"I Have a Dream" & the American Civil Rights Movement

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday in the USA which is observed on the third Monday of January (the 18th of the current month in 2021), as Dr. King's birthday was on January 15th. His speech, "I Have a Dream" has inspired several generations of civil rights activists to fight peacefully but unyieldlingly for justice and against any kind of discrimination. American Rhetoric.com ranks "I Have a Dream" as number one in the list of the most influential speeches in the USA, it is powerful, moving, rich in literary and biblical references and very rhythmical -a well-crafted mixture of political speech and Baptist sermon.  You can also watch the whole speech on the YouTube video below. 

The speech needs a certain historical introduction, as it contains numerous references to the struggle against segregation laws in the 1950's and 60's, which students will problably miss otherwise. This lesson plan for a two-hour C1 class includes some reading, speaking and vocabulary tasks (1h 30'), based on extracts from the Wikipedia's page on the Civil Rights Movement, with a slide presentation to illustrate the major events of the movement and a clip from Bob Dylan's song "The Death of Emmett Till", which is mentioned in the Wikipedia texts. The second part of the class is a  simple listening and reading task with a fill-in-the gap exercise on the transcipt of Dr. King's speech "I Have a Dream" (20'- 25'). The online file includes another document with further examples of Jim Crow laws. The lesson is hard at times but hopeful.

The text contains a lof of legal terms in American English.  Some of the less frequent vocabulary students will come across is the following: facilities, [a court] to rule, literacy, to file a suit, a plaintiff, to overturn a decision/ a court ruling, a melting pot, to flirt, to dispose of, casket, to rally support, to acquit of a crime, double jeopardy, outrage, to spark, a standoff, a [lunch] counter, to pledge, bail, a restroom, to flee, to cram, turmoil, a stance, to enforce [a law], to skip school, restraint, upheaval, to gather, to fulfill [a requirement].


If you want further information on the March on Washington you can watch this Time Magazine short documentary (6':05") or just browse on Google or YouTube.  The rally ended with some memorable musical performances by Joan Baez, The Freedom Singers, Peter, Paul & Mary, Mahalia Jackson, Bob Dylan, Odetta, or the Eva Jessye Choir, which are worth watching.

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