Blueprint JD is DC-based so we are in a celebratory mood. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Inauguration Day have us downright giddy. Though, as an advice blog, we are focused on the future, we are equally aware of the need to remember and reflect upon the past. In light of the holiday, which was first recognized in 1986 and designated a national day of service in 1994, we share with you a few thoughts of the slain civil rights activist. Had he lived, he would have turned 84.

I Have a Dream Speech

Delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, the iconic “I Have Dream” speech is one of the enduring moments of the Civil Rights Movement. What may surprise you is that the end of Dr. King’s speech, where he expounds upon his dream, is improvised. One of the top speeches of the 20^th Century, it deserves a second and third listen.

The full text of the I Have a Dream speech is available courtesy of ABC News.

The Frank McGee Sunday Report: Martin Luther King Profile

In this May 7, 1967 interview Dr. King discusses the state of the civil rights movement, and his then controversial stance against the Vietnam War.

The symbol behind Dr. King was used by the freedom Chicago Open Housing Movement, which he helped lead from 1965 to 1967.

I would not say that the civil rights movement is dead. It’s simply that we’re moving to a new phase of the movement. Well now 12 years we’ve struggle to end legal segregation and all of the humiliation surrounding legal segregation. So it was a struggle for decency. It was a struggle to get rid of extremist behavior toward Negros. Now we’re in a new phase, and that is a phase where we are seeking genuine equality, where we are dealing with hard economic issues and social issues, and it means that the job is much more difficult.. . . It’s a wonderful thing to work and be concerned about integrating public accommodations or integrating the public schools which I will continue to work for with vigor and with zeal. But I’ve also got to be concerned about the survival of a world in which [we are] integrated, and these issues to me are tied together in that sense.