By Ken Smith From WRAL News In celebration of Black History Month, a new documentary from an NC State professor explores the inspiration behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. Through his research, Jason Miller found that King first uttered that historic refrain at a gym in Rocky Mount—nine months before the March on Washington. Read More...

By Tracey Peake From NC State University News Jason Miller joins us to talk about the full-length documentary he’s produced on the origin and evolution of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s most famous speech. Most people associate King’s most famous refrain, “I have a dream,” with the speech he gave at the March on Washington in 1963. Miller’s documentary explores King’s first recorded usage of that phrase, which occurred in Rocky Mount, NC in 1962. Listen Here

By UF Press Martin Luther King, Jr. first spoke of “dreams” in a sermon he delivered on April 5, 1959. His subject that day was disappointment, not hope. The focus of his sermon came when he said: “Very few people are privileged to live life with all of their dreams realized and all of their hopes fulfilled. Who here this morning has not had to face the agony of blasted hopes and shattered dreams?” Though it doesn’t flash on first glance, King’s reference to unfulfilled and

By Lauren Kirkpatrik From NC State University News For years, Rocky Mount citizens have told tales about hearing the first rendition of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. Before 1,800 people in a crammed high school gym, King talked about his “dream” and uttered other familiar passages in the fall of 1962. It was nine months before the March on Washington. More than 50 years later, an NC State English professor’s research is bringing that same speech back to li

By Jason Miller From NC State University News Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. first delivered the now famous refrain “I have a dream” in Rocky Mount, N.C., on Nov. 27, 1962. Dr. King ended his fifty-five minute speech in the Booker T. Washington Gymnasium by invoking the “How Long, Not Long” set-piece he made famous when he spoke from the steps of the capital at the end of the final march in Selma, Alabama on March 25, 1965. He then continued with eight consecutive lines of “I ha

By Sydney McCoy From Spectrum News 1 “I Have a Dream,” echoing with King’s powerful call for equality, remains one of history’s most acclaimed speeches, its message still resonating globally. While frequently studied in English classes and seen as a cornerstone of the civil rights movement, King’s speech debuted in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. W. Jason Miller, a distinguished professor in the English Department of N.C. State, shares something in common with King — a love of

From National Humanities Center Dr. King’s iconic refrain “I Have a Dream” was actually first delivered in Rocky Mount, NC, nine months before the March on Washington in 1963. By listening to this long lost reel-to-reel audio tape from November of 1962, we discover how this phrase actually has its origins in the poetry of Langston Hughes (1901–67). While Hughes was harassed by the FBI from as early as 1941, King’s every movement was traced, photographed, recorded, and even fi

From Smithsonian Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech at the 1963 March on Washington is one of the most famous speeches in the world. But it almost didn't happen. If you look at the typed manuscript of his speech, you won't find the phrase "I Have a Dream." But even though Dr. King's speech was partially improvised, that doesn't mean that it wasn't years in the making. In this episode of Sidedoor, we trace the evolution of King's dream, from a secret friendsh

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By Nash Dunn From NC State University News Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches help form the foundation of his legacy. From “I have a dream” to “Fill up the jails,” his words are timeless. Echoing from old recordings and jumping off the page of the written record, King’s ideas and rhetoric pillared the civil rights movement, and they continue to inform and instruct leaders as they navigate current social challenges. They’re still used by teachers to educate students — still use

From NC State University News By Nash Dunn Months before delivering his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke the famous refrain in a small town in North Carolina. For years, Rocky Mount citizens have told tales about hearing the first rendition of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. On Nov. 27, 1962, nine months before the refrain echoed across the National Mall during the March on Washington, the words r

By Sam Stringer, Ben Brumfield From CNN Little else stirred the American soul in the 20th century like four short words cried out across the National Mall in Washington on August 28, 1963 – “I have a dream.” Before Dr. Martin Luther King’s words echoed throughout Lincoln Memorial, he raised goose bumps inside a segregated school gym in North Carolina. And just like in Washington, the refrain “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” prompted roars

From NC State University News Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. first delivered the now famous refrain “I have a dream” in Rocky Mount, N.C., on Nov. 27, 1962. Dr. King ended his fifty-five minute speech in the Booker T. Washington Gymnasium by invoking the “How Long, Not Long” set-piece he made famous when he spoke from the steps of the capital at the end of the final march in Selma, Alabama on March 25, 1965. He then continued with eight consecutive lines of “I have a dream” befo

By Tim Peeler From NC State University News In his new book Origins of the Dream , NC State English professor Jason Miller makes a tangible connection between the long suspected but never proven link between the poetry of Harlem Renaissance hero Langston Hughes and the prose of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. This is Miller’s second book on the poetry of Hughes. His first, Langston Hughes and American Lynching Culture , was published in 2011. Miller, a former colle