How do influential people become so influential?

How do influential people become so influential? How do their legacies come together? There are many inspiring people in history, and in 1963, there lived one man in particular named Martin Luther King Jr., whose legacy is certainly moving. Like many of us today, Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. However, his dream differed from many of the common wishes often seen in the present. If your dream is a marble, Dr. King’s dream was a hot air balloon soaring through the sky on a clear, sunny day.

The spirit of Dr. King’s "I Have a Dream" speech was brotherhood. Dr. King references brotherhood many times in his speech with quotes like, “Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood,” and, “With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.” Dr. King’s dream was to create a brotherhood — have all people of America hand in hand as brothers and sisters. What comes with brotherhood is equality, peace, and friendship. If the white citizens of America saw Black citizens as their brothers and sisters, they would be far more likely to treat them equally and with respect.

Dr. King wanted the promises of equality, peace, and friendship guaranteed to him as an American citizen. Another part of his dream was to remind America about the promise signed by our founding fathers, written into both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. He references this quote from the Declaration of Independence in his speech: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Dr. King wanted people to pay attention to the fact that Black men and women were being denied these basic rights, the rights supposedly granted to every American citizen, just because of the color of their skin. In his speech, when he says, “The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges,” Dr. King is saying that he wants a nation where everyone is entitled to the rights of American society. The bright day of justice symbolized in his speech shows the faith and hope Dr. King had in his dream.

Dr. King also dreamed of peace and prosperity. In his speech, he warns his people, “In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” It is a beautiful principle, the idea of which Dr. King fights for. Dr. King warns his people to not allow themselves to use violence and hatred. If Dr. King’s dream had been one of revenge and vengeance, it would not have made the impact that it did.

Dr. King’s speech was moving and influential. Past civil rights efforts were the very thing Dr. King was fighting against — distrust, violence and hatred. Dr. King’s movement was one of the most prominent acts for peace, and he is renowned for it. Would you rather remember the man who changed the world with peace, or would you rather a group who dominated with fear? The biggest reason most of the figures of history like Mahatma Gandhi and Malala Yousefazai are well known is because of their nonviolent tactics, and Dr. King was no exception.

Another way his speech influenced the nation was how it gave people energy and confidence. In his speech, Dr. King says, “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.” Dr. King was a church minister, and he sure knew how to speak. He won a speech competition when he was young, and his speeches, including this "I Have a Dream" speech, inspired the nation and created a spark for change that would later ignite into a bonfire. Dr. King created this idea of Now, urging people to act on the unjust way African-Americans were being treated. Because of how he spoke, and his promises to be peaceful, Americans gravitated toward his idea of Now.

Some of the issues Dr. King addressed in his speech are still seen today in the modern United States. Dr. King’s words continue to impact America in schools and other public places. Maybe with that influence the current problems of today’s society will become scars of the past.