the speech have a dream

, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the . This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

today!

wn in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

today!

of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

(rendered precisely in The American Standard Version of the Holy Bible)

:

: Linked directly to: archive.org/details/MLKDream

: Wikimedia.org

:.jfklibrary.org

: Colorized Screenshot

:

: 5/31/24

:   here). Image #2 = Public domain. Image #3 = Fair Use.

In this historic speech, King said he had a dream that white and black children would one day walk hand in hand and that one day sons of former slaves and sons of former slaveowners would be able to agree to live together.

Martin Luther King was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, a drive to get more equal treatment for all Americans, not just white Americans.

This speech was important in several ways:

• It brought even greater attention to the Civil Rights Movement, which had been going on for many years. King's speech was part of the March on Washington, a gathering of more than 250,000 people in the nation's capital. African-Americans still were not treated as equals. Marches like this one and ones earlier in Detroit and other cities called attention to this fact.
• The speech was given in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, the monument honoring President Abraham Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in the Southern states. By giving his speech there, King was wanting to call attention to how things were so terrible a century before (during the Civil War) and how some things hadn't changed so very much in 100 years.
• It brought Martin Luther King and his message of non-violence to a nationwide (and worldwide) audience. The speech was carried on radio and was reprinted in newspapers and magazines all over the United States and all over the world. After this speech, the name Martin Luther King was known to many more people than before.
• It made Congress move faster in passing the Civil Rights Act. This set of laws was finally passed the next year, in 1964. Many of these laws gave African-Americans more equal treatment than they ever had before.

Martin Luther King continued to speak out for civil rights and for nonviolence. Sadly, he was killed in 1968. But the memory of his famous "I Have a Dream" speech and the message it contains live on.

Social Studies for Kids copyright 2002–2024 David White

ARTS & CULTURE

Screening “i have a dream”.

It may be difficult to view the entire 17-minute speech online, but two films were made about the March on Washington that highlight that momentous day

Daniel Eagan

One of the towering moments in 20th-century oratory, the speech we now know as “ I Have a Dream ” was delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on August 28, 1963, at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The march was one of the turning points in the civil rights movement, a gathering of more than 200,000 people on the National Mall to hear leaders from the Congress of Racial Equality, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and other groups.

At one point called “A Cancelled Check,” the speech was actually an amalgam of several of King’s previous talks and sermons , including “Unfulfilled Hopes” in 1959 and “The American Dream” in 1961 and 1962. This may not be the best place to discuss the purpose, merits and antecedents of “ I Have a Dream ,” although I confess that its ending never fails to move me to tears. What’s more germane is how difficult it has become to actually view the entire 17-minute speech.

You can find any number of truncated versions on YouTube, and television networks reliably pull out clips every February for Black History Month. (Smithsonian.com offers the full audio version .) The opening ceremonies marking the dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial in Washington, D.C., has provided even more opportunities for more broadcast segments about the speech. (Hurricane Irene has caused the postponement of these ceremonies.)

Some 1,600 press passes were issued by organizers of the March, and it was covered extensively by both print and broadcast journalists. Cameramen were stationed throughout the National Mall, even in the Washington Monument. CBS broadcast the Lincoln Memorial segment live, and the three major networks led with the story on their nightly news programs.

Surprisingly, few of the initial press accounts dealt with King’s speech, focusing instead on the upbeat mood of the attendees and agreeing with the demands for equality expressed throughout the day. Many writers also pointed out the celebrities in attendance such as Mahalia Jackson and Joan Baez.

But as “I Have a Dream” grew in popularity, it also attracted legal attention. In 1999, the King estate sued CBS over the copyright status of the speech. The dispute centered around the fact that King had not registered his speech with the Registrar of Copyrights. However, the United State Court of Appeals ruled that the King estate did in fact have copyright over the speech. (The parties eventually settled out of court.) The court decision partially explains why video of the complete speech is hard to find online. The audio version, pulled from a radio broadcast, is considered in the public domain.

Two films made prior to that decision incorporated large portions of the speech. Released in 1964, The March was made by the United States Information Agency , the government’s unofficial propaganda arm whose films were shown mostly to foreign audiences.  George Stevens, Jr., at the time the director of the USIA, wanted a documentary about the march despite the controversy he knew it would generate. “We hired many 35mm cameramen through Hearst News and covered the event thoroughly,” he told me over e-mail in 2009. “I think it was afterward that I asked Jim Blue to become involved. No one at Hearst could craft the kind of film we wanted.” Stevens was pleased with the results: “It was, for the most part, wonderfully received by USIA posts overseas.” The film is available for streaming or download from the Internet Archive, or split up in three parts on YouTube

Conceived and produced by Ely Landau, the second film, King….A Filmed Record….From Montgomery to Memphis, provided a three-hour biography of King. The film capitalized on the fact that King was one of the first public figures whose entire career had been documented on film. In a way, King… showed how the politician molded his image as he evolved from a small-town minister to national spokesman. King… condenses the “I Have a Dream” speech to eight minutes, with Landau and his crew forced to rely at times on scratched footage.

Watching the speech today shows how sophisticated politicians have become at defining an image. To best get his message across, King had to learn how to control the film or television frame. In his early appearances, he often seems just a face in the crowd. Even while delivering “I Have a Dream,” King is framed with irrelevant and at times distracting figures, including a policeman who adjusts a row of microphones and people in the background who are not always paying attention. In King… , editors John Carter and Lora Hays, assisted by Hank Greenberg, Steve Roberts and Jack Sholder, had to resort to several different film viewpoints in order to present the best available version of King’s oration.

King….A Filmed Record….From Montgomery to Memphis is available for purchase from its associate producer Richard Kaplan .

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Daniel Eagan | | READ MORE

"Daniel Eagan is a film writer and author of America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry . "

The Better Blog

Martin luther king’s “i have a dream”: the speech that changed the world, by jennifer krausz on 01/18/2023.

TLDR:  Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech has reached iconic status as a turning point in U.S. civil rights. King used many rhetorical devices to give his speech more power and to sear it on the hearts of those who listened.

So What?  King’s powerful message lives on because he communicated it with strong images and unforgettable language. As communicators, we have much to learn from King’s choice of language and delivery.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” is widely considered one of the most impactful speeches not just of its time, but in the history of the United States. In just a few minutes, King was able to show why so many were fighting for justice and to explain what needed to happen for this “dream” to become a reality.

Sixty years later, the speech is still powerful in its message and the picture it paints for a free and fair society. Segregation may be long past, but racism and inequality still remain deeply embedded within our society. In one way, King’s “dream” has become a reality. In other ways, it’s still being achieved.

The Right Place and Time

King’s speech was delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial exactly 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. This was a time when Congress was preparing to pass Civil Rights legislation to end some of the injustices King chronicled so powerfully.

More than 250,000 people gathered to hear the speech in person as part of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and it was televised live to millions. The march and King’s speech were the culmination of years of living with the injustices of segregation; the incomplete, unfulfilled promises of the Emancipation; and the legacy of slavery itself.

If King had tried to give this speech ten years earlier, large segments of the American public would not have been ready to hear it, and it wouldn’t have captivated the country in the same way. At the same time, if King had waited ten more years to give the speech, anger and rage might have boiled over, and the message of nonviolence could have been lost.

Powerful Language

King’s speech seared his message into the hearts and minds of its hearers. He used several devices to create clear images that left no doubt about what he was trying to say.

Specific and powerful adjectives help deliver emphasis to a message and leave few doubts about its importance. Here are some of the adjectives King used to make his point: “joyous,” “desolate,” “sunlit,” “mighty,” “jangling,” “momentous,” “withering,” “lonely,” “shameful,” “magnificent,” “hallowed,” “sweltering,” and “majestic.”

These adjectives are critical in creating the images King needed to make people understand (some for the first time) the horrors of segregation. Each one is like a hammer hitting a nail to drive home King’s message that now is the time for segregation to end, and that his listeners needed to have hope that it would happen.

King used metaphors because people can understand and remember them, and they make messages stronger.

He started the speech with an extended metaphor of a bank, which he used to explain how the promises (“promissory note”) made to people of color after the Emancipation had not yet been paid. “We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt,” he said.

Later, he compared segregation to a “dark and desolate valley,” which he juxtaposed with “the sunlit path of racial justice.” Another image he creates through a metaphor is that of justice and righteousness being like a “mighty stream” which cannot be stopped now that it’s gained movement and momentum.

These images explained complex concepts simply, showing his listeners that things could and would change.

Use of Repetition

Many great speeches use repetition to build understanding and underscore the ideas a speaker most wants audiences to remember. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is no different.

The first example of repetition in the speech helps lay out the reasons why King and other civil rights leaders believed things needed to change. King gave a list of grievances against the government by saying, “We cannot be satisfied as long as . . .”

Next, King defined and explained his vision for how things should be by repeating, “I have a dream . . .” He didn’t just say he wanted things to be equal. He showed how that equality would look, and he couched it in terms of dreams for the future to which people of every race could relate.

The end of the speech also contained repetition of the phrase, “Let freedom ring . . .” This phrase was a plea to the powers that be for a better, freer world for all. It’s hard to deny the power of the familiar phrase from the patriotic song, “My Country Tis of Thee” and its application to our lives today.

The Jeremiad

According to Texas A&M University Professor of Communication Leroy Dorsey, King’s speech used an early American sermon format called the Jeremiad as a framework for its important message.

The Jeremiad starts by affirming a moral standard set in the past. King did this by invoking the Emancipation Proclamation, the Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence to remind listeners of what America was created to be.

King moved on to critique the current situation of injustice and inequality, which clearly violated the founding values of America. He finished by calling his hearers to higher virtues like judging people based on the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.

Today, it can seem that King’s dream is still a long way off. But as long as we keep revisiting this great speech, and the ideals it inspires in us, the more we can dream of fulfilling it.

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Watch CBS News

A rare look at a draft of Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "I Have a Dream" speech

By Nikole Killion

Updated on: August 28, 2023 / 7:38 PM EDT / CBS News

Martin Luther King Jr. extolled the famous words "I have a dream" 60 years ago at the March on Washington. It's considered one of the most iconic speeches of the 20th century, but before there was a dream, there was a draft.

Entitled "Normalcy Never Again," the original version did not even include the word dream, according to Vicki Crawford, who oversees the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection at the Atlanta University Center Robert Woodruff Library. 

CBS News was granted rare access to the 10,000-item collection, which includes what is thought to be the only existing draft of King's speech with his handwritten notes. 

"Dr. King very often would revise and revise and draft and draft speeches," Crawford told CBS News, noting that he worked on what would become the "I Have a Dream" speech "all night long."

"To 3:00 a.m., from my understanding," she said.

When he took the podium, something changed.

"For the first, what, 10, 15 minutes, he read the text," Crawford said. "And then, of course, you know, the audience was giving him such a great call and response that I guess he felt energized. Mahalia Jackson, the gospel singer, said, well, tell them about the dream. So he went off text, and the speech was extemporaneous after that."

Reading King's handwritten words 60 years later, Crawford said they still matter.

"The struggle continues, and though we've come a long ways, we've got a long way to go," she said. 

• March on Washington
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Nikole Killion is a CBS News congressional correspondent based in Washington D.C. As a correspondent, Killion played a key role in the Network's 2020 political and election coverage, reporting from around the country during the final stretch of the campaign and throughout the Biden transition.

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‘I Have a Dream’ Speech

By: History.com Editors

Updated: December 19, 2023 | Original: November 30, 2017

The “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. before a crowd of some 250,000 people at the 1963 March on Washington, remains one of the most famous speeches in history. Weaving in references to the country’s Founding Fathers and the Bible , King used universal themes to depict the struggles of African Americans before closing with an improvised riff on his dreams of equality. The eloquent speech was immediately recognized as a highlight of the successful protest, and has endured as one of the signature moments of the civil rights movement .

Civil Rights Movement Before the Speech

Martin Luther King Jr. , a young Baptist minister, rose to prominence in the 1950s as a spiritual leader of the burgeoning civil rights movement and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SLCC).

By the early 1960s, African Americans had seen gains made through organized campaigns that placed its participants in harm’s way but also garnered attention for their plight. One such campaign, the 1961 Freedom Rides , resulted in vicious beatings for many participants, but resulted in the Interstate Commerce Commission ruling that ended the practice of segregation on buses and in stations.

Similarly, the Birmingham Campaign of 1963, designed to challenge the Alabama city’s segregationist policies, produced the searing images of demonstrators being beaten, attacked by dogs and blasted with high-powered water hoses.

Around the time he wrote his famed “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King decided to move forward with the idea for another event that coordinated with Negro American Labor Council (NACL) founder A. Philip Randolph’s plans for a job rights march.

March on Washington

Thanks to the efforts of veteran organizer Bayard Rustin, the logistics of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom came together by the summer of 1963.

Joining Randolph and King were the fellow heads of the “Big Six” civil rights organizations: Roy Wilkins of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Whitney Young of the National Urban League (NUL), James Farmer of the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) and John Lewis of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Other influential leaders also came aboard, including Walter Reuther of the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Joachim Prinz of the American Jewish Congress (AJC).

Scheduled for August 28, the event was to consist of a mile-long march from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, in honor of the president who had signed the Emancipation Proclamation a century earlier, and would feature a series of prominent speakers.

Its stated goals included demands for desegregated public accommodations and public schools, redress of violations of constitutional rights and an expansive federal works program to train employees.

The March on Washington produced a bigger turnout than expected, as an estimated 250,000 people arrived to participate in what was then the largest gathering for an event in the history of the nation’s capital.

Along with notable speeches by Randolph and Lewis, the audience was treated to performances by folk luminaries Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and gospel favorite Mahalia Jackson .

‘I Have a Dream’ Speech Origins

In preparation for his turn at the event, King solicited contributions from colleagues and incorporated successful elements from previous speeches. Although his “I have a dream” segment did not appear in his written text, it had been used to great effect before, most recently during a June 1963 speech to 150,000 supporters in Detroit.

Unlike his fellow speakers in Washington, King didn’t have the text ready for advance distribution by August 27. He didn’t even sit down to write the speech until after arriving at his hotel room later that evening, finishing up a draft after midnight.

‘Free At Last’

As the March on Washington drew to a close, television cameras beamed Martin Luther King’s image to a national audience. He began his speech slowly but soon showed his gift for weaving recognizable references to the Bible, the U.S. Constitution and other universal themes into his oratory.

Pointing out how the country’s founders had signed a “promissory note” that offered great freedom and opportunity, King noted that “Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.'”

At times warning of the potential for revolt, King nevertheless maintained a positive, uplifting tone, imploring the audience to “go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.”

Mahalia Jackson Prompts MLK: 'Tell 'em About the Dream, Martin'

Around the halfway point of the speech, Mahalia Jackson implored him to “Tell ’em about the ‘Dream,’ Martin.” Whether or not King consciously heard, he soon moved away from his prepared text.

Repeating the mantra, “I have a dream,” he offered up hope 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” and the desire to “transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.”

“And when this happens,” he bellowed in his closing remarks, “and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'”

‘I Have a Dream’ Speech Text

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's Capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence , they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men, yes, Black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check—a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?"

We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.

We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.

We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.

We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only."

We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.

No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

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 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 the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

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 today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, that one day right down in Alabama little Black boys and Black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exhalted [sic], every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that; let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black men and white men, Jews and gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

MLK Speech Reception

King’s stirring speech was immediately singled out as the highlight of the successful march.

James Reston of The New York Times wrote that the “pilgrimage was merely a great spectacle” until King’s turn, and James Baldwin later described the impact of King’s words as making it seem that “we stood on a height, and could see our inheritance; perhaps we could make the kingdom real.”

Just three weeks after the march, King returned to the difficult realities of the struggle by eulogizing three of the girls killed in the bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.

Still, his televised triumph at the feet of Lincoln brought favorable exposure to his movement, and eventually helped secure the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 . The following year, after the violent Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama, African Americans secured another victory with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 .

Over the final years of his life, King continued to spearhead campaigns for change even as he faced challenges by increasingly radical factions of the movement he helped popularize. Shortly after visiting Memphis, Tennessee, in support of striking sanitation workers, and just hours after delivering another celebrated speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” King was assassinated by shooter James Earl Ray on the balcony of his hotel room on April 4, 1968.

'I Have a Dream' Speech Legacy

Remembered for its powerful imagery and its repetition of a simple and memorable phrase, King’s “I Have a Dream” speech has endured as a signature moment of the civil rights struggle, and a crowning achievement of one of the movement’s most famous faces.

The Library of Congress added the speech to the National Recording Registry in 2002, and the following year the National Park Service dedicated an inscribed marble slab to mark the spot where King stood that day.

In 2016, Time included the speech as one of its 10 greatest orations in history.

HISTORY Vault: Black History

Watch acclaimed Black History documentaries on HISTORY Vault.

“I Have a Dream,” Address Delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute . March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. National Park Service . JFK, A. Philip Randolph and the March on Washington. The White House Historical Association . The Lasting Power of Dr. King’s Dream Speech. The New York Times .

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MLK’s “I Have A Dream” Speech: An Example Of Anaphora

Politicians and political figures often use anaphora in speeches to emphasize their points. One of the most famous anaphora examples comes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. King uses the anaphoral phrase, “I have a dream,” to start eight consecutive sentences:

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi … will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. 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 today!

King uses anaphora to highlight the difference between how things are and how he hopes they will be.

In fact, anaphora is a rhetorical device often favored by poets … and that’s why MLK Jr.’s speech lives among the greatest speeches.

Martin Luther King Jr. had an exquisite way with words. Learn about some of his most powerful words.

What is  anaphora ?

As a rhetorical device, anaphora is “the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of consecutive sentences, poetry stanzas , or clauses within a sentence.” Rhetorical devices—which include  metaphor and hyperbole —are used to make a point when you’re speaking. Specifically, an anaphora can be as short as a single word, such as I , when , or and . It can also involve several words, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s anaphoral phrase “I have a dream.” Anaphoral phrases are rarely longer than a few words (lengthy, repeated phrases can be confusing to readers). Fun fact: the opposite of anaphora is epistrophe , “a word or phrase repeated at the end of consecutive lines.”

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The purpose of anaphora

Poets use anaphora to establish a rhythm , structure a poem, or highlight certain ideas. Some poets use extreme anaphora as a stylistic choice. “Howl,” by Allen Ginsberg, does this. Almost every line in the first section starts with who . The second section repeats the name Moloch at the beginning of each line. The repetition gives the poem rhythm and makes it feel energetic.

Discover other advanced poetic devices and how to use them here.

Anaphora in everyday speech

Anaphoral phrases are pretty common in daily speech, too. People use them to express desires or needs. A petulant child might say, “ I don’t want to get out of bed. I don’t want to get dressed. I don’t want to go to school. I just want to go back to sleep!”

So, basically, we can all be poets … but we’ll probably never be as poetic as Martin Luther King Jr.

Be inspired by more of MLK Jr's enduring words by reading this quotes.

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Lesson Plan

Jan. 15, 2024, 9:20 a.m.

Lesson plan: Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech as a work of literature

For a google doc version of this lesson, click here .

Introduction

Students will study Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and discuss the rhetorical influences on King's speech, the oratorical devices that King used in delivering his speech and how a speech is similar to/different from other literary forms.

English, Social Studies, Government

Estimated Time

One 50-minute class period, plus extended activities

Grade Level

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most memorable speech from his life as an activist, “ I HAVE A DREAM , ” was delivered on August 28, 1963, before more than 200,000 people in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The speech was part of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It not only helped to galvanize the already growing civil rights movement across the country at the time, but also became one of the most influential and inspirational pieces of rhetoric in American history.

Remarkably, midway through his delivery, King suspended his pre-scripted text and began to improvise; what resulted was the speech’s most recognizable section, the passage in which the words “I have a dream” are passionately repeated. Indeed, King’s background as a Baptist preacher in the South instilled in him a talent for improvisation as a speaker and the skill to frame the urgency of the moment.

What is also apparent in “I Have Dream” is King’s deep commitment to scholarship (he earned a Ph.D. from Boston University). King was clearly well-versed in both American history and religious scripture, and he seamlessly weaves references to both into the fabric of his oration. Overall, “I Have a Dream” can be held up as a masterful creative work in itself; its dramatic structure coupled with its image-laden content render a remarkably moving piece of American literature that still strongly resonates today.

• Begin by supplying foundation material for the students through the NewsHour Classroom article and the NewsHour's Martin Luther King, Jr. section, the background explanation above and the links provided.
• Distribute the COMPLETE TEXT OF "I Have a Dream."
• Review the LITERARY TERMS HANDOUT with the students.
• What examples of figurative language can be found in the text? (For example, "seared in the flames of withering injustice"; "manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination"; "whirlwinds of revolt"; "oasis of freedom and justice"; "symphony of brotherhood."
• How do these uses enhance the overall impact of the speech? What oratorical devices does King use to add vitality and force to his speech? (For example, use of refrains such as "I have a dream," "let freedom ring" and "we can never be satisfied"; multiple shifts in sentence lengths; dramatic shifts in tone, such as from enraged to cautionary to hopeful; use of questions as well as exclamations, such as "when will you be satisfied?" and "I have a dream today!")
• In what specific ways does King call forth his experience as a preacher to lend persuasive power to the speech? (For example, he uses several images that call to mind both the plight of black Americans as well as the Old Testament Hebrews under the oppression of slavery — "the manacles of segregation" and the "chains of discrimination"; the final line of the speech invokes "the old Negro spiritual" and is steeped in Biblical influence — "Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
• Discuss the responses as a class.

Extension Activity

• How are the speeches alike and/or different in their choices of language? In other words, do the speeches seem as if they were composed for the general public or rather for specific groups?
• Of the three, which do you see as being the most direct? That is, which speech uses the least amount of figurative language and/or obscure references?
• Which of the three is the most metaphorical in its content? In other words, which makes the most use of figurative language?
• For each speech, explain how relevant its ideas would be in society if the speech were delivered today. Do the mentioned struggles still exist? Has the country evolved since the speeches were given? Has society responded to the specific appeals for change?
• Passionate?
• Intellectual?
• Persuasive?
• 5-10 minutes in length
• Clearly defined opening, body and conclusion
• Clearly defined thesis (main point)
• Use of supporting examples to support thesis
• Use of figurative language
• Use of oratorical devices such as refrain and hyperbole
• Clearly expressed goals (legal reform; public awareness; etc.)

Written by Doug DuBrin, French International School, Bethesda, Maryland, in 2010.

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I Have a Dream Speech

Martin luther king, jr., ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Throughout “I Have a Dream”—a rousing civil rights address structured like a sermon—religious faith plays a significant role. After laying bare the brutal facts of racism in America, King offers up a dream of an America in which people of all races and faiths live together in harmony and mutual respect. Even though King has known despair, he’s still able to dream of a future where white and Black children hold hands, where the South transforms from a racist inferno into a peaceful oasis, and where his children will be judged by their character instead of their race—and he’s able to dream this because of his faith in the equality of “all God’s children.” In order to create a more just future, King suggests, one must maintain one’s faith even in the face of hopelessness.

King shares his own despair with his listeners, acknowledging the hopelessness that many among them may feel. Not only has his audience been living with horrific racism—segregation, police brutality, and widespread disenfranchisement, to name a few examples—but also many activists have faced specific demoralizations while trying to make change. Some members of the audience have been beaten, insulted, or jailed in pursuit of justice, while other activists have been killed. In the face of all this “unearned suffering,” it’s not surprising that members of the audience might despair—but King urges his listeners to see their unearned suffering as “redemptive.” In this way, King compares his audience to Christ; just as Christ suffered on the cross to redeem mankind, civil rights activists suffer through insult and injury to redeem future generations, sparing them the suffering that King’s generation has felt. So King is suggesting that suffering shouldn’t lead his audience to despair—instead, with a little faith, suffering can be a source of hope.

As another way to combat despair, King shares the dreams that he has for America’s future, evoking a nation defined by racial harmony and equal justice. Sharing these dreams not only makes the future towards which the movement is striving seem more concrete, but it also encourages the audience to remember their own dreams for themselves and for the nation, helping them to remain focused and motivated. As King spells out his dreams, he associates them with faith, both religious and secular. Among the six dreams that he lays out, the final one is explicitly Biblical, referencing a passage in Isaiah. He says that his dream is for “every valley [to] be exalted” and “every hill and mountain [to] be made low,” for “rough places” to be made smooth and “crooked places” made “straight.” These are metaphors for equality and justice, showing that all who are low (“valleys”) will be uplifted (“exalted”) and everything unjust (“crooked”) will be made right. By invoking the goals of the civil rights movement through a passage from Isaiah, King is explicitly grounding his cause in Scripture, just as he has also grounded it in America’s founding documents. The message here is that God is on the side of the movement.

But as King winds down his speech, he repeatedly invokes a “faith” that’s not explicitly religious. “This is the faith that I go back to the South with,” he says, meaning both his Christian faith and his faith that his specific dreams of equality and justice will soon come true. In this way, he speaks simultaneously to all members of his audience: those within the Christian activist tradition of which King was a part, and those whose faith is purely secular. Regardless of the audience’s specific faith, King insists that it’s faith alone—whether that is faith in God or faith in the collective dreams of the movement—that will allow the movement to remain motivated and united. “With this faith,” he says, “we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”

Despite its religious overtones and undertones, the “I Have a Dream Speech” is something of a secular sermon. It preaches the gospel of freedom, equality, and justice, insists that suffering on behalf of others is powerful and worthwhile, and encourages listeners to keep their faith in the future of their nation no matter what obstacles they might face. With this tireless faith, King promises, the movement will realize their dreams.

Dreams, Despair, and Faith ThemeTracker

Dreams, Despair, and Faith Quotes in I Have a Dream Speech

Go back to Mississippi; go back to Alabama; go back to South Carolina; go back to Georgia; go back to Louisiana; go back to the slums and ghettos of the northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can, and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

So I say to you, my friends, that even though we must face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American 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 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 today!

With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning—“my country ‘tis of thee; sweet land of liberty; of thee I sing; land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride; from every mountainside, let freedom ring”—and if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. […]

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.

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5 biggest differences between MLK’s two ‘I Have a Dream’ speeches

When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington in 1963, it wasn’t the first time he used that famous phrase in front of a crowd of people.

Eight months before, King spoke at a high school gym in Rocky Mount, N.C., exercising the phrases that would later be immortalized in history, according to historians.

A recording of this early version of the speech was restored, digitized and presented to the public in January 2016 by an English professor at North Carolina State University.

The recording contains the first known mentions of King’s phrase “I have a dream.” He also refers to "the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners” meeting “at the table of brotherhood" and “righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Here are five differences between the two speeches:

1. Audience size

King addressed about 2,000 people at Booker T. Washington High School for 55 minutes on Nov. 27, 1962.

He delivered the refined version — the “I Have a Dream” speech praised today as one of the world’s greatest speeches — in front of more than 250,000 people on Aug. 28, 1963, in Washington. It was shortened to slightly more than 16 minutes.

2. ‘Table of brotherhood’

When referring to "the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners," King said he hoped they would "meet at the table of brotherhood." During the March on Washington, he changed the phrase to say he dreamed they would "sit down together at the table of brotherhood."

Rocky Mount speech: “I have a dream that one day right here in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will meet at the table of brotherhood .”

Washington speech: “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 the table of brotherhood .”

3. ‘Joining hands as brothers and sisters’

In both speeches, King used the imagery of children of difference races unconditionally growing up together. King referenced church burnings in Sasser County, in 1962, but later changed the Georgia reference in favor of Alabama.

Rocky Mount speech: “I have a dream that one day down in Sasser County, Georgia — where they burned two churches down a few days ago because negroes wanted to register and vote — one day right down there, little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and little white girls and walk the streets as brothers and sisters.”

Washington speech: “I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”

4. ‘All men are created equal’

At Rocky Mount, King invoked the U.S. Constitution: "I have a dream that one day even the oldest nation will recognize that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights ."

This line was divided in his Washington speech:

"This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

"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 .' "

5. ‘Content of their character’

At Rocky Mount, King referenced his dream for his children to live in a better world, but tightened up the phrasing for the March on Washington. He had a fourth child between the two speeches.

Rocky Mount speech: "I have a dream tonight that one day my little daughter and my two sons will grow up in a world, not conscious of the color of their skin , but conscious of the fact that they are members of the human race."

Washington speech: “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.”

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I Have a Dream

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• Yale Law School - Lillian Goldman Law Library - The Avalon Project - I have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr; August 28, 1963
• The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History - “I Hav e a Dream ” Speech by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the “March on Washington,” 1963
• Stanford University - The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute - "I Have a Dream"
• NPR - Read Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech in its entirety
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I Have a Dream , speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. , that was delivered on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington . A call for equality and freedom , it became one of the defining moments of the civil rights movement and one of the most iconic speeches in American history.

Some 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. , for the March on Washington. The one-day event both protested racial discrimination and encouraged the passage of civil rights legislation; at the time, the Civil Rights Act was being discussed in Congress. The march featured various speeches as well as musical performances before King, a celebrated orator, appeared as the final official speaker; A. Philip Randolph and Benjamin Mays ended the proceedings with a pledge and a benediction , respectively.

Early in his prepared speech, King referenced Abraham Lincoln ’s Gettysburg Address with “Five score years ago….” He then spoke about the Emancipation Proclamation , which “end[ed] the long night of their [slaves’] captivity.” However, he continued by noting that African Americans were still “not free” and that they were “crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.”

According to various observers, however, as King neared the end, the address was failing to achieve the resonance of his more noteworthy speeches. As activist John Lewis noted, King himself could “sense that he was falling short.” Perhaps that compelled singer Mahalia Jackson to call out, imploring him to tell the crowd about “the dream.” It was a theme he had used at earlier events but had been advised not to use in Washington, with one aide calling it “trite.” At Jackson’s urging, however, King abandoned his prepared text and launched into a discussion of his dreams, adopting “the stance of a Baptist preacher.”

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.…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 right there in Alabama, little Black boys and Black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

King’s improvisations seemed to strike a chord with the crowd, many of whom called out words of encouragement. The speech built to its emotional conclusion , which was borrowed from a Black spiritual : “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.” Largely based on King’s extemporizations, the speech was widely considered the greatest of the 20th century, noted for its power and resonance. With its universal appeal, “I have a dream” became an enduring phrase both in the United States and elsewhere. In addition, many believed the speech helped secure passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964.

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Trump in Arizona: For those who attended Trump event, former president's words connected

Former President Donald Trump returned to Arizona on Thursday for the first time since late 2022 for a town hall-style event in north Phoenix.

The event at Dream City Church was Trump’s first political rally since a New York jury convicted him last week of 34 felonies in connection with hush money paid to a porn star in 2016 to conceal their sexual relations.

The event was hosted by Turning Point Action, the Phoenix-based organization founded by conservative Charlie Kirk that has long supported Trump.

It marked Trump’s return to Arizona, the state that delivered the closest result in the country in 2020.

5 p.m.: For those who attended, Trump's words connected

The record-shattering heat and the long lines seemed worth it for those who endured it.

Vicki Marquart, 70, a retiree from Queen Creek, looks forward to casting a third vote for former President Donald Trump.

“I wanted to be part of the Trump spirit. I really do see him as saving us from what’s going on,” Marquart said.

Trump’s legal problems don’t bother people like Marquart.

“No, because I saw what was going on there. Totally political. Everything was totally slanted against him,” she said.

For some attendees, attending the event involved more effort than a drive across the Valley.

Bonnie Wanner, 54, drove from San Diego on Wednesday to see Trump.

“I’m Latina. I was born in Mexico. I support him because my dad went to World War II and Korea, so I’m an Army brat. I’ve been a patriot since I was a kid.” 

Wanner said Trump’s promise to close the border resonated with her. 

“In San Diego, we know what he’s talking about. We need to close the border,” she said. 

— Fernando Cervantes and Sabine Martin

4:45 p.m.: Trump admitted friendly questions were 'repetitive'

The question-and-answer portion of former President Donald Trump’s town hall Thursday featured adoring fans whose queries invariably revolved around his campaign’s main themes.

Even Trump acknowledged when it ended that the questions “sounded repetitive.”

Jeannette Garcia of Avondale asked Trump how he’d keep communities and families safe, telling him she’d had her “fair share of challenges” in life, being a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault.

“We have to back our police,” Trump responded to loud applause from the crowd.

Another audience member asked what Trump would do to improve access to trauma hospitals in rural areas.

The former president replied that rural America is “the backbone of our country.” Rural voters have heavily favored Trump over Biden in past election results.

Trump went on to say, without naming specifics, that Biden’s administration has ended programs delivering resources to rural America.

It was unclear which programs the former president was referring to: Rural infrastructure and broadband were a major focus of the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law negotiated by U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and signed into law under Biden.

— Laura Gersony and Ray Stern

4:30 p.m.: The Biden campaign reacts to 'felon' Trump

President Joe Biden’s campaign responded to former President Donald Trump’s town hall in Phoenix, referring to it as “his first trip as a convicted felon.”

Kevin Munoz, a campaign spokesman, offered more substantive criticism as well.

“Donald Trump blocked the toughest, fairest bipartisan border legislation in a generation — legislation that would have increased the nation's border security and helped halt the flow of fentanyl into this country. And he did it because he thinks it would help him politically,” he said in a statement.

“Donald Trump is exactly what Americans hate about politicians. He’s the worst of Washington. He’s in it for himself, not you. He single-handedly killed a bill the American people overwhelmingly supported, and is now crying the system is broken. It’s broken because of you, Don.

“Americans deserve better in their president. They deserve a president who will take action when others fail to. That’s what Joe Biden did this week, and it’s his commitment every single day as Commander-in-Chief.”

— Ronald J. Hansen

4 p.m.: Record heat takes toll on Trump fans

Intense heat took a toll on the large crowd gathered to watch former President Trump at Dream City Church.

According to Cpt. Todd Keller, spokesperson for the Phoenix Fire Department, 11 people were transported to local hospitals in heat-related incidents. Keller characterized the responses as precautionary.

Temperatures in Phoenix today reached 112 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, breaking the previous daily record from 2016.

Keller could not say how many calls for service Phoenix fire received for the Dream City Church area or how many people firefighters were able to treat at the scene. Firefighters were seen assisting at least one other person who was exiting the event.

— Fernando Cervantes, Perry Vandell and Sabine Martin

3:30 p.m.: Trump starts answering questions from audience members

Trump had been speaking at Dream City Church for about an hour when he finally started taking questions from members of the audience. The event had been billed as a town-hall-style Q and A session.

The questions brought up topics such as border security, crime, inflation and war, giving Trump cues to continue to riff on the issues.

— Dan Nowicki

3 p.m.: Trump pans Biden's executive action on border security

Riffing on the topic of immigration at Thursday’s rally, Trump brushed off Biden’s recent action tTo restrict access to asylum along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"If Joe Biden truly wanted to sign an executive order to stop the invasion, he only needs the single — think of it — a single sentence," Trump said.

That sentence: “I hereby immediately reinstate every single border policy of the gentleman named Donald J. Trump."

Trump has repeatedly called on his 2024 rival to “shut down the border.”

Biden’s executive action essentially guarantees an immediate shutdown of all asylum processing between border crossings seven days from when the order takes effect.

Instead, Trump pledged to undertake "the largest domestic deportation operation" in the country's history if reelected.

— Rafael Carranza and Laura Gersony

2:30 p.m.: Trump turns to the border

Former President Donald Trump turned to his signature political issue, the nation’s southern border.

Trump criticized President Joe Biden’s executive order this week clamping down on asylum, calling it “really pro-illegal immigration.”

He said it is a concession that he has lost complete control of the border and vowed to rescind the order on his first day back in office.

Trump said he would resist calling it “bullshit” for the sake of the children in the audience. The crowd on hand took the cue and began chanting it afterward.

“Joe Biden is the worst president in history,” Trump said. Former President “Jimmy Carter is a brilliant president by comparison.”

Trump predicted that if he doesn’t win in November, “this country is finished.”

He summoned former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the recipient of Trump's first presidential pardon, to the stage for an awkward peck on the cheek as Trump continued to lament what has become of Arizona under Biden.

2:20 p.m.: Trump opens by name-checking Arizona GOP VIPs

Former President Donald Trump began his remarks with praise for Phoenix, most of its Republicans in Congress and key candidates.

“You gotta elect Kari Lake,” Trump said early on in his remarks. He called her a “friend of mine” and an “incredible woman.”

That comes after reports that Trump has cooled on Lake, who is the Republican front-runner in the U.S. Senate race.

He specifically praised U.S. Reps. Andy Biggs, Eli Crane, Paul Gosar and Debbie Lesko. He made no mention of the state’s other two Republican members, U.S. Reps. Juan Ciscomani and David Schweikert.

Trump also praised congressional candidate Abe Hamadeh, who is running for the seat being vacated by Lesko, who is retiring and running for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

He called his recent criminal trial in New York “rigged.”

2:08 p.m.: Trump takes the stage

After a video painting former President Donald Trump as a political martyr, he took the stage at Dream City Church to raucous cheers.

It is his first appearance since his conviction on 34 felony charges in New York last week and his first trip to Arizona since late 2022.

Trump is expected to give prepared remarks before taking questions from the crowd as moderated by Charlie Kirk, the head of the Turning Point organizations.

1:35 p.m.: Trump is present, the church is full

The motorcade carrying former President Donald Trump entered Dream City Church in Phoenix at about 1:10 p.m.

Those who were outside and still hoping to attend the event chanted his name when they saw the cars arrive.

Minutes later, however, officials at the church notified the hundreds still gathered outside that the church was at full capacity.

1:25 p.m.: Why Trump? Plenty of reasons

Those at Dream City Church cited a mix of reasons for their support of former President Donald Trump.

For 26-year-old Austin Coleman, the border and the economy are the major issues.

Fernanda Zubiria-Vasquez, a real estate manager who said she is a naturalized citizen from Mexico, looks forward to casting her first vote for Trump and wishes her former country had someone like him.

“Mexico, we need a person like Trump to manage the borders and also manage the economics in the United States,” Zubiria-Vasquez said.

She dismissed Trump’s legal troubles as personal problems.

Doug Dresser, 47, of Desert Ridge, is a pilot who frequently flies to Asia.

“When (Trump) was president, everyone got along,” Dresser said. “We were talking to North Korea. The biggest thing is world peace because I have little kids, and if the war breaks out, they could get drafted.”

Scottsdale residents Maureen Groves and her friend Joan Segan praised Trump as what the nation needs.

“He’s got a skill this country needs right now,” Groves said. “He’s a businessman. I think he’s playing 3-D chess. He’s 10 steps ahead of everybody and he knows what’s going to happen.”

She and Segan acknowledged Trump’s coarse personality distract from what they see as his superior policies and wish he would just “shut his mouth” sometimes.

Groves related how her husband had a heart attack recently and she met a new doctor who she found callous.

“He had a personality like Trump,” she said. “He was horrible. But I like his skill. He’s the best doctor.”

Vern Tillberg, 78, is a retiree who said Trump’s conviction in New York doesn’t change anything.

“That’s a kangaroo court, that’s a kangaroo court,” he said.

— Fernando Cervantes , Sabine Martin and Ray Stern

1 p.m.: Charlie Kirk likens Democrats to Nazi dictatorship

Charlie Kirk, the co-founder of the Turning Point-affiliated entities, ripped Democrats for prosecuting former President Donald Trump and likened Democratic rule to the Nazi fascists the U.S. battled on the beaches of Normandy 80 years ago.

“They’ve never done this before is because there’s never been a leader like Donald Trump before,” Kirk thundered from the podium. “The crime he committed is he gave you a voice.”

At another point, Kirk mentioned those who took part in the D-Day invasion in 1944.

“They were fighting against totalitarianism, fighting against a dictatorship,” Kirk said. “But 80 years later, if we are honest with ourselves, that very same totalitarianism is now here in this country.

“The very same dictatorship that our leaders were fighting, our greatest generation was fighting against, are now here in this country.”

Kirk shifted to the upcoming election with similarly apocalyptic imagery.

“The election is now bigger than Donald Trump,” Kirk said. “It is about a civilization. It is now a question of whether or not we will be a free society or whether we will enter a dark chapter as a totalitarian country.

“Every time you hear them say, ‘our democracy, our democracy, our democracy,’ just replace that with, ‘our oligarchy.’ Because it is the rule of the few, not the rule of the many.”

— Ronald J. Hansen and Laura Gersony

12:45 p.m.: Trump makes another Arizona endorsement

Hours before former President Donald Trump is scheduled to take the stage in Phoenix, he endorsed retiring U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., in her campaign for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Trump described Lesko as “a great friend of MAGA” who has “understood many of the bad things going on better than most” in a social media post announcing the endorsement.

“SHE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN,” Trump wrote.

The Board of Supervisors stood as a bulwark against Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen election in 2020.

Lesko, meanwhile, has embraced some of his efforts.

On Jan. 6, 2021, she voted against certifying the election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania and she signed on to an election challenge lawsuit that was swiftly dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Trump named Lesko to his first House impeachment defense, making her part of his communications team.

— Laura Gersony

12:20 p.m.: Arizona sheriffs condemn Kari Lake on day of Trump event

Former President Donald Trump is undeniably the main political attraction in Arizona on Thursday, but that doesn’t mean everyone is standing down in their respective races.

U.S. Senate candidate Mark Lamb’s campaign released a statement Thursday from nine of the state’s other 14 county sheriffs condemning Lamb’s fellow Republican challenger, Kari Lake, who has Trump's endorsement.

At a recent forum both participated in, Lake called Lamb a “total coward” for not bringing election fraud-related cases to court.

Lamb acknowledged in testimony to Congress he hadn’t seen any evidence of widespread fraud in his county, though he told the forum’s viewers he doubted President Joe Biden received 81 million votes without citing the kind of evidence he demands as sheriff for his doubts.

In a joint statement on Thursday, Lamb’s fellow sheriffs criticized Lake for her comment.

“Kari Lake’s recent comment calling Sheriff Mark Lamb a ‘coward’ is both unfounded and disrespectful. We want to make it clear: neither Sheriff Mark Lamb nor any law enforcement officer who wears a badge and uniform, putting the life on the line every day to protect and serve our communities, is a coward. Arizona voters expect better from a political candidate, especially when they are running for the U.S. Senate.”

The statement is signed by:

Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels

Gila County Sheriff Adam Shepard

Graham County Sheriff P.J. Allred

La Paz County Sheriff William Ponce

Maricopa County Sheriff Russ Skinner

Mohave County Sheriff Doug Schuster

Navajo County Sheriff David Clouse

Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes

Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot

It also included two candidates for Maricopa County sheriff: Jerry Sheridan and Mike Crawford.

12 p.m.: Crane sees undimmed enthusiasm for Trump

U.S. Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., said the support outside Dream City Church is a sign that former President Donald Trump’s supporters are unfazed by his felony convictions in New York last week.

Crane pointed out the lobby window at the large crowd of Trump supporters in line to get inside the church. 

“Does it look like those guys care?” he told a reporter. “What these people know is it’s a kangaroo court.”

“Matter of fact,” he added, “it makes people love him more.”

Trump could have retired from public life and “sailed off into the sunset, but what did he do? He said, ‘No, I’m going to go back into the lion’s den because I’m concerned about this country.’”

Crane and U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., posed for pictures and groused about what they called the weaponization of the criminal justice system.

They pointed to Trump’s conviction, as well as a recent court order for former Trump political adviser Steve Bannon to serve a four-month prison sentence, and the 18 people indicted in Arizona in connection with the “fake elector” effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“My own opinion on the false elector case is that it’s an unnecessary nuisance action which is designed to actually impact people’s willingness to participate. So that’s a problem,” Biggs said. 

— Ray Stern

11:45 a.m.: After arraignment, head to Trump town hall

It’s already been an eventful day for one dignitary heading to the Trump town hall.

Arizona state Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, was arraigned Thursday morning in Maricopa County Superior Court on felony charges stemming from his indictment in connection with his role as a “fake elector” after the 2020 election.

That hearing happened by video conference and Hoffman is planning to be at Dream City Church for Trump, who is an unindicted coconspirator in the case brought by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat.

Hoffman looked ahead to Trump’s visit in a comment after his hearing.

“Arizona is proud to welcome President Donald J. Trump back to our state. The energy in Arizona to deliver victory for President Trump this November is electric and the momentum is overwhelmingly in his favor.

“Arizonans have seen the destructive, weaponized politics of Democrats and the incompetence of Joe Biden. Re-electing President Trump is the only way to get America back on track for safe communities, a secure border, a booming economy, and a vibrant economy that works for everyone.”

— Stacey Barchenger

11:30 a.m.: Trump's Capitol Hill allies rally around Trump

Ahead of the town hall, Charlie Kirk, the cofounder of Turning Point USA and its affiliated political arm, Turning Point Action, talked politics on his podcast with U.S. Reps. Andy Biggs and Eli Crane.

Both Republicans are among Trump's staunchest supporters in the House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, Chris LaCivita, a top Trump campaign strategist, posted on social media that he is traveling westward with Trump today and U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio.

Vance is seen as a top contender for the vice presidential nomination.

11:15 a.m.: Trump loyalists are packing the church

By 11 a.m., hundreds of people were still waiting in line hoping to attend former President Donald Trump’s town hall at Dream City Church.

As the mercury approaches 100 degrees, it’s worth noting the dedication Trump’s supporters have for him.

Consider Litchfield Park residents Megan and Scott Anton.

Scott Anton, a regional security manager, said he is a registered independent and voted for Trump in 2020 because he agrees with Trump’s border control, energy independence and tax policies. 

“We’ve got to stand behind our guy. I think he’s headed in the right direction,” Scott Anton said. “I want to show our support.” 

Megan Anton, a self-employed hairstylist, said Trump is what finally motivated her to register to vote in 2020. 

— Sabine Martin

11 a.m.: Not everyone is a fan

Maricopa resident Jeff Northrup isn’t lacking for determination.

The 77-year-old has been a steady presence at events featuring former President Donald Trump, but not for the usual reason.

“I’ve been working against Trump since 2015, so we’re into our ninth year,” Northrup said as he picketed against Trump in the scorching heat.

Outside the church he held up signs in opposition to Trump supporters and mocked Trump’s recent felony convictions in New York.

Passers-by heckled him in response, and a police officer asked him to leave the premises.

For his part, Northrup seemed unbothered.

“If they (hecklers) get abusive with me,” he said, “I’ll turn around and stick my butt in their face.”

— Fernando Cervantes

10:45 a.m.: Want to watch, but can't be there? Here's how

For those who want to see Donald Trump’s town hall and can’t be at Dream City Church, tune in to the conservative Right Side Broadcasting Network for coverage.

Their livestream can be found here:

LIVE: "Chase the Vote" Town Hall With President Donald J. Trump - 6/6/24 (youtube.com)

According to a recent profile of the Trump-centric media outlet by the Associated Press, RSBN began with a single camera at a Trump event in Phoenix. Since then, it has piled up more than 1.6 million subscribers to its YouTube channel and is the go-to network of choice for Trump’s live events.

10:30 a.m.: Outside the church, long lines and sweltering heat

There is no questioning the loyalty to former President Donald Trump for those who were in line outside Dream City Church in north Phoenix.

Trump is scheduled to begin the town hall at 2 p.m., and hundreds gathered outside long before that. A long line of cars waited outside the church on Cave Creek Road as well.

By 10 a.m., the heat in Phoenix had already reached 96 degrees. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, minutes before the doors to the event opened, an older woman in line collapsed, presumably with the heat playing a role.

Trump supporters yelled “medic” and “We need a doctor.” A medic did provide water shortly afterward.

10:15 a.m.: Democrats have their own thoughts on Trump

Ahead of Trump’s town hall event, Arizona Democrats countered his visit with a news conference of their own.

Arizona Democratic Party Chair Yolanda Bejarano cast Trump as “unhinged” and a threat to U.S. democracy.

“We know that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans see Arizona as a testing ground for election conspiracy theories and denialism,” Bejarano said. “This is ground zero of what has become our entire country’s struggle against misinformation and false claims.”

President Joe Biden’s campaign has reminded voters that Turning Point Action, the organization hosting Trump on Thursday, sent seven buses of students to Washington to participate in the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The Democrats emphasized that Trump is now the first former president in history to have been convicted of a felony — a message that their party has driven home with billboards in the Phoenix area — and that his presidency set the stage for abortion restrictions in Arizona.

Peggy Neely, a former Vice Mayor of Phoenix, introduced herself as a “lifetime Republican” and said Trump caused her to become an independent.

“Every time that Trump comes to the microphone, he lies. And I could not take it anymore,” she said.

Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He has forcefully decried the felony verdicts against him as politically motivated and has taken a careful position on abortion in the ongoing campaign, declining to back a national ban on the procedure.

9:30 a.m.: How warmly will Trump embrace Lake, Hamadeh?

Palace intrigue usually hangs over any event involving former President Donald Trump, and Thursday’s town hall in Phoenix is no different.

Trump has endorsed two Arizona Republicans in key races this year, Kari Lake in the U.S. Senate race and Abe Hamadeh in a congressional race for a West Valley-based seat.

Both of his favored candidates are expected to attend the event at Dream City Church, but neither are expected to play a prominent role in the Trump-focused gathering.

Trump canceled at least two earlier trips to Arizona this year. One of them happened just days after Lake toppled Jeff DeWit, the then-chair of the Arizona Republican Party, with the release of a secretly recorded conversation from 2023 offering her money not to run for the Senate.

DeWit is among the most loyal and veteran Trump supporters in Arizona politics.

In April, the Washington Post reported that Trump “has shown annoyance with her frequent presence” at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Trump was visibly impressed with Lake when he saw her light up a Republican crowd for a Turning Point Action event in July 2021.

Among the subplots surrounding the event Thursday is how prominently Trump engages with Lake after the reported discord.

Hamadeh, meanwhile, won Trump’s endorsement early on in his bid for the U.S. House of Representatives.

But Blake Masters, another Republican challenger, has battered Hamadeh with political attacks in recent months with Hamadeh showing few resources to respond. Masters, who had Trump’s 2022 endorsement when he was the U.S. Senate nominee, has touted polling showing him ahead of Hamadeh.

All of which begs the question of whether Hamadeh’s flagging campaign can perk up with a shout-out from Trump.

Why is Trump coming to Arizona now?

Trump’s return to Arizona after his conviction should qualify as among the least-surprising moves of his third presidential run.

Trump has long shown an interest in the state, its political figures and the issues that often dominate its landscape.

Since 2015, when he first ran for president, he has visited Arizona at least 18 times.

The first visit came a month after he kicked off his longshot presidential bid and the raucous crowd showed an enthusiasm for his rhetorical attacks on Mexico and immigration as a central issue.

In office, Trump granted his first presidential pardon to former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had been convicted of a misdemeanor in connection with the continued practice of racial profiling by his department.

After the COVID pandemic led to a nationwide quarantine, Trump made a visit to Dream City his second public rally of the return to in-person campaigning in 2020.

After Trump’s narrow loss in Arizona that year, he personally urged Arizona’s then-House speaker to participate in a plan to overturn the election results.

That effort morphed into the use of “fake electors” in Arizona to help serve as the basis for not certifying the election on the day a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol. Trump is named as an unindicted coconspirator in a state-level indictment brought in that matter in April.

Technological Aids: Tools That Even the Playing Field for Hearing Disabilities

Imagine a world where everyone, no matter their abilities, can access the same information and enjoy the same experiences. This dream is becoming a reality thanks to amazing technological aids designed to help people with hearing disabilities . Let’s explore some of the coolest tools out there, like screen readers, and how they level the playing field for everyone.

What are Technological Aids for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing?

Tools like screen readers and software programs are not just for people who are blind or have low vision. They are also a boon for individuals with hearing disabilities. How? Some technological aids offer visual features that make text comprehension easier or can even convert text to sign language. Just imagine your computer screen coming alive with hands signing the words to you! Now, let’s explore some trends that are taking inclusivity to the next level!

The Magic of Speech-to-Text

One of the most thrilling advancements in technology for hearing disabilities is speech-to-text. This tool is like having a personal note-taker with you at all times. It listens to spoken words and instantly turns them into written text. So, whether you’re in a classroom or someone is giving a speech, you can read along on your screen. It’s like having subtitles for real life!

Real-Time Captioning

Speaking of subtitles, real-time captioning is another game-changer. This tool is often used in live events, like concerts or sports games. As people speak, their words are immediately turned into text and displayed on a screen. It’s like watching a movie with captions but in real life! This way, everyone can follow along and enjoy the event, no matter their hearing ability.

Video Relay Services (VRS)

Have you ever tried to call someone and found it hard to communicate because they couldn’t hear you? Video Relay Services, or VRS, solve this problem. VRS uses a video connection to link people with hearing disabilities to a sign language interpreter. The interpreter signs the conversation to the person with a hearing disability and speaks their signed responses back to the hearing person on the call. It’s like having a translator right in your phone!

Advanced Hearing Aids

Hearing aids have come a long way from the bulky devices of the past. Today’s hearing aids are sleek, tiny, and packed with amazing features. Some can connect to your smartphone, so you can stream music, make calls, or even adjust the settings directly from an app. They can also filter out background noise, making it easier to hear in noisy places like restaurants or concerts.

Cochlear Implants

For those with severe hearing loss, cochlear implants are a revolutionary option. Unlike hearing aids, which amplify sound, cochlear implants bypass damaged parts of the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve. This allows many people who are profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing to perceive sound. It’s almost like turning on a new sense!

Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs)

Assistive Listening Devices, or ALDs, are nifty gadgets that help improve sound quality in specific situations. For example, an FM system uses a transmitter microphone worn by a speaker and a receiver worn by the listener. This system is great in classrooms because it cuts through background noise and lets the listener focus on the teacher’s voice. Another example is induction loop systems, which use magnetic fields to transmit sound directly to hearing aids or cochlear implants, making it easier to hear in places like theaters or churches.

The Future of Accessibility with Technological Aids

The future is bright for technology that helps people with hearing disabilities. Researchers are working on brain-computer interfaces that might one day allow us to communicate directly from our brains to computers, bypassing the need for speech or hearing altogether. Augmented reality (AR) glasses are also in development, which could display captions or sign language right in front of your eyes, overlaying the real world with helpful information.

Why These Technological Aids Matter

These tools are not just cool gadgets; they are life-changers. They help people with hearing disabilities participate fully in society, whether in school, at work, or just out having fun. When everyone has equal access to information and communication, we all benefit. We hear more voices, understand more perspectives, and create a world where everyone can thrive.

The world is becoming more inclusive thanks to technological aids like speech-to-text, real-time captioning, VRS, advanced hearing aids, cochlear implants, ALDs, and other emerging technologies. These tools break down barriers and enable people with hearing disabilities to engage with the world in new and exciting ways. So, the next time you use a piece of technology, think about how it might make someone’s life a little bit easier and much more fun!

Seldean Smith

Seldean is a multi-skilled content wizard that loves digging into all things language, culture, and localization.

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11 taken to hospital for heat-related illness at Trump town hall in Phoenix

PHOENIX (AZFamily/AP) ― Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail Thursday with a trip to the Valley, his first appearance in a battleground state since he was convicted in a hush money scandal a week ago.

“Hello, Phoenix! I’m thrilled to be back in beautiful Arizona with thousands of proud, hardworking American Patriots,” Trump greeted the enthusiastic audience at Dream City Church on Cave Creek Road in north Phoenix.

Trump fired up the crowd as he told them, “With your help, less than five months from now, we are going to win the great state of Arizona, and we are going to tell crooked Joe Biden, ‘ You’re Fired! ’”

Meanwhile, Phoenix Fire officials say 11 people attending the event were taken to hospitals after complaining of heat-related symptoms.

Many attendees had been waiting outside the venue since the early morning hours, long before Phoenix hit 110 degrees around 1:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

RELATED: Fact-Checking former President Donald Trump’s speech in Phoenix

Trump responded defiantly to the verdict against him a day after a New York jury found him guilty last week of a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor.

But he had not spoken directly to the swing-state voters who will decide the November election until Thursday when he used profanity to decry the “fake” and politically motivated case against him.

The crowd of thousands inside the mega church, where bass for the pre-show and introductory music was turned up so high that it shook seats and media camera shots, chanted the same profanity in response.

Trump repeated his critiques of the case against him as politically motivated and called for his conviction to be overturned on appeal.

“Those appellate courts have to step up and straighten things out or we’re not going to have a country anymore,” Trump said

Trump’s conviction infuriated his supporters, who pumped tens of millions of dollars into his campaign in the immediate aftermath. Trump blames his conviction on President Joe Biden, though the case was brought by the locally elected district attorney in New York, and many of his allies are calling for revenge.

“What are they going to campaign on?” Juan Arredondo of Peoria said of the Democrats as he waited to get inside Trump’s rally. “They can’t campaign on the border. They can’t campaign on the economy.”

Trump focused much of his hourlong speech and subsequent Q&A on the U.S.-Mexico border, blaming a litany of problems — from inflation to the long-term health of Social Security — on illegal immigration, characterizing Biden’s policies “a deliberate demolition of our sovereignty and our borders.”

The influx of foreign-born adults vastly has raised the supply of available workers after a U.S. labor shortage had left many companies unable to fill jobs. The availability of immigrant workers eased the pressure on companies to sharply raise wages, and then pass on their higher labor costs to their customers via higher prices that feed inflation, which remains elevated in the U.S. but has plummeted from its levels of two years ago.

Immigrants who work also pay Social Security and other payroll taxes.

Trump appeared at the town hall in Phoenix organized by Turning Point, a conservative youth organization that has seen its influence rise alongside Trump’s takeover of the GOP. Maricopa County is expected to yet again be a critical piece of the presidential election in November.

Turning Point is led by Charlie Kirk . The group has harnessed the energy of young people drawn to Trump’s Make America Great Again movement by cultivating conservative influencers and hosting glitzy events. This has made Kirk and his allies wealthy .

“The election is now bigger than Donald Trump,” Kirk said, casting the stakes in November as a “class struggle between the ruling class and you.”

Nowhere is Turning Point’s influence greater than in Arizona, the group’s adopted home state, where its loyalists have taken on prominent roles in the state GOP but have struggled to win general elections. Turning Point’s slate of conservative candidates lost in the 2022 midterms, including Kari Lake, who lost the race for governor and is now running for U.S. Senate.

The group is looking to expand its influence this year to other battleground states and got a boost when Trump ousted former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel in February. She was replaced by Trump’s hand-picked successor, his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who has spoken positively about working with Turning Point.

President Joe Biden won Arizona in 2020 by about 10,000 votes. It was, along with Georgia, one of two states decided by less than half a percentage point and is expected to be close again this year.

Arizona Republicans have enthusiastically embraced Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. State lawmakers commissioned an unprecedented partisan recount that confirmed his loss. Cochise County officials in southern Arizona are facing criminal charges for refusing to certify the 2022 midterm election results.

Hours before Trump was scheduled to speak, Jake Hoffman, a Republican state senator who is also a top Turning Point consultant, was arraigned for his role in an alleged plot to overturn Trump’s loss in Arizona. Hoffman is accused of being a fake elector who signed a document falsely claiming to represent Arizona in the Electoral College.

Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, is scheduled for arraignment in the same case on Friday.

Despite the state’s importance on the presidential map, Trump had not campaigned in Arizona until today. In 2022, he held a rally to support his slate of midterm candidates, all of whom ended up losing.

Trump’s trip west includes several private fundraisers and a rally on Sunday in Nevada, another battleground state he lost narrowly in 2020.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.

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The 7 Best, Free Translator Tools [2024 Edition]

These seven best free translator tools are chock-full of features, great translations and quality that’s hard to match.

Some even have their own translation apps so you can take their powerful capabilities with you wherever you go.

Here’s all you need to know about the best online translator apps that money can’t buy.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

1. Google Translate

2. bing microsoft translator, 4. yandex translate, 5. translate dict, why is it important to use the best online translators, how to get the most out of a free online translator, and one more thing....

Available on: iOS | Android

Google Translate is a big name in the field, and for good reason. For starters, it supports over 100 languages including Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. You can even translate languages you’re unfamiliar with, like Frisian and Sesotho.

This free online translator also allows you to play the audio of the translated pieces at a conversational rate. If you play a translation twice, the audio will be slightly slower, allowing you to master tricky pronunciations. Keep in mind, however, that these pronunciations may not always be accurate.

To translate, all you have to do is enter the text, website or document into the left box, and Google Translate can figure out what language it is, provided you enable the “Detect Language” function . You can input your text directly, enter a webpage link, upload a document or quickly snap a picture.

In case you don’t have the typing skills for your target language yet, such as Japanese or Russian, you can also use their handwriting feature. You could also make use of their visual keyboard to type in words using your target alphabet. For common languages, you could use their speech input feature to help you quickly get a translation of what someone is saying in your target language.

• Thousands of learner friendly videos (especially beginners)
• Handpicked, organized, and annotated by FluentU's experts
• Integrated into courses for beginners

You’ll get multiple translations, definitions and ratings of how common they are, too. This is helpful since translations often depend on context. You could even “save” words for easy access the next time you use Google Translate.

While Bing Microsoft Translator doesn’t have as many features as Google Translate does, it’s not something to sneeze at, either. In fact, Bing’s translations may be even better for certain languages.

You can get translations and audio pronunciations for over 100 languages including Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Yucatec Maya and Klingon (yes, you read that right). All you have to do is input your text, voice or photo into the appropriate fields .

In case you need a little more help, you could also hit up other users via the “Conversation” tab . There are also phrasebooks in various languages covering topics like lodging, dining and emergencies—perfect for travelers and learners on the go. Finally, you can retrieve previous translations and check out any pinned searches.

• Interactive subtitles: click any word to see detailed examples and explanations
• Slow down or loop the tricky parts
• Show or hide subtitles
• Review words with our powerful learning engine

Reverso doesn’t translate quite as many languages as the ones above, but it still has some special features that make it worth using.

Currently, Reverso offers translations for 17 languages including Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian.

For most common words and phrases, Reverso will provide you with several possible translations. You’ll also get example sentences, which are very useful for learning how to use new vocabulary in context . If you’re unsure about the grammar of the text you’re translating, run it through Reverso’s spell/grammar check to generate the most accurate translation.

If you opt for a subscription, you can access advanced features such as pronunciation, search history, phrasebooks and other offline learning tools.

Available on: iOS |  Android

Yandex Translate isn’t as well-known as the tools already named above, but it’s on this list for one special reason: This tool utilizes self-learning statistical machine translation for over 100 languages .

You can transliterate Chinese pinyin, Japanese romaji, Korean romanization and more. Speech input is available in languages such as Russian, Ukrainian, English or Turkish.

• Learn words in the context of sentences
• Swipe left or right to see more examples from other videos
• Go beyond just a superficial understanding

Aside from text, Yandex can also translate photos, articles, entire web pages and more. If you’re reading on an iPad, you can utilize the “Split View” feature. A virtual keyboard is available for typing symbols in the absence of an international keyboard. Like Reverso, Yandex provides examples of how your translated words are used in context.

Translate Dict is a web-based translator that supports dozens of languages. It auto-detects the language or dialect you’re translating, and also offers audio pronunciation. There’s even an accent detector to catch any inflections, intonations and other nuances for a more accurate translation .

You could also check out the word and character count at the bottom of the page. This comes in handy if you want to use the translator to craft social media posts that limit character counts.

Additionally, SYSTRAN can also translate RSS feeds , which comes in handy when you’re subscribed to a content creator in your target language . You could even create your own personal dictionary, which not only helps you keep track of new vocab, but also override any default translations that may not be accurate.

And if you opt for the pro version, you can unlock even more features, such as translations into more languages, unlimited text translation and more supported document formats.

• FluentU builds you up, so you can build sentences on your own
• Start with multiple-choice questions and advance through sentence building to producing your own output
• Go from understanding to speaking in a natural progression.

DeepL is one of the least comprehensive options on this list in terms of the number of languages that it can translate. To date, it’s only available for 32 languages. However, the quality of the translations are on par with—and, in some cases, even better than—the more well-known of the best free translator tools on this list.

You could type in the text to be translated, drop in .pdf, .docx and .pptx files or click the microphone to translate speech. There’s even a glossary function and a dictionary function for extra information.

• The accuracy of translations can vary wildly. You’ve probably learned from your translation exercises that there are multiple ways to translate any word or phrase, and some ways are much better (and more accurate) than others. Translations vary with online translators, too, but usually, the higher-quality options have worked out more of the kinks than their competitors.
• Each online translator has different features. For example, some websites focus more on simple translations, while others have unique features that make them more like hybrids of conventional translators and learning websites . For language students, these additional features can help strengthen their grasp of the language, definition, pronunciation and more.
• The best online translators can help you learn as well as translate. A good online translator can actually add to your vocabulary. In fact, if you use it correctly and often, your favorite free online translator might just help you learn languages for free .
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• Translate the text back and forth between languages. Translating back and forth between languages is a helpful way to ensure the translation means what you want it to mean. For instance, if you’ve translated a phrase into your target language, try plugging that phrase back into the translator to get a clearer idea of what it actually means in English. Sometimes, this can help you catch translation or word choice errors.
• Play around with all of the translator’s features. For instance, if you always just want text translated, you might not even notice that your favorite translator offers terrific audio of words and phrases in your target language that you can use to nail down your pronunciation.
• Use your translator frequently. Whenever you realize you don’t know a word, use your favorite translator to look it up. Since these top online translators are handy ( some of which can be used offline ), it’s easy to use a translator whenever you have a spare moment. If you use the translator regularly, your vocabulary will likely grow exponentially with very little effort.
• Use it to check your work. Wrote something in your target language? Whip out your favorite translator to check it. You can translate it back to English to be sure the message is what you intended.
• Find real-world examples of words you look up. Some translators provide example sentences, which is great for learning in context. But it’s a good idea to take things a step further and ensure that you’re able to recognize and understand a word outside of the translator.

To understand words and the contexts they operate in, you need to observe the words in real-world contexts where native speakers are communicating naturally, such as interviews, podcasts and more. You can find these on language learning platforms like FluentU .

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"I Have a Dream"

August 28, 1963

Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered at the 28 August 1963  March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , synthesized portions of his previous sermons and speeches, with selected statements by other prominent public figures.

King had been drawing on material he used in the “I Have a Dream” speech in his other speeches and sermons for many years. The finale of King’s April 1957 address, “A Realistic Look at the Question of Progress in the Area of Race Relations,” envisioned a “new world,” quoted the song “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” and proclaimed that he had heard “a powerful orator say not so long ago, that … Freedom must ring from every mountain side…. Yes, let it ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado…. Let it ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let it ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let it ring from every mountain and hill of Alabama. From every mountain side, let freedom ring” ( Papers  4:178–179 ).

In King’s 1959 sermon “Unfulfilled Hopes,” he describes the life of the apostle Paul as one of “unfulfilled hopes and shattered dreams” ( Papers  6:360 ). He notes that suffering as intense as Paul’s “might make you stronger and bring you closer to the Almighty God,” alluding to a concept he later summarized in “I Have a Dream”: “unearned suffering is redemptive” ( Papers  6:366 ; King, “I Have a Dream,” 84).

In September 1960, King began giving speeches referring directly to the American Dream. In a speech given that month at a conference of the North Carolina branches of the  National Association for the Advancement of Colored People , King referred to the unexecuted clauses of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution and spoke of America as “a dream yet unfulfilled” ( Papers  5:508 ). He advised the crowd that “we must be sure that our struggle is conducted on the highest level of dignity and discipline” and reminded them not to “drink the poisonous wine of hate,” but to use the “way of nonviolence” when taking “direct action” against oppression ( Papers  5:510 ).

King continued to give versions of this speech throughout 1961 and 1962, then calling it “The American Dream.” Two months before the March on Washington, King stood before a throng of 150,000 people at Cobo Hall in Detroit to expound upon making “the American Dream a reality” (King, Address at Freedom Rally, 70). King repeatedly exclaimed, “I have a dream this afternoon” (King, Address at Freedom Rally, 71). He articulated the words of the prophets Amos and Isaiah, declaring that “justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream,” for “every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low” (King, Address at Freedom Rally, 72). As he had done numerous times in the previous two years, King concluded his message imagining the day “when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing with the Negroes in the spiritual of old: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” (King,  Address at Freedom Rally , 73).

As King and his advisors prepared his speech for the conclusion of the 1963 march, he solicited suggestions for the text. Clarence  Jones   offered a metaphor for the unfulfilled promise of constitutional rights for African Americans, which King incorporated into the final text: “America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned” (King, “I Have a Dream,” 82). Several other drafts and suggestions were posed. References to Abraham Lincoln and the  Emancipation Proclamation  were sustained throughout the countless revisions. King recalled that he did not finish the complete text of the speech until 3:30 A.M. on the morning of 28 August.

Later that day, King stood at the podium overlooking the gathering. Although a typescript version of the speech was made available to the press on the morning of the march, King did not merely read his prepared remarks. He later recalled: “I started out reading the speech, and I read it down to a point … the audience response was wonderful that day…. And all of a sudden this thing came to me that … I’d used many times before.... ‘I have a dream.’ And I just felt that I wanted to use it here … I used it, and at that point I just turned aside from the manuscript altogether. I didn’t come back to it” (King, 29 November 1963).

The following day in the  New York Times,  James Reston wrote: “Dr. King touched all the themes of the day, only better than anybody else. He was full of the symbolism of Lincoln and Gandhi, and the cadences of the Bible. He was both militant and sad, and he sent the crowd away feeling that the long journey had been worthwhile” (Reston, “‘I Have a Dream …’”).

Carey to King, 7 June 1955, in  Papers  2:560–561.

Hansen,  The Dream,  2003.

King, Address at the Freedom Rally in Cobo Hall, in  A Call to Conscience , ed. Carson and Shepard, 2001.

King, “I Have a Dream,” Address Delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, in  A Call to Conscience , ed. Carson and Shepard, 2001.

King, Interview by Donald H. Smith, 29 November 1963,  DHSTR-WHi .

King, “The Negro and the American Dream,” Excerpt from Address at the Annual Freedom Mass Meeting of the North Carolina State Conference of Branches of the NAACP, 25 September 1960, in  Papers  5:508–511.

King, “A Realistic Look at the Question of Progress in the Area of Race Relations,” Address Delivered at St. Louis Freedom Rally, 10 April 1957, in  Papers  4:167–179.

King, Unfulfilled Hopes, 5 April 1959, in  Papers  6:359–367.

James Reston, “‘I Have a Dream…’: Peroration by Dr. King Sums Up a Day the Capital Will Remember,”  New York Times , 29 August 1963.