I Have a Dream
Commemorating its 50th anniversary, international figures read passages from Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech.
Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech is one of the most powerful and passionate political statements of the 20th century.
This unique tribute programme seeks to commemorate Dr King’s legacy through his words. Global figures read the sections of the speech which resonate with their own experiences and aspirations.
The programme is introduced by Clayborne Carson, director of the Martin Luther King Jr Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. Professor Carson was chosen by Dr King's widow to edit and publish the papers of her late husband.
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BBC News: Slideshow
Watch the specially commissioned slideshow to accompany the programme
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Speech Contributors
The global figures reading the speech talk about their perspective of the speech.
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Martin Luther King Collection
A selection of programmes covering Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' speech.
The readers are...
- Congressman John Lewis, who spoke at the 1963 March
- Dr Maya Angelou, American author and civil rights activist
- Professor Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Laureate and economist
- Doreen Lawrence, mother of murdered British teenager Stephen Lawrence
- Wei Jingsheng, Chinese democracy campaigner
- Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, first female President of Ireland
- John Hume, jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the peace process in Northern Ireland
- His Holiness the Dalai Lama
- Albie Sachs, anti-apartheid campaigner, judge on South Africa's Constitutional Court
- President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, first female Head of State in Africa
- Raja Shedadeh, Palestinian lawyer, author and human rights activist
- Ndileka Mandela, granddaughter of Nelson Mandela
- Ariel Dorfman, Chilean American author and human rights activist
- David Grossman, Israeli author and peace campaigner
- Dr Shirin Ebadi, Iran's first female judge, Nobel Peace Laureate
- Malala Yousafzai, 16 year old student from Swat in Pakistan, shot by the Taliban
- Satish Kumar, Indian peace campaigner and environmentalist
- Maestro José Antonio Abreu, Venezuelan educator, and musician
- Joan Baez, American musician and activist, performer at the 1963 March on Washington
- Stevie Wonder, American musician, singer and songwriter. Campaigner for Martin Luther King's birthday to become a national holiday in the United States
Broadcast
- Wed 28 Aug 201314:32GMTBBC World Service Online
