Journal Entry Requirements:

• Compose an entry of 350-500 words
• Organize your ideas into structured paragraphs (at least 3)
• Provide sufficient and relevant supporting details, examples and/or evidence
• Use proper spelling and grammar
• Revise and proofread your entry before submission
• Submit entry online before the start of class

instructions

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr famously said, in his “I have a Dream Speech,” that:

“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men–yes, black men as well as white men–would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.'”

How do King’s words relate to the film A Raisin in the Sun (which is the 1961 film adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry’s play by the same name)?  What connections to do you see between King’s speech (particularly the section quoted above) and the film?