I Have A Dream - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Actual Address)

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ^ | 08/28/03 | Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

[bedolido]

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. 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 would be guaranteed the inalienable 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 which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

[mhking]

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[goldstategop]

One of the greatest of American orations delivered on behalf of the American ideal of freedom and the striking thing about is its insistence its a gift of God and thus a birthright of ALL Americans and despite the ugliness and injustice of Jim Crow racial discrimination and oppression, there is a deep and abiding faith in the justice and goodness of America. It was a speech that changed America for the better by reminding every American of what our ancestors died for and the then unfufilled task of making every American free at home. A lot of it has been accomplished and we still have a ways to go. But Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. emphasized that for all our differences, they are superficial and what binds us all is the privilege of being blessed to live in the greatest nation in history. Let Freedom ring!

[Tacis]

If I read this, don't I have to pay Corrie $6.18 or something like that?

[Tribune7]

It's a nice speech. We should put it up in the Alabama Supreme Court rotunda.

Oh, that's right. We can't. It would be unconstiutional. It mentions God and has Biblical references.

[goldstategop]

No you don't. As if the worth of a human being can be measured in dollars and cents. Perish the thought.

[goldstategop]

If Dr. King were alive today he couldn't give the speech without running afoul of the ACLU and AUSH censors.

[bedolido]

Still brings tears to my eyes. People and speeches like this come along once in a great while. Presidents have speech writers, actors have screen writers, politicians speak from "Talking Points". But the really great men speak from their hearts.

[goldstategop]

One great man spoke the words from his heart. That's why the speech is as majestic as the day when it was first delivered. As a masterpiece it is ageless in its beauty and infinite in the depth of its wisdom.

[Randjuke]

One of the outstanding speeches of all time. I wonder if MLK had lived if he would have continued to seek these same goals, or if he would have turned into one of the Jackson/Mfume types of black activists. Sometimes it seems the dream has changed from the equality of opportunity demanded in this speech to one of greed and handouts.

[bedolido]

I wonder if MLK had lived if he would have continued to seek these same goals, or if he would have turned into one of the Jackson/Mfume types of black activists.

No I don't believe he would've. I was in my 20's when he was marching. I was in L.A. during the Watts riots (in 66 I believe). It was a very turbulant time, and everyone was concerned. Looking back on it now it may seem insignificant, but people were dying and being hurt. He had higher standards and goals (high standards no matter what J. Edgar Hoover said). He knew what had to be done to reach those goals and pressed on to do them. He would have been called a hypocrite if he had changed. He never varied, never wavered, kept his direction straight and set in motion greatness, freedom and equality.

[bonesmccoy]

I just realized something. If the 10 Commandments can't be in a public courthouse, why can people demonstrate and discuss "God" at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial?

[PhiKapMom]

Thanks for the ping! The Oklahoman had a really good spread on Dr. King this morning with some unforgettable pictures included!

[flutters]

40th anniversary bump.

Thursday, August 28, 2003
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the historic March on Washington in which 250,000 people gathered to promote freedom, justice and jobs and listen to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

[tru_degenerate]

WHAT!!!!!?????!!!!!!

[Revolve]

Archibald Carey's Speech
Republican National Convention, 1952

We, Negro Americans, sing with all
loyal Americans:
My country 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrims' pride
From every mountainside
Let freedom ring!
That's exactly what we mean--
from every mountain side,
let freedom ring.
Not only from the Green Mountains
and White Mountains of Vermont
and New Hampshire;
not only from the Catskills
of New York;
but from the Ozarks
in Arkansas,
from the Stone Mountain
in Georgia,
from the Blue Ridge Mountains
of Virginia
--let it ring not only for the minorities
of the United States, but for the disinherited
of all the earth--may the Republican
Party, under God, from every mountainside,
LET FREEDOM RING!

Keith Miller, in his book "Voice of Deliverance: the language of Martin Luther King and its sources" noticed the strong similiarities between the conclusion of King's famous "I have a Dream" speech and a speech given by Archibald Carey at the Republican National Convention in 1952. Carey was a correspondant of King's.

http://chem-gharbison.unl.edu/mlk/plagiarism.html

[warchild9]

Google "Stanley Levinson" (who wrote the speech) and "Highlander Folk School" where the KGB funded King, Rosa Parks, and taught them to be revolutionaries. Learn some real history.