In September 1960, King began giving speeches referring directly to the American Dream. 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 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). From every mountain side, let freedom ring” ( Papers 4:178–179). Let it ring from every mountain and hill of Alabama. Let it ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let it ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Yes, let it ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado…. 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….

King had been drawing on material he used in the “I Have a Dream” speech in his other speeches and sermons for many years. 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.

Mlk jr i have a dream speech