The speech, “I Have a Dream” produced by Martin Luther King, Jr. communicates the message that even though the nation was living a nightmare of the 1960s, he dreamed of hope, change, and equality among African Americans. King connects his points to his audience through history, imagery, and repetition. History plays an important part of King’s speech because his allusions to each historical fact raises the question why are African Americans not experiencing equality. In the beginning of the speech, King alludes to the Emancipation Proclamation, a document that freed slaves. According to King, “One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination” (629). King
