Unfortunately you won't get a lot of other chances to watch it, because MLK was not only a great orator, he was a smart businessman as well. (He sent his speech to the U.S. Copyright office and had his work listed as a work not to be reproduced for sale.) His speech will not enter the public domain until 2038, so, until then, the only way to legally reproduce it is to pay a licensing fee.
Forget what others tell you, with all due respect to the Gettysburg Address, it's the greatest speech ever delivered in the History of this country. And it could not have come at a better time. Americans needed someone to appeal to their conscience and humanity at the time, and King's speech did just that. Back then we didn't have basic civil rights, and we were not viewed as equals by most Americans. That march to D.C. highlighted the hypocrisy of "American exceptionalism" at the time, and it put a spotlight on our most serious flaw.
That was 50 years ago, and I am glad to say that there have been some changes. But there is so much work left to be done. Laws have been passed to guarantee us equality, but now we have to work on getting economic equality and bridging the wealth -and educational- gap as well.
I loved the march, but we have some work to do in our communities. Some of you sperm donors need to be marching back home so that you can take care of business on the home front. That would be a nice start.
If we get our houses in order and start sending out children who value education and hard work the economic equality will come.
That's not something we have to dream about; that can be our reality.
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