Origins of the Dream - by W Jason Miller (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

For years, some scholars have privately suspected Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech was connected to Langston Hughes's poetry, and the link between the two was purposefully veiled through careful allusions in King's orations. In Origins of the Dream, W. Jason Miller lifts that veil to demonstrate how Hughes's revolutionary poetry became a measurable inflection in King's voice, and that the influence can be found in more than just the one famous speech.

Miller contends that by employing Hughes's metaphors in his speeches, King negotiated a political climate that sought to silence the poet's subversive voice. He argues that by using allusion rather than quotation, King avoided intensifying the threats and accusations against him, while allowing the nation to unconsciously embrace the incendiary ideas behind Hughes's poetry.

Review Quotes

"Shows how the relationship between King and Hughes is part of a larger tradition in African American rhetoric of community, indirection, and cultural reinvention. . . . Reminds us of how marginalized groups remodel and subvert communication patterns in order to have their voices heard and make them matter in the mainstream."--American Literary History "A welcome addition to African-American studies." --Florida Times Union

About the Author

W. Jason Miller is associate professor of English at North Carolina State University. He is the author of Langston Hughes and American Lynching Culture.