TIME

A dream restored

YOU KNOW MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.’S “I HAVE A DREAM” speech. Or at least you think you know it—you’ve read about it in textbooks, or heard politicians quote from it, or seen clips in classrooms or museums.

But chances are, you haven’t heard the full 17-minute address from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and what you have heard failed to capture what made it the one of the most famous speeches in history. Even if you wanted to, despite its renown, it’s surprisingly hard to find. Online clips are removed swiftly, and those that evade detection crackle with white noise.

But this month, there will be a new way to hear the speech. TIME is releasing a virtual reality experience that takes participants back to that day in August 1963. The experience uses original audio, available in rare fidelity thanks to an unlikely source: Motown Records. In its recording, King’s clarion voice carries without the distracting echo picked up by inferior attempts to capture it. Spectators on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial chime in audibly as King proceeds through his remarks, making listeners feel as if they’re 10 ft. from the podium. Crucially, the recording, which is also slated for rerelease for audiences today, challenges long-held notions about that day—and its story reveals King’s struggles over how best to share his words with the world.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from TIME

TIME1 min read
Protests Spread
Members of a student protest movement in support of Palestinian civilians link arms on Columbia University’s Manhattan campus on April 18. When the protesters, who called on Columbia to divest from companies that supply weapons to Israel, refused to
TIME1 min read
Overflooded
A nearly submerged island in Qingyuan, photographed from above on April 22, lay in the path of the relentless rain that lashed southern China that week. Since April 16, days of downpour in China’s Guangdong province led to widespread flooding, killin
TIME2 min read
Facing A Ban In The U.S., TikTok Gears Up For A Legal Battle
TikTok’s 170 million users in the U.S. face losing access to the ubiquitous social media app after President Biden signed into law a bill on April 24 compelling the app’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to either sell it by January 2025 or face a na

Related Books & Audiobooks