Presented by The New School for Public Engagement (http://www.newschool.edu/public-engag...), The Nation Institute, The Guardian, Brooklyn College Politics Department, and Haymarket Books. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his powerful "I Have a Dream" speech on August 28, 1963. Fifty years later, the speech endures as a defining moment in the civil rights movement. It continues to be heralded as a beacon in the ongoing struggle for racial equality.

Join Gary Younge, a columnist for The Guardian and the Nation and the author of The Speech; Jeanne Theoharis, Professor of Political Science, Brooklyn College; and Mychal Denzel Smith, Knobler Fellow at The Nation Institute as they revisit Dr. King's iconic presentation and explore the fascinating chronicle behind it and other events surrounding the March on Washington. They will also consider why "I Have a Dream" remains America's favorite speech, and how its meaning and promise has changed over the past five decades.

Gary Younge, the Alfred Knobler Journalism Fellow at The Nation Institute, is the New York correspondent for the Guardian and the author of The Speech: The Story Behind Dr. Martin Luther King's Dream (Haymarket). His previous books include Who Are We - And Should it Matter in the 21st Century? (Nation Books), Stranger in a Strange Land: Travels in the Disunited States (New Press), and No Place Like Home: A Black Briton's Journey Through the Deep South (Mississippi).

Mychal Denzel Smith is a blogger for TheNation.com and Feministing.com. His writing covers a range of topics, including but not limited to race, politics, social justice, pop culture, hip-hop, mental health, feminism, and black male identit, particulary for millenials in the age of Obama.

The event will be moderated by Jeanne Theoharris, author of numerous books and articles on the civil rights and Black Power movements, the politics of race and education, social welfare and civil rights in post-9/11 America. Her newest book is The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks