Free speech was certainly a central theme of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech but evidently the heirs to his estate don’t interpret his dream to extend to free information as well.
One reason the speech isn’t always available on the internet or reprinted by the media is King’s family has sued news outlets for copyright infringement. Mother Jones has an excellent post on the copyright debate over the famous speech, which includes this great lede:
I have a dream that on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls as they watch the footage on TV of Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his famous words. I have a dream that on the red hills of Georgia, the great-grandsons of former slaves and the great-grandsons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood this week, open their MacBooks and pull up the seminal speech on the internet.
The Oregonian has found a clever and value-adding way to skirt a copyright infringement by annotating King’s Dream speeech.
But it’s important, I think, that this nation-changing address be available for public consumption. It’s one of the greatest ever expressions of American values, rivaled only by Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. If it changed the world for the better the first time people heard him deliver what some say was partially ad-libbed, then maybe it will do so again.
If King were alive today, I’m pretty sure he’d want his speech posted on YouTube.
]]>It’s one small road trip for fans of MLK and equality, and hopefully the beginning of a longer journey for the Providence NAACP and the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats, who – whether working collaboratively or not – are united in wanting to see King’s dream become a reality in Rhode Island and elsewhere.
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It was 50 years ago this summer that Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. reinvigorated America’s sense of enduring betterment with his game-changing “I have a dream” speech and you can be there for the anniversary in Washington DC with – not only President Barack Obama – but also your sisters and brothers of the NAACP Providence Branch and others in the Ocean State progressive movement.
The NAACP is sponsoring a bus trip, and inviting the greater progressive community, to the anniversary celebration of Dr. King’s inspirational speech on the Mall in the nation’s capitol.
“The COST per person is $50 FOR 50 YEARS!!” said Jim Vincent, chapter executive director in an email. “The true cost is $85 per person but the NAACP Providence Branch will be subsidizing each person who travels wit us on this historic occasion!! IT’S THAT IMPORTANT!!!”
For more information, email Nancy St. Germain at nstgermain3@verizon.net.
The bus leaves from the Stop and Shop on Branch Avenue in Providence on Friday, August 23 at 11 pm and returns Saturday at approximately 6 pm.
Just in case you need a refresher on how truly powerful King’s speech was, here it is in full: