The 50th Anniversary of a Speech

Notice how Dr, King goes "off script" in the last third or quarter of his speech. The story, according to King's speech writer Clarence  B. Jones, is that King literally pushed his prepared notes aside. Prompted by the gospel singer Mahalia Jackson who shouted "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" King gave us the final and most memorable lines of this speech. Jones, at that moment, remembers saying to a member of the audience to his side, "These people out there, they don't know it, but they're about ready to go to church."