January 21st, 2013 by Tamara Krause

As a young student, I can remember sitting in my English class listening to a recording of Martin Luther King, Jr. delivering his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. The conviction in his voice reverberated through my body, and I could almost feel what it must have been like to stand among 200,000 protesters, watching as he delivered those immortal words. There was no rally cry for violence, just a simple demand that America make good on a ‘bad check’ and uphold the Constitution’s promise that all men, whether black or white, have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What I did not know at the time was that the majority of that speech was created on the spot, inspired by a gospel singer named Mahalia Jackson. Read the rest of this entry »