"Telling them about the Dream Martin"
Mahalia Jackson in studio in 1956, Courtesy of the New York Public Library
According to Clarence Jones, who helped draft Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. original March on Washington keynote speech, Mahalia Jackson who was King's favorite gospel singer inspired the final rendition of his message. Jackson sang at the march on Washington before King spoke. While he delivered the original speech, Jackson turned to him and said, “tell them about the dream, Martin. Tell them about the dream” (she had heard King talk about his dream on a previous occasion). King paused and pushed "the text of the speech aside, grabbed the podium," started preaching, and "captured lightning in a bottle,” says Jones.
