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"I Have a Dream" & the American Civil Rights Movement

"I Have a Dream", Dr. Matin Luther King's speech, has inspired several generations of civil rights activists to fight peacefully but unyieldlingly for justice and against any kind of discrimination. American Rhetoric.com ranks "I Have a Dream" as number one in the list of the most influential speeches in the USA, it is powerful, moving, rich in literary and biblical references and very rhythmical -a well-crafted mixture of political speech and Baptist sermon.  You can also watch the whole speech on the YouTube video below. 

The speech needs a certain historical introduction, as it contains numerous references to the struggle against segregation laws in the 1950's and 60's, which students will problably miss otherwise. This lesson plan for a two-hour C1 class includes some reading, speaking and vocabulary tasks (1h 30'), based on extracts from the Wikipedia's page on the Civil Rights Movement, with a slide presentation to illustrate the major events of the movement and a clip from Bob Dylan's song "The Death of Emmett Till", which is mentioned in the Wikipedia texts. The second part of the class is a  simple listening and reading task with a fill-in-the gap exercise on the transcipt of Dr. King's speech "I Have a Dream" (20'- 25'). The online file includes another document with further examples of Jim Crow laws. The lesson is hard at times but hopeful.

The text contains a lof of legal terms in American English.  Some of the less frequent vocabulary students will come across is the following: facilities, [a court] to rule, literacy, to file a suit, a plaintiff, to overturn a decision/ a court ruling, a melting pot, to flirt, to dispose of, casket, to rally support, to acquit of a crime, double jeopardy, outrage, to spark, a standoff, a [lunch] counter, to pledge, bail, a restroom, to flee, to cram, turmoil, a stance, to enforce [a law], to skip school, restraint, upheaval, to gather, to fulfill [a requirement].


If you want further information on the March on Washington you can watch this Time Magazine short documentary (6':05") or just browse on Google or YouTube.  The rally ended with some memorable musical performances by Joan Baez, The Freedom Singers, Peter, Paul & Mary, Mahalia Jackson, Bob Dylan, Odetta, or the Eva Jessye Choir, which are worth watching. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday in the USA which is observed on the third Monday of January (the 18th of the current month in 2021), as Dr. King's birthday was on January 15th.

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