Dream transcript.

The most widely cited example of anaphora is the “I have a dream…” phrase, which is repeated nine times as King verbally paints a picture of an integrated and unified America for his audience. King cleverly uses the phrase at the beginning and at the end (epiphora) of sentences.

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King also uses alliteration and assonance in his speech. For example, when King says, “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline” , he uses assonance, and when he says, “We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no . . .” , he uses alliteration. Assonance and alliteration give the speech a poetic feel.

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Most of king metaphors refer to biblical sources. King uses these biblical metaphors because of his background as a Baptist minister . For example, when King says, “joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity,” he references Matthew 1:16 and when he says, “dark and desolate valley of segregation,” he references Psalm 23:4 (Hansen 101-102). Another common metaphor in the speech equates light with freedom and hope.

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Why the speech was important at the time

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Why the speech was important at the time

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The March on Washington and King’s speech are widely considered turning points in the Civil Rights Movement, shifting the demand and demonstrations for racial equality that had mostly occurred in the South to a national stage. Dr. King speech advanced and solidified the movement because “it became the perfect response to a turbulent moment as it tried to address past hurts, current indifference and potential violence, acting as a pivot point between the Kennedy administration’s slow response and the urgent response of the ‘marvelous new militancy’

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I Have a Dream” remains relevant today because for as many strides that have been made, we’re still dealing with the elements of a ‘bad check’ – voter suppression, instances of violence against people of color without real redress, etc.,” Remembering what King was trying to do then can provide us insight into what we need to consider now.