Martin Luther King's I have
a dream speech August 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. (...)
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. (…)
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. (...)
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 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.
(…)
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