I Have a Dream

Narrator 1: As a young boy, Martin Luther King Jr. lives in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s the 1930s, back when Babe Ruth is still hitting home runs.

Clark: Pitch it, Wallace.

Martin: Can I play too?

Narrator 2: Martin enjoys singing and riding his bicycle. He delivers newspapers. And he loves to play baseball. He especially likes playing ball with two White boys in his neighborhood.

Clark: Hey, yeah! Martin’s on my team!

Wallace: Nuh-uh! I get him. He played on your team last time.

Clark: So? I called it! He’s on my team.

Wallace: Don’t try to push me around, Clark. Or we’ll have to fight this out.

N1: The two brothers often argue about who gets to have Martin on their team. Sometimes they call each other names, and sometimes they get into fistfights. But even as a young boy, Martin is already a peacemaker.

Martin: Cut it out, you two! My daddy says you shouldn’t talk like that. And there’ll be no fighting either.

Wallace: Your daddy may be a preacher, but he isn’t an umpire.

Martin: I was on your team last time, Wallace. I’ll play for Clark today. That’s fair.

N2: Martin’s father is the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist, a church that Martin’s grandfather led many years before Martin was born.

N1: The church members call Martin’s father Daddy King.

Daddy King: Just as the Bible says, we must forgive those who act hatefully toward us. Whether Black or White, whether young or old, we must love our neighbors as ourselves.

Viola: Look, Lorraine, there’s young Martin. Isn’t he just adorable?!

Lorraine: Martin, doesn’t it make you proud to see your father standing so tall before all the people at church?

Martin: Yes, ma’am.

Viola: Will you become a preacher like your daddy and your granddaddy?

Martin: No, ma’am. I’m proud of my daddy. But my dream is to be a shortstop.

N2: Martin doesn’t know it yet, but someday he’ll be known as the Reverend Martin Luther King, just like his father.

N1: But there will be some hard lessons along the way.

Mrs. King (to Viola and Lorraine): Hello, ladies. It’s nice to see you both. We must be heading home. We have to pick up a few groceries on the way.

N2: The grocery store near Martin’s house is owned by Clark and Wallace’s parents.

N1: Martin thinks it’s strange that whenever he and his mother go there, instead of just walking across the street, they walk all the way around the block to enter through the back door.

N2: Like all the Black customers, they have to wait behind the White customers to get served. Martin doesn’t think it’s fair.

Mrs. King: That’s just the way it is, Martin. Be polite and hold your tongue.

N1: Finally, Mrs. Conner comes over to take their order.

Martin: Your boy Clark is quite a ballplayer, Mrs. Conner. The other day he struck me out two times.

Mrs. Conner: You play ball with my boys?

Martin: Yes, ma’am. They’re my best friends!

Mrs. Conner: They are, are they?

N2: Mrs. Conner takes a long pause as she looks at Martin.

N1: Then she hands Mrs. King her purchases and reminds her to head out the back.

N2: The next time Martin goes to play ball with Mrs. Conner’s boys, he brings his friend Medgar along.

N1: When they arrive at the park, no one is there.

Medgar: So where are they?

Martin: I don’t know. We’ve been playing right here every day after school.

Medgar: I think you’re making it up. You haven’t been playing with any White boys.

Martin: I don’t have any reason to lie, Medgar. The other day, I hit a home run off Wallace. It cleared the fence right over there.

Medgar: Well then, why aren’t they here?

Martin: You wait here. I’ll go find them.

N2: Martin runs all the way to the grocer’s house. When he knocks on the door, Mrs. Conner answers.

Martin: Where are your boys, Mrs. Conner? They were supposed to play ball today.

Mrs. Conner: Clark and Wallace can’t play. They’re . . . they’re sick in bed.

N1: Martin can see past Mrs. Conner into the house. Clark and Wallace are standing in the shadows.

N2: Both boys are frowning. Clark shyly waves at him.

N1: Martin stares at Mrs. Connor, confused. Then he understands what she means.

N2: Mrs. Connor doesn’t want her boys spending time with Black people.

N1: A few minutes later, at the King House, Mrs. King finds Martin hiding in the garden. He’s crying.

Mrs. King: What’s wrong, Martin? Are you hurt?

Martin: Mrs. Conner doesn’t want her boys to play ball with me anymore.

N2: Martin’s mother comes close and puts her hands on his shoulders.

N1: Martin sees she understands what happened.

Mrs. King: I’m so sorry, Martin.

Martin: Why does my skin color matter?

Mrs. King: There are a lot of people around who don’t like those who look different from them.

Martin: But Clark and Wallace don’t feel that way. They like me. We have fun together.

Mrs. King: The boys may not feel that way, but their parents do. That’s why they make us go through the back door of their store. That’s why they serve their White customers first. They’re punishing us because they think we’re different. And they’ll teach their children to do the same.

Martin: But that’s not fair! How can they do that?

Mrs. King: There are laws that allow them to discriminate against us.

N2: Mrs. King is referring to Jim Crow laws. These laws made it legal for White people to treat Black people unfairly.

N1: Black people weren’t allowed to use the same restrooms as White people or eat at the same restaurants.

N2: They couldn’t go to the same schools. And often, they weren’t allowed to vote.

Martin: Well, somebody needs to do something about it.

Mrs. King: Yes, Martin. Somebody does.

N1: One day, Martin would do something about Jim Crow laws and other forms of discrimination.

N2: In 1955, at the age of 26, he’d become famous for leading a boycott of city buses in Montgomery, Alabama. The boycott would help put an end to laws forcing Black people to sit at the back of the bus.

N1: By 1964, he’d help get the Civil Rights Act passed. That law protects people from being treated unfairly because of their skin color.

N2: But as a boy, Martin just wants to play ball at the park.

Clark (excitedly): Hey look, it’s Martin!

Martin: Can I play?

Wallace: Remember what Ma and Pa said. We’re not allowed to talk to him.

Clark (sadly): Sorry, Martin. We could use a shortstop, but our parents say we’ll be in big trouble if we play with you.

Martin: But what do you think? How come my skin color didn’t matter last week?

Clark: We don’t want any trouble, Martin. We just do what we’re told.

N1: A few days later, Martin is at his father’s church.

Daddy King: As it says in the Bible, strive for peace with all men. Stand up for yourself, speak your mind, but always strive for peace.

Lorraine: Preach, Reverend!

N2: Perhaps it’s then that Martin first imagines himself following in his father’s footsteps.

Daddy King: May you live in harmony with one another, so that together you may with one voice shout “Hallelujah!” [haluh-LOO-yuh] to the heavens.

Viola: Amen!

Martin (softly): Amen.

N1: Twenty-eight years after Martin was told by his friends that he couldn’t play ball with them, he would preach to more than 200,000 people of every race and color at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Adult Martin: I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

N2: During those 28 years, Martin would be arrested many times for standing up for himself.

Adult Martin: I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

N1: He’d be yelled at, hit, and spit on.

Adult Martin: This will be the day when all will be able to sing with new meaning, “Let freedom ring!”

N2: Yet through it all, Martin would follow his father’s advice and strive for peace and harmony among all people.

Adult Martin: When we allow freedom to ring, we will all be able to join hands and sing, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”