I listened to Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous speech I have a dream for the first time, after coming to the US, a month ago. It filled me my heart with a great deal of inspiration and emotion. The speech fascinates me each time I listen to it by the passion and truthfulness so evident in it.
He was a leader with a far-fetched vision, a leader who had a dream and had the strength to lead the path for his followers to achieve that dream. He is an engaging speaker and communicated his messages well to his audience in the eighteen-minutes-long speech, which inspired thousands of people back in ’63 and continues to touch the heart of the people even today, fifty years after he first presented it.
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood,” reflects Dr. King’s deeply rooted dream to eliminated racial discrimination.
The speech played a critical role in the history of civil rights movement in the USA, and his leadership style is embedded in the speech. I would describe him as a transformational leader who believed in peaceful protest. Transformational leadership style is a type of leadership which leaves positive changes among those who follow them *, a style Dr.King followed and left behind him. He set a milestone to fight against discrimination against the black population of the USA, when civil rights movement was at its peak in the 60s.
I see him as a true leader, whose legacy continues to be the inspiration for people from all races and culture till today, who struggle for justice and equality against any discrimination.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/recent/martin luther_king_01.shtml
*http://psychology.about.com/od/leadership/a/transformational.htm
