Behind the Dream

On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. established himself as one of the greatest orators of all time with his moving, now-famous speech, “I Have a Dream.” A crowd 250,000 strong had joined the reverend in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, they listened in rapt attention as King made an impassioned plea for racial equality and called for an end to discrimination. The history-making march and King’s speech brought the plight of African Americans to the public consciousness.

“The march has been compared to a tsunami, a shockwave, a wall, a living monument, a human mosaic, an outright miracle,” notes Clarence B. Jones. “There was a kind of energy emanating from the crowd of humanity. It was just that energy that made the words in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s voice resonate.” The co-writer of the legendary speech, Jones had been standing behind King when renowned gospel singer Mahalia Jackson called out to the reverend to “tell them about the dream!” Surprisingly, the text that Jones had helped King create did not contain the phrase “I have a dream.” Yet it was precisely that phrase that helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement and define an era.

As a counselor and close confidant, Jones accompanied King on the road during his campaigns to desegregate public accommodations and facilities. He was also with him during the great march. In Behind the Dream, he describes his experience collaborating with King and hammering out the ideas for the speech that would shape the Civil Rights Movement and inspire Americans for years to come. Although commonly believed to have originated with King and his associates, the idea for an organized march on the capital was not the brainchild of the Civil Rights Movement. A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, proposed the idea more than 20 years earlier.

Randolph’s march was intended to pressure President Franklin D. Roosevelt into guaranteeing jobs for black men and women in the World War II armament industries. However, the march was called off when Roosevelt capitulated to Randolph’s demands and issued the first presidential executive order to protect African-American rights since the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1963, Randolph suggested King and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference retool his original idea and stage a large demonstration as part of a Civil Rights campaign.

King had been looking for a way to get the country’s attention and Randolph’s concept was the perfect solution. The march gave voice to the nation’s previously silent victims of racism. Behind the Dream is a riveting, behind-the-scenes account of the great event.