"I was part of the British Dream"

Fifty years after his words inspired Americans in the Civil Rights movement, BH has been hearing of the impact in Britain of Martin Luther King. In April 1963, with race relations at boiling point, Dr King wrote his Letter from Birmingham Jail defending non-violent resistance to racism. Months later a quarter of a million people heard him speak at the climax of The March on Washington. We recall the speech as historic for America, but what of its effect of young black people growing up in Britain? Three people who felt mesmerised by events in the USA are Sam King, a former Mayor of Southwark, Lord Ouseley, who's chairman of "Kick It Out," football's anti-discrimination campaign, and Baroness Benjamin, the children's television presenter, actress and writer.