I
Have A Dream.
I still have a dream, a dream deeply rooted in the American dream –
one day this nation will rise up and live up to its creed, 'We hold
these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal.' I have
a dream . . .
“
”
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)[20]
On
an overcast afternoon, late that sweltering summer, alongside
the memorial to a great American statesman, a man stood up to fight
for the freedom of people and generations to come. His message was
simple, clear and heartfelt, and it carried with it no trace of the
hatred meted out against him and his fellow men and women. A man
judged harshly because of the colour of his skin and the origin of
his parentage. But he had a vision of what could become the greatest
force to bond men and women together that has ever been. To include
respect and dignity and consideration for both people and their
environment. His complete dis-stain for violence led him to make one
of the greatest declarations in all of human history when he
defiantly yet politely projected this attitude outward that
historical day, with these immortal words:
"I
Have A Dream".
That
incredible man was Dr Martin Luther King Jr. a Baptist minister. The
place was Washington D.C. The historical statesman was none other
than Abraham Lincoln, who himself fought to create the ideals of
freedom for everyone. The date was 28th August 1963.
And
the force he had a vision of and was referring to and acting from was
of course, LOVE.
"I Have a Dream" Speech
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 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 languished in
the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own
land. And 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 to 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 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. And 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 quick sands 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. And 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 tranquillity 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 wrong 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 process 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 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 very 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 the Negro in
Mississippi cannot vote, and the 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
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 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 out 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 desert state sweltering with the heat and injustice,
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 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 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
Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of
Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, 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.”
Source: Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have A
Dream: Writings and Speeches that Changed the World, ed.
James Melvin Washington (San Francisco: Harper, 1986), 102-106.
Related Documents:
This
above transcript was copied from the item posted by
TeachingAmericanHistory.org and are the words Dr King spoke that
momentus day over 50 years ago.
What
saddens me though, is that despite such huge changes that his life
affected within the civil rights movement and the freedom for black
and ethnic peoples in his beloved United States of America, racism
has not been completely left behind as an abomination. This
unfortunately is something deeply rooted in mankind and we will be a
long time away from complete abstinence. I personally have no idea
why one man can hate another because of the colour of his skin, or
the place of his birth, or the nationality of his parents. Actually I
should better say that I do have an idea, one formed by listening to
others, but my heart and my soul do not recognise any just reason why
this should be so.
As
the wonderfully inspired singer Bob Marley sang,
"One
love, one heart, let's get together and feel all right."
As
the undisputed genius that was John Lennon sang,
"Imagine
there's no countries, it isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die
for, and no religion too. Imagine all the people, living life in
peace....yoo hoo.. ooh. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the
only one. I hope some day you'll join us, and the world shall be as
one!"
What
tremendous clarity these warriors knew and shared with others. Like
Dr King, they exemplified a true abundance of human spirit and
caring. Though I never met Dr King, and am as ignorant as the next
person who only has the brief glimpse of history to look at to
understand him, I do believe that what he did for the human race and
the spirit of agape love, will never die. Not in memory nor in its
far reaching effects. I would however like to see more admiration and
thoughtfulness put into our world for those that unselfishly
challenge the authority and rightfulness of the governance we live
by. Surely the struggles that Dr King spoke out against have not
entirely been washed away. Despite America having it's first elected
Black president, they still appear to have moved slowly towards true
and lasting fairness to all people of its nation.
Why
even today men such as Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden, who have
challenged the hypocrisy of their leaders, are not made hero's, but
despised as traitors. I for one believe that they are true to many of
the ideals that were heralded by Dr King. Freedom of speech, freedom
of rights, freedom of pursuits.
"Unalienable
Rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
I
see it as very unfair and prejudicial to behave in the way that
governments globally do. The supposed ethos of the majority, is to
serve the people. In practice what evidently occurs is that they
serve themselves and the elite of their nations. Greed and
injustice are rife throughout our world. We need more hero's to
challenge the rule of oppression. Like Dr King, whom received a huge
inspiration from Gandhi, I myself seek to be a warrior for peace,
love and justice. Inspired by so many of these people and their
unfailing determination for truth to over-ride the hypocrisy, I urge
everyone to adopt a manner of non-violent yet non-conformity in all
their dealings. Peace and fairness through these actions will echo
the examples set by the aforementioned warriors, and we could be on
our way to true and lasting equality.
Dr
King said something during that speech that resonates with me in a
certain way.
"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 their freedom is inextricably
bound to our freedom."
I
cannot help but admire this thought. Such a simple observation, yet a
true and reasonable one. If we could only imagine
this, I'm sure we could then act it out and set it as our fundamental
belief about equality for all men, women and children. In fact every
sentient being on our planet and every element of our world. As I
have talked about in other previous articles, what we are doing, have
done and potentially will do, shall have enormous consequences for us
all, unless we count the true costs of these actions and attitudes.
We cannot surely believe that we have no impact on each other by our
individual actions and intentions. Blindness is not an excuse. Wake
up and see the light of consciousness growing amongst us all, for a
more enlightened way of being in the world. Each action we take has
an affect. These are some of the most fundamental laws of the
universe. A cause creates and affect. No ifs, no buts...
Whilst
we reside in this human experience this will be our evidential reality. What
we feel about that may change what we do. If we say we feel nothing
then that will almost certainly perpetuate no action of significant
event to the benefit of us as a collective. Perhaps if we change a
tiny part of ourselves, of our thinking, reasoning and beliefs, we
could have a significant result towards global changes. It's not
rocket science, want less = leave more. Share more and conserve what
is available with a longer term viewpoint. In fact act less selfishly
and more selflessly and then real and dynamic changes will be seen
flooding our world with love.
I
have a dream, that
each person alive could know happiness and peace. I have a dream that
everyone shall come to know brotherhood and forgiveness and
compassion and the joy of understanding our true nature. Life is a
dream, an illusion, a fake reality if we do not prove our true
ability to belong to spirit and oneness. My dream is the same in
principle to Dr Kings.
What
a legend
is he that believes and acts in accordance with this truth.
May
the love of your fellow beings and the oneness of this spirit move us
all to act accordingly.
Thank
you for reading. Please take some time to look at everything that
Martin Luther King Jr. did for the world. Its a great story.
Namaste.
Peaceful
Warrior.
) 
