Dreams for Sale

Recently on 60 Minutes I saw a piece on the King family, Coretta and the adult children. I was somewhat aghast to learn that Martin Luther King had copyrighted his speeches and papers with the result that they were only available to the public for a price. One of the sons, Dexter King, was trying to sell the King papers to the Library of Congress for twenty million dollars. The library people were hesitant. Anyone wanting to screen the, “I have a Dream”, speech has to pay royalties to the Kings.

 The Kings apparently were arguing that any profits from Martin Luther King’s works should go to them and not others. Leslie Stahl implied that Martin Luther King perhaps hadn’t been the best husband or father. He had been away a lot, and he never provided much money for the family. According to 60 Minutes he put his Nobel Peace Prize money back into the civil rights movement.

I thought on one hand that all this would have troubled Dr. King, but on another he might have appreciated the wonderful irony. After all the family seemed to be pursuing its own dream! But then I thought what if Randolph Churchill had made us pay to hear his father’s speeches? Or what if we didn’t have access to Roosevelt’s “Day of Infamy” speech, one that is particularly relevant in these times.

It is hard to imagine not being able to hear John Kennedy’s wonderful words. His inaugural address was stirring, and carried a message for future generations. JFK’s, “I am a Berliner” address in Germany, when the wall was still up, gave hope and encouragement to oppressed people. I can still hear the German people cheering.


Another important speech was Edward R. Murrow’s courageous radio address condemning Senator Joseph McCarthy at a time when many were silent. His opening sentence of, “a cancer is spreading across our land”, etched itself in my mind. So often such speeches help us reaffirm our values and keep us on course.

Martin Luther King was always one of my heroes. Hopefully his words will stay alive and inspire future generations.