[0m[1m                              "I Have A Dream"[0m
[1m                         by Martin Luther King, Jr,[0m

[1m     _________________________________________________________________[0m

[1m   Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on[0m
[1m   August 28, 1963. Source: Martin Luther King, Jr: The Peaceful Warrior,[0m
[1m   Pocket Books, NY 1968[0m

[1m   Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we[0m
[1m   stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came[0m
[1m   as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had[0m
[1m   been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous[0m
[1m   daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred years[0m
[1m   later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free.[0m

[1m   One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled[0m
[1m   by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One[0m
[1m   hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in[0m
[1m   the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years[0m
[1m   later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American[0m
[1m   society and finds himself an exile in his own land.[0m
[1m   So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a[0m
[1m   sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the[0m
[1m   architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the[0m
[1m   Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a[0m
[1m   promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.[0m
[1m   This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the[0m
[1m   inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It[0m
[1m   is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note[0m
[1m   insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring[0m
[1m   this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check[0m
[1m   which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to[0m
[1m   believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe[0m
[1m   that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity[0m
[1m   of this nation.[0m

[1m   So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon[0m
[1m   demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also[0m
[1m   come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of[0m
[1m   now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take[0m
[1m   the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the[0m
[1m   dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial[0m
[1m   justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of[0m
[1m   God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands[0m
[1m   of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.[0m
[1m   It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment[0m
[1m   and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering[0m
[1m   summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there[0m
[1m   is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen[0m
[1m   sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the[0m
[1m   Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a[0m
[1m   rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will[0m
[1m   be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted[0m
[1m   his citizenship rights.[0m

[1m   The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our[0m
[1m   nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something[0m
[1m   that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which[0m
[1m   leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our[0m
[1m   rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not[0m
[1m   seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of[0m
[1m   bitterness and hatred.[0m

[1m   We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and[0m
[1m   discipline. we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into[0m
[1m   physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic[0m
[1m   heights of meeting physical force with soul force.[0m

[1m   The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community[0m
[1m   must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our[0m
[1m   white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come[0m
[1m   to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their[0m
[1m   freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.[0m

[1m   We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we[0m
[1m   shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking[0m
[1m   the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" we can[0m
[1m   never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of[0m
[1m   travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the[0m
[1m   hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's[0m
[1m   basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never[0m
[1m   be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro[0m
[1m   in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are[0m
[1m   not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down[0m
[1m   like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.[0m

[1m   I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials[0m
[1m   and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some[0m
[1m   of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you[0m
[1m   battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of[0m
[1m   police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering.[0m
[1m   Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.[0m

[1m   Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go[0m
[1m   back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern[0m
[1m                                                                        6[0m
[1m   cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.[0m
[1m   Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my[0m
[1m   friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the[0m
[1m   moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the[0m
[1m   American dream.[0m

[1m   I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the[0m
[1m   true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident:[0m
[1m   that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the[0m
[1m   red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former[0m
[1m   slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of[0m
[1m   brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of[0m
[1m   Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and[0m
[1m   oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of         and justice.[0m
[1m   I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation[0m
[1m   where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the[0m
[1m   content of their character. I have a dream today.[0m
[1m   I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's[0m
[1m   lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and[0m
[1m   nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black[0m
[1m   boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys[0m
[1m   and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a[0m
[1m   dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be[0m
[1m   exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places[0m
[1m   will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and[0m
[1m   the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it[0m
[1m   together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to[0m
[1m   the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain[0m
[1m   of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to[0m
[1m   transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful[0m
[1m   symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work[0m
[1m   together, to pray together, to strive together, to stand up for freedom[0m
[3C[1mtogether, knowing that we will be free one day.[0m

[1m   This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing[0m
[1m   with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty,[0m
[1m   of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's[0m
[1m   pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is[0m
[1m   to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from[0m
[1m   the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the[0m
[1m   mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening[0m
[1m   Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped[0m
[1m   Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of[0m
[1m   California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of[0m
[1m   Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let[0m
[1m   freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From[0m
[1m   every mountainside, let freedom ring.[0m

[1m   When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and[0m
[1m   every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to[0m
[1m   speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men,[0m
[1m   Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join[0m
[1m   hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last![0m
[1m   free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"[0m
[0mSAUCE00"I have a dream"                   [ January 20 ]                          19970121G)                                    