The fact that a South Side gospel singer inspired the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech at the March on Washington shows her close ties to the Civil Rights Movement.
Mahalia Jackson, often called the “Queen of Gospel,” frequently performed at King’s speeches, and before his famed address Aug. 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., she gave him some crucial words of encouragement: “Tell them about the dream, Martin.”
