Language that Inspired Change:

Language, an emotion-filled sound that rolls of our tongues rooting from our deepest inner thoughts and subsequently stems out to those around us ultimately enables our fellow people to absorb our thoughts and ideas. The boundaries of language are the boundaries of this world, not only do we use it transmit and receive information, it is powerful beyond measure. It is filled with emotion, it gives us a passageway to expression, it appeals to our intellect, and it inspires us. One of the most inspirational examples where language has prevailed in moving the masses is in civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. On the steps of the Lincoln memorial, during a time when the civil rights movement was becoming heated, King delivered a speech that still inspires change to this very moment. King won the hearts over of all those assembled there that day when he spoke. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood." The language King uses appeals to our hearts, our emotions, and our intellect. It is sincere, emotion filled, and selfless. He inspires us to try our hardest make this beautiful dream come alive. Even the location of the speech could not have been better suited. The Lincoln Memorial, the very place that symbolizes the very dream that King spoke about was a perfect backdrop to a speech that inspired change and the advancement of human civil rights. Lincoln’s leadership and integrity is one that will for ever be forever remembered and looked up to as greatness. The memorial of President Lincoln, a man who stood up in the face of adversity and is immortalized for pushing for change and for the abolishment of oppression in slavery, greatly contributed to Kings speech. The location chosen was well suited and greatly symbolic.
The “I Have a Dream” speech will forever be a huge part of history. It inspired change and gave hope in hearts of everyone around this country.