Can you help me shorten this down, while maintaining the meaning and value?

Angered by decades of slavery and segregation, in August 1963, Martin Luther King, electrified America with his momentous ‘I Have A Dream’ speech, dramatically delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. His speech carried a powerful message driven by dreams of brotherhood and equality. Through fiery rhetoric and an amalgamation of metaphors and similes, King conveyed the need to put an end to racial segregation and recognise that all people are created equal. In today’s context, this message of racism & equality continues to hold great relevance with contemporary audiences, especially when considering the conflict in Darfur. Speaking directly to the Negroes of ‘Mississippi’ and of ‘Alabama’, King begins with a historic allusion to the declaration of independence that “all men are created equal. This reinforces to the audience that they were robbed of equality, as well as gives his message credibility, thus allowing him to establish rapport with his audience. Furthermore, by using an extended metaphor of cashing a cheque and defaulting on a loan, King’s audience can relate to his message and in doing so, they can understand and respond. King writes "America has given the ***** people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds ", a simple metaphor to comprehend but yet conveying a much deeper message of the civil rights issue. Through the juxtaposition of phrases, such as “quicksands of racial injustice” to the “solid ground of brotherhood”, King makes clear his ideas to his audience, warning them that the nation is sinking with no hope of recovery, but that justice and equality can pull the nation up. Furthermore, the repetition of the clause “Now is the time” adds to the rhetorical effectiveness of King’s speech, reinforcing the hope and faith that King offers to his audience.