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Video and Text of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s |
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(transcribed directly from the video above)
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 their 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 manacle 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 languish in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land So we've come here today to dramatize a 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 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, 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 always 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 children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for white 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 your 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 persecutions 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... 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 they 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; 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 exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains 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 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, this will be the day when all of God's children 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 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 snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that, let freedom, ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tenneessee. 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." Text of "I Have a Dream" speech transcribed from above video of March on Washington. Copyright 2007 Holidays on the Net Please be kind enough to ask for permission before reprinting. Thank you.
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Comments
matteo cipriano from Italy
05:38 06/21/2009
caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazzooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Peljor Tsering from China
20:47 06/18/2009
Good
Mahfuz Uddin from United Kingdom (Great Britain)
10:55 06/07/2009
i have been inspired by martin luther king. i am not black but i'm asian. i too believe that a time ago black americans were not able to do anything. but as martin luther king came black americans were inspired, but i kow threre was malcolm x but he got killed by black americans. martin luther king inspired many people, and i think that he inspired barack obama. and i am so glad that obama became pesident of america. hopefully obama will make an excelent new america. martin luther king and president obama are the most inspiring to young black americans.
none from Oregon, US
12:23 06/03/2009
i love it how mlk tried to save his people he hade lots of courage to do that i really apreciate it how mlk risked hise life for his peopple
angelina from Pennsylvania, US
13:08 05/28/2009
i love MLK and i am glad he was here to resolve peace between whites and blacks.
victoria
17:07 05/26/2009
this whole speech is what i call "amazing" it teaches a great lesson of freedom and following ur dream and rights as a person!!!!!!!!!!!!
nikki from Illinois, US
11:03 05/21/2009
hii . i love mlk.!
Ashley from Pennsylvania, US
16:00 05/18/2009
Mrs. Dietrich,
I wanted you to check out this website because if you have the time to show this to the class this might help them understand it more and see how important he was to this time. if you do not have time too that is okay i just wanted you to check it out.
Thanks,
Ashley Hall
Eseu Mbiza from South Africa
10:53 05/07/2009
IF THERE'S ANY PLACE ONE CAN NOT BE HINDERED TO ENTER IS THE "DREAM WORLD"...KING'S DREAM HAS COME TO PASS AS WE SEE THE RESULTS TODAY IN AMERICA "BARRACK OBAMA" IS LIVING IN KING'S DREAMS...A DREAM WILL KEEP U GOING IN LIFE NO MATTER THE OBSTACLES AND DIFFICULTIES.IT DEFEATS RACISM AND GOES BEYOND YOUR FAMILY BACKGROUND..IN THE BIBLE JOSEPH HAD A DREAM AND HIS BROTHERS HATED HIM, BUT THE "DREAM" OOH MY GOD...IT KEPT HIM FOCUSED AND MADE HIM STRONG. IT'S KING'S DREAM THAT PAVED THE WAY 4 ALL AMERICANS AND TODAY EVERYBODY LIVING IN THAT COUNTRY IS FREE!!! ALL HAIL LUTHER'S DREAMS...
Taisia from Georgia
09:45 05/04/2009
I'm making presentation about the legacy of MLK and I find this forum full of useful information. I'm very grateful to MLK for giving hope of civil equality for the racial minorities. It is the greatest deal in the history of the U.S. And thanks to all of you for sharing your point of view and just being not indifferent towards such an actual today issue as racial problems.
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