MLK Day: How Martin Luther King Ad-Libbed the 'I Have a Dream' Speech

Civil rights leader’s co-author explains how the “I Have a Dream” speech suddenly changed

Clarence Jones, who helped the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. write the “I Have A Dream Speech,” told a Television Critics Association panel in 2013 how the most famous part of the speech came spontaneously.

It was Aug. 28, 1963: King was speaking to hundreds of thousands at the Lincoln Memorial, and millions watching on TV, when suddenly singer Mahalia Jackson called out. Here is what Jones said:

Very few people know — most people do not know — that the speech that he gave was not the speech that he had intended to give. … As he was reading from the text of his prepared remarks, there came a point when Mahalia Jackson, who was sitting on the platform, said, “Tell them about the dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream.”

Now I have often speculated that she had heard him talk in other places… and make reference to the dream. On June 23, 1963, in Detroit, he had made very express reference to the dream.

When Mahalia shouted to him, I was standing about 50 feet behind him… and I saw it happening in real time. He just took the text of his speech and moved it to the left side of the lectern. … And I said to somebody standing next to me: “These people don’t know it, but they’re about to go to church.”

I said that because I could see his body language change from the rear. Where he had been reading, like giving a lecture, but then going into his Baptist preacher mode.

Had there been anyone else — anyone else — who had shouted anything to him, I think he would have been a little taken aback. I’m not so sure he would have departed from the text of his speech. But Mahalia Jackson was his favorite gospel singer. When Mahalia said that it was almost like a mandate to respond.

You can watch the speech above.

8 Documentaries to Watch for Martin Luther King Day (Photos)

  • “Eyes on the Prize” (1987) 
    PBS’ 14-hour documentary “Eyes on the Prize” originally aired in 1987. The series, narrated by Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee founding member Julian Bond tells the story of the U.S. Civil Rights movement from 1954-65.

    PBS

  • “Freedom on My Mind” (1994) 
    The Oscar-nominated “Freedom on My Mind,” produced and directed by Connie Field and Marilyn Mulford, chronicles the Mississippi voter registration struggles of 1961 to 1964.

    Clarity Films

  • “Freedom Riders” (2010) 
    Stanley Nelson’s 2010 documentary, produced by Firelight Media for PBS American Experience, marked the 50th anniversary of the civil rights activists who challenged racial segregation by riding buses into the Deep South.

    PBS

  • “The March” (2013) 
    Narrated by Denzel Washington and directed by John Akomfrah, 2013’s “The March” features interviews with organizers and attendees of Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic march on Washington D.C. in 1963.

    PBS

  • “Malcolm X” (1972) 
    The Academy Award-nominated “Malcolm X” from director Arnold Perl documents the life and death of the civil rights leader.

    Warner Bros.

  • “Neshoba” (2008) 
    The 2008 documentary “Neshoba” from directors Micki Dickoff and Tony Pagano examines the racial attitudes of Neshoba County residents 40 years after the murder of 3 civil rights workers by the hands of the Ku Klux Klan.

    First Run Features

  • “Soundtrack for a Revolution” (2009) 
    Bill Guttentag’s 2009 documentary, featuring contemporary artists like The Roots and John Legend, takes a look at the role music played during the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.

    Freedom Song Productions

  • “King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis” (1970) 
    Sidney Lumet’s 1970 documentary features celebrity narrators telling the story Martin Luther King Jr. during the period of the Civil Rights Movement. 

    Kino Lorber

From “King: A Filmed Record” to “Freedom Riders,” eight documentaries that tell the story of the U.S. civil rights movement through film

“Eyes on the Prize” (1987) 
PBS’ 14-hour documentary “Eyes on the Prize” originally aired in 1987. The series, narrated by Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee founding member Julian Bond tells the story of the U.S. Civil Rights movement from 1954-65.

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