Dr. Jason Miller - North Carolina State University

<p><strong>The First Dream Comes Home</strong></p><p>On Friday, August 28th at 7:30 PM, the Rocky Mount Mills Power House becomes hallowed ground for a historic homecoming—one that will echo across six decades and reconnect our city with its place in civil rights history.</p><p>North Carolina State University&#39;s Dr. Jason Miller brings his documentary about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the very community where it all began. Because here&#39;s what most Americans don&#39;t know: the &quot;I Have a Dream&quot; speech that shook the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, was first spoken nine months earlier in the gymnasium of Booker T. Washington High School right here in Rocky Mount.</p><p>On November 27, 1962, Dr. King stood in our city and dreamed out loud for the first time. Dr. Miller discovered the original reel-to-reel recording of that speech gathering dust in the Braswell Memorial Library in 2013—a 1.5-millimeter acetate tape that rewrote history and proved Rocky Mount&#39;s role in birthing one of America&#39;s most iconic moments.</p><p>You can learn more about Dr. Miller&#39;s discovery and the story behind the recording here: <a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/origin-of-the-dream-lyntp3/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.pbs.org/video/origin-of-the-dream-lyntp3/</a></p><p>This screening isn&#39;t just a documentary showing. It&#39;s a reunion. Two people who were actually present in that high school gym in 1962—the same students who heard Dr. King speak &quot;I have a dream&quot; for the very first time—will be in the audience. Living witnesses to the moment before the March on Washington, the moment when Rocky Mount made history.</p><p>Come out for an evening of remembrance, reflection, and reverence to celebrate that night in 1962. This is more than a screening. It&#39;s Rocky Mount remembering its place in Dr. King&#39;s dream.</p><p><strong>Friday, August 28th • 7:30 PM • Rocky Mount Mills Power House</strong></p><p><strong>Featuring Dr. Jason Miller (NC State University) and two original witnesses to King&#39;s First Dream</strong></p>