How the weather factored into Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech
How the weather factored into Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech
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| Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. acknowledges the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial for his „I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963. (AP Photo, File) |
„I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.‘
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.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”
The weather has been the backdrop to every momentous occurrence in history. Sometimes it plays a major role that influences the outcome of seismic events as it did on D-Day during World War II, and other times it simply provides the scenery in which circumstances unfold.
In 1963, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and addressed a crowd of an estimated 250,000 people and made what is, perhaps, the most definitive statement of his storied lifetime: „I have a dream.”
Few speeches in the annals of American history have the power to stir up intense emotions like this speech during a pivotal moment of the Civil Rights Movement. You would be hard-pressed to find an American unaware of the historical speech, one of the best known in U.S. history, right up there with Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Gettysburg Address, according to History.com. What a lot of people may not know is that the event took place on a hot, summer day in August.
„It’s August 28, 1963. Hundreds of people are soaking their feet in the Reflecting Pool in an attempt to cool off. It’s a normal mid-summer day but the body heat of 250,000+ people is causing an abnormal spike in D.C. The cool marble of the Lincoln Memorial mocks attendees who have spent months marching to its steps. It’s a pivotal place and an important time for America,” writer Sara Marsolek notes as she recounts the mood of the day. King was the last speaker of the day. „The crowd now directs its attention to the man whose words have cut through the heat of the noonday sun.”
While July is typically the hottest month in Washington, D.C., with an average high of 91 degrees Fahrenheit, August is a close second with an average high of 88 degrees.
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| Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addresses the crowd during his „I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. (AP Photo, File) |
In a 2013 report for the Library of Congress, Jennifer Harbster offered this breakdown of what the weather was like for demonstrators traveling to D.C. from across the country. As for the weather in the city itself, Harbster said, „It was a beautiful day for a march. It was not a typical hot and humid summer day — the temperature was mild and dew point was low. It averaged 73 degrees with the hottest part of the day being from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. when it reached 80 degrees.”
While it was a pleasant summer day, The Washington Post notes that media that day „described the day as one with high temperatures and stifling humidity, with hundreds cooling off by soaking their feet in the reflecting pool and at least one person being carried away due to heat exhaustion.”
Harbster offers the following logical explanation:
In his book, Like a Mighty Stream, author and editor Patrik Henry Bass agrees and summed it up by saying, „Some recall the day as one of the hottest of their lives; others thought it was a mild summer day.”
Perspective is everything, and your experience of the day likely depended on what you were wearing, where you were standing and your level of excitement. As Harbster notes, „Although the weather observations tell a different story, to fully understand what the weather felt like, we need to think beyond the records and take note of these other factors (i.e., crowds, activity, and wardrobe). I have no doubt that it seemed hotter on the Mall during the 1963 March than the records tell us.”
Nearing the end of his speech, King departed from his prepared notes and launched into the most famous part of his 16-minute speech that day: „And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.”
According to History.com, „King had used the „I have a dream” theme before, in a handful of stump speeches, but never with the force and effectiveness of that hot August day in Washington.”
„When we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'”
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Ravens vs. Bills weather forecast: Snow possible for tonight’s NFL divisional playoff game
- Where: Bills Stadium in Orchard Park, NY
- When: Saturday, January 16
- Start Time: 8:15 p.m. ET; live coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET with Football Night In America
- TV Channel: NBC
- Stream live: Watch online or with the NBC Sports App
RELATED: AFC divisional round has youngest group of quarterbacks everClick here to see the full 2021 NFL playoff schedule and be sure to check out ProFootballTalk for more on the 2021 NFL Playoffs as well as game previews, recaps, news, rumors and more.
Miami-Dade to open cold weather shelters as temperatures fall in South Florida
The Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust activated its Cold Weather Emergency Plan on Saturday and plans to open shelters for the homeless.
That’s because the National Weather Service in Miami forecast temperatures in the low 50s by Saturday night into the morning.
The wind chill could make it feel even chillier than 50.
Need assistance with homeless sheltering? Call 877-994-4357 or 305-375-2273.
Cool temperatures in the 50s and upper 40s in parts of South Florida could last until Monday, the weather service said in its hazardous weather outlook.
Broward has not said yet if it plans to open shelters.
This is the first rain of the year. And it will bring colder days to South Florida
Sherpas successfully complete first winter summit of K2; Spanish climber killed
By Umar Farooq
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A team of climbers from Nepal on Saturday become the first mountaineers to successfully complete a winter attempt on the summit of K2, the world’s second tallest peak.
The group of sherpas had paused at a point 70 metres short of the 8,611 metres (28,251 feet) peak to wait for each other before climbing into the world’s history books together at 4:56 p.m.
Located on the Pakistan China border, K2 is the only mountain over 8,000 metres that had not been summitted in the winter.
The group were named as Nirmal Purja, Gelje Sherpa, Mingma David Sherpa, Mingma G, Sona Sherpa, Mingma Tenzi Sherpa, Pem Chhiri Sherpa, Dawa Temba Sherpa, Kili Pemba Sherpa, and Dawa Tenjing Sherpa.
Their success was marred by the death on the mountain of renowned Spanish climber Sergio Mingote, who fell down a crevasse as he attempted to make his way down to Base Camp, Karrar Haidri, secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, told Reuters. Around 49 climbers in several teams are on K2 making attempts on the summit, weather permitting.
„Dismayed by the news of the accident that has ended the life of a magnificent athlete,” Spain’s Minister of Health Salvador Illa wrote on Twitter, describing Mingote as „a personal friend.”
Mingote, 49, had climbed seven mountains over 8,000 meters without supplemental oxygen in less than two years.
First climbed in 1954 by Italian Achille Compagnoni, K2 is notorious for its sleep slopes and high winds, and in winter its surface becomes slick ice.
Of the 367 people that had completed its ascent by 2018, 86 had died. The Pakistani military is regularly called in to rescue climbers using helicopters, but the weather often makes that difficult.
The previous highest altitude achieved on K2 in winter was 7,750 meters by Denis Urubko and Marcin Kaczkan, set nearly two decades ago.
The coronavirus pandemic had meant restrictions on travel severely impacted the traditional summer mountaineering season in the Karakoram range and Pakistan in particular, which is home to five of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000 metres.
(Reporting by Umar Farooq; Editing by Mike Harrison)
Wind, rain, heavy snow batter New England, eastern Canada
Canada Weather
A person takes a photo with their phone during a major snowstorm in Ottawa on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A storm lashed parts of New England and eastern Canada on Saturday with heavy rain, snow and wind, leading to power outages and slick roads.
About 15,000 homes and businesses were without electricity at the height of the storm in Vermont, the hardest-hit U.S. state, and thousands of outages were reported elsewhere across the region, officials said.
“The snow is wet, heavy and slippery, which makes travel and restoration conditions tough,” said Mike Burke, chief of field operations at Green Mountain Power in Vermont.
A foot or more of snow was possible across higher elevations of northern New England, and wind gusts as high as 50 to 60 mph (80 to 96 kph) were expected along the Maine coast, said Michael Clair, of the National Weather Service in Maine.
Gusts of 70 mph (112 kph) were recorded at the Isle of Shoals, about 2 miles off New Hampshire, and New Hampshire’s Mount Washington recorded a gust of 118 mph (190 kph) at the summit, the weather service said.
Much of eastern Canada was pounded with steady snowfall.
Locations that didn’t get snow could see 1 1/2 to 2 inches (4 to 5 centimeters) of rain, Clair said.
Snow showers, gusty winds expected in parts of Charlotte region. Here’s the latest.
Snow showers and gusty winds are expected in parts of the Charlotte region on Saturday, while several inches of snow could fall in parts of the N.C. mountains, National Weather Service meteorologists said.
One to 3 inches of snow could fall in parts of the mountains higher than 3,500 feet, according to a winter weather advisory bulletin at 3:43 a.m. Saturday.
“This snow will create slick roadways and potentially hazardous driving conditions,” NWS meteorologists warned.
In a tweet, NWS forecast “gusty winds are likely Saturday evening as well.”
Snow showers could develop in parts of the N.C. Piedmont and Foothills, according to the bulletin.
The Charlotte metro area has only a “slight chance” of snow showers before 11 a.m. and a similarly slight chance of rain between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., according to the latest NWS forecast at 10 a.m. Saturday. The chance stands at a near negligible 20%, according to the NWS.
The Queen City could see wind gusts of up to 24 mph, NWS forecasters said.
And for Charlotte, the greater threat from the system could come in the form of low temperatures at or below freezing over the next few days.
“A cold front has moved through and the cooler temperatures will be felt all day,” WBTV meteorologist Leigh Brock shared Saturday morning.
A low of 29 degrees is forecast for late Saturday-early Sunday in Charlotte, 32 degrees late Sunday-early Monday and 28 late Monday-early Tuesday.
Keep the winter coats handy during the day as well, as a high of only 45 is forecast in Charlotte on Saturday under partly sunny skies.
Highs are expected to inch up to 47 on Sunday and 48 on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday, according to the NWS. Skies should remain partly to mostly sunny throughout the weekend, NWS meteorologists said.
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If there’s inclement weather in Buffalo, which team benefits more?
If there’s inclement weather in Buffalo, which team benefits more? originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
All week long, Ravens players and coaches have answered questions about the unstoppable force on Saturday night — the weather.
As of Friday afternoon, it appears the Ravens and Bills may dodge a bullet with inclement weather, as heavy snow will settle farther east. According to weather.com, a few snow showers are possible during the afternoon, with winds at 10 to 15 miles an hour. At night, it will be 32 degrees with snow showers possible, with winds at 15 to 25 miles an hour.
While snow is certainly possible, or even likely on Saturday, it appears there won’t be much impactful winter weather. But which team does that benefit more?
The short answer is that the Ravens, with their league-best rushing offense, would enjoy the weather the most. They lead the league with 5.5 yards per carry and, in their last six games, have averaged 262.1 yards per game. In poor weather, that should play to the Ravens’ strengths.
“Our offense, we’re built for whatever it is – a run-first offense,” running back Gus Edwards said Thursday. “I think we’ll do good. We’ll just make sure our footing is right. We’ll probably get an opportunity to go out there pregame and just check everything out and make sure we’re ready.”
The answer, though, is likely somewhere in the middle. If there’s snow and wind that impacts the passing game enough, the Ravens will hold a clear advantage as quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills will be throwing the ball into bad conditions. But if the snow impacts the field enough to make it a slippery terrain, the speed advantage the Ravens hold will be mitigated.
Of the two teams, Buffalo clearly has the best passing attack and would be best if there were optimal conditions. Naturally, in any sort of inclement weather, Baltimore will hold an advantage. But in the wind, the Ravens’ kicking advantage with Justin Tucker will also likely be mitigated, as the league’s best kicker will not be able to be relied on as securely.
Saturday’s game could look like a snowglobe, or it could offer a few flurries before and during the game — the latest weather reports indicate the latter is true. But either way, it’ll be something to monitor as the game wears on.
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