Clarence B. Jones was interviewed by Tavis Smiley last week. Clarence is an attorney and was an advisor and a speechwriter for Martin Luther King. In this interview Jones talks about the March on Washington and the experience of being there during the famous speech on August 28, 1963. The Dream was not part of King's original speech. Mahalia Jackson, King's favorite gospel singer, called out to Martin that day, "Tell them about the dream, Martin" and he laid out the Dream for that audience of 250,000. It was not the first time he had spoken about the dream but as Jones says in the Smiley interview, King had the ability adlib and cut and paste pieces of speeches together at the most appropriate time and he did that so well. Kings speeches (printed, audio and some video) speeches are here.
We all have a dream that lives within us. It is our potential energy waiting to be unleashed into movement, action and kinetic energy.
The interview is 16 minutes. The main section about the dream is 0:45 to 7:00.
You can find it on YouTube - search on "TAVIS SMILEY Clarence B. Jones PBS1142"
Showing posts with label PBS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PBS. Show all posts
Monday, January 24, 2011
Friday, October 15, 2010
God in America PBS
I have really enjoyed this week's PBS six hour presentations on God in America. Europeans coming to the new world attached significance to this new place, the journey and the challenges to unfolding and manifesting a Divine destiny. Christian sects embraced the freedom to follow their own religious interpretation without persecution.
Right now you can watch the series on the program's web site. Let me talk about two parts I was impressed with. First, having an evangelical training I related to the circuit meetings where preachers would travel the circuit and preach the word with zeal. Second, I have been studying more about the great spiritual awakenings in our country and the associated great desire to spread the word and convert people to your own religious perspective. It seems that whenever there is dismay or disappointment a spiritual awakening effort was organized to get people 'back on track'. Using inspired preachers explaining the promise of eternal salvation some meetings attracted over 7000 people in the Kentucky wilderness.
The third segment was particularly interesting to me as it highlighted the influence of Billy Graham on the society and how that period was one of the greatest periods of church attendance. That segment also presented the role of Martin Luther King and his focus on injustice between races and how that is linked to being a moral society. MLK was scorned by local ministers for his activating black awareness. From his jail cell in Birmingham he wrote a letter to those clergymen thoroughly outlining his mission in Birmingham and the role of civil disobedience in the crusade for equality and fairness.
I highly recommend viewing the series.
Right now you can watch the series on the program's web site. Let me talk about two parts I was impressed with. First, having an evangelical training I related to the circuit meetings where preachers would travel the circuit and preach the word with zeal. Second, I have been studying more about the great spiritual awakenings in our country and the associated great desire to spread the word and convert people to your own religious perspective. It seems that whenever there is dismay or disappointment a spiritual awakening effort was organized to get people 'back on track'. Using inspired preachers explaining the promise of eternal salvation some meetings attracted over 7000 people in the Kentucky wilderness.
The third segment was particularly interesting to me as it highlighted the influence of Billy Graham on the society and how that period was one of the greatest periods of church attendance. That segment also presented the role of Martin Luther King and his focus on injustice between races and how that is linked to being a moral society. MLK was scorned by local ministers for his activating black awareness. From his jail cell in Birmingham he wrote a letter to those clergymen thoroughly outlining his mission in Birmingham and the role of civil disobedience in the crusade for equality and fairness.
I highly recommend viewing the series.
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