MARTIN LUTHER KING'S I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH, AUG 28, 1963

Martin Luther King
"I have a dream"-speech, aug. 28, 1963

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, 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, the Negro still is 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 languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an shameful condition.
In a sense we've 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, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable 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; a 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 make real the promises of democracy. 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 lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. 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 a 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 they have come to realize that 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 the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.
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 our chlidren are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only."
We cannot 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 jail 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 South Carolina, 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, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, 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 slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little 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 down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exhalted, 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 that I will go back to the South with. 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 new meaning, "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."
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 snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that; let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, and when we allow 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!"

Whats ur point........

What a powerful speech. "We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now." Obama will be speaking at the DNC convention in Denver the very day 35 years ago when MLK delivered "I have a Dream Speech". It will be Historical and we will see from the where the debate of the 2008 election will land.

No point. Martin Luther King's dream is almost a reality if you read what he wrote and then what Obama answered with. Obama says, "This is our Time," Martin Luther King said, "I have a dream."

The Dream may be coming true.....nobody can turn back the hands of time. Same way coloreds took over the NBA and NHL, same way they coming take over the RNC and DFL.

This is our Time,......Does he mean Black America????

jclifden wrote:

This is our Time,......Does he mean Black America????

He means those who want CHANGE...

Are there Black people who resist change.....?

Those who are voting are not only blacks.

jclifden wrote:

Are there Black people who resist change.....?

i believe, no.. i know you have people from all the race (Black, white, indian, etc) that resist change...

People resist change every day.

gadyu wrote:

Martin Luther King
"I have a dream"-speech, aug. 28, 1963

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, 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, the Negro still is 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 languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an shameful condition.
In a sense we've 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, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable 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; a 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 make real the promises of democracy. 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 lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. 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 a 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 they have come to realize that 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 the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.
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 our chlidren are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only."
We cannot 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 jail 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 South Carolina, 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, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, 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 slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little 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 down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exhalted, 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 that I will go back to the South with. 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 new meaning, "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."
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 snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that; let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, and when we allow 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!"

Will an Obama Presidency set the Negro Free?????

gadyu wrote:

No point. Martin Luther King's dream is almost a reality if you read what he wrote and then what Obama answered with. Obama says, "This is our Time," Martin Luther King said, "I have a dream."

The Dream may be coming true.....nobody can turn back the hands of time. Same way coloreds took over the NBA and NHL, same way they coming take over the RNC and DFL.

Coloreds might have took over NBA and NHL, but Obama taken over, I have nothing to do with color... People just want change, and the time is now..irrespective of colors.... Change is felt and not seen

The speech was made in 1968. As of 1868, 100 years to 1968, the negro was still not free.

2009 the negro is still not free.........And will not be free any time soon.......

The time to be free is never a one time shot, it is a process. In 2008, the first time a black man to ever be the nominee in a main stream American party, first ever time. You get there only when people can see across racial lines and take you for what you got upstairs.

Some white people aint even got it upstairs but still got nominated.

jclifden wrote:

2009 the negro is still not free.........And will not be free any time soon.......

Pls explain in what context you refer to free in this statement J,

if it means no equal opportunities etc.. dats gonna be around for a long time and its not only the Negro that face that.. you got indians, latinos etc.. we just gotta keep proving our point again and again and sooner rather then later you get your fair share.. it wont happen for everyone at the same time or overnight.

Ladyflo, tell him yah. He one of the white people dem.....

gadyu wrote:

The time to be free is never a one time shot, it is a process. In 2008, the first time a black man to ever be the nominee in a main stream American party, first ever time. You get there only when people can see across racial lines and take you for what you got upstairs.

Some white people aint even got it upstairs but still got nominated.

I agree ........Thanks to the internet and a more intelligent and informed electorate politics in America will never be the same....In bygone years the media alone had been the most powerful force in electing U.S Presidents....

Barrack Hussein Obama has forcefully kicked open a door that has been shut closed since America's birth to everybody that was Not A White Male........My sons and daughters will see now that they have other options n...They wont just have the choice of being Rappers and Athletes...If the scrape the Academic pavement hard enough their choice could include becoming the Next President Of the United States of America

I love this country...I needed to know that the love was reciprocal....Thats what an Obama win means to me......

LadyFlo wrote:

jclifden wrote:

2009 the negro is still not free.........And will not be free any time soon.......

Pls explain in what context you refer to free in this statement J,

if it means no equal opportunities etc.. dats gonna be around for a long time and its not only the Negro that face that.. you got indians, latinos etc.. we just gotta keep proving our point again and again and sooner rather then later you get your fair share.. it wont happen for everyone at the same time or overnight.

Flo the Negro has imprisoned himself....Thats why he will never be free...He dosent realise that he alone has the key to his freedom....

"The Negro has imprisoned himself" -Jclifden

Clifie, when you have been told that you are third class for so long;
When you smoke weed at the breakfast table and send your daughters to
buy it;
When your role models are only drug traffickers and pimps, and all other Africans from the motherland are there to take bread from your mouth;
And you can cuss yourself nigga, and when anybody else say it to you, you get mad;
THAT IS THE PRISON.....

I dare any of my kids to call their friends niggas, or nucca, or ho or whatever...

jclifden wrote:

LadyFlo wrote:

jclifden wrote:

2009 the negro is still not free.........And will not be free any time soon.......

Pls explain in what context you refer to free in this statement J,

if it means no equal opportunities etc.. dats gonna be around for a long time and its not only the Negro that face that.. you got indians, latinos etc.. we just gotta keep proving our point again and again and sooner rather then later you get your fair share.. it wont happen for everyone at the same time or overnight.

Flo the Negro has imprisoned himself....Thats why he will never be free...He dosent realise that he alone has the key to his freedom....

dat was true some years back but i honestly believe a few have realized that they have the power and the key to unlocking that psycological prison and have indeed open it and gained their freedom... the same Obama is a testimony to that!

Yes, but Shaquana my old neighbor is still locked up, her brain I mean. She comes to borrow my house phone and sit with it on her step to call around......hahahahahaaa

gadyu wrote:

"The Negro has imprisoned himself" -Jclifden

Clifie, when you have been told that you are third class for so long;
When you smoke weed at the breakfast table and send your daughters to
buy it;
When your role models are only drug traffickers and pimps, and all other Africans from the motherland are there to take bread from your mouth;
And you can cuss yourself nigga, and when anybody else say it to you, you get mad;
THAT IS THE PRISON.....

I dare any of my kids to call their friends niggas, or nucca, or ho or whatever...

Dont make excuses my friend....Im only stating the obvious......The Negro hold the key to his freedom ....what he chooses to do with it is an entirely different matter...

Clifie, no excuses. I was buttressing your claim.

gadyu wrote:

Yes, but Shaquana my old neighbor is still locked up, her brain I mean. She comes to borrow my house phone and sit with it on her step to call around......hahahahahaaa

U still eatin Shaquana...u will get in troubo...o