I have a dream. Martin Luther King - I have a dream
The atmosphere in Washington that day was a mixture of hope and excitement. It seems to me that everyone who took part in this march felt a new strength in themselves. We all felt that the goals we were pursuing were noble and what we were achieving was achievable. It felt like we were witnessing a whole new era, a renaissance of hope and activism. It was truly inspiring.
But all this did not happen in one day: this march was preceded by many weeks and months of struggle. As a civil rights activist, I often spoke with Robert Kennedy, who was then very worried because he had been listening too much to Edgar Hoover and the FBI, the voices of the white American right and the press, who expected only the worst from us and predicted an incredible surge violence. We convinced Kennedy that our movement would achieve strictly defined goals, that we would not resort to violence, and he really wanted to believe us, but our opponents had too much influence on him. The city was surrounded by police, and the military was just waiting for a signal.
It was a glorious day. We had high hopes and they all came true. I remember the speaker who spoke before Dr. King was a determined young man named John Lewis from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He spoke very frankly about American leaders, although he softened his tone toward the end of his speech when several activists asked him to do so. It was a very good speech. Before Dr. King took the floor, we heard several more inspiring speeches, and there were songs and music.
Of course, the highlight of the day was the “I Have a Dream” speech. It is considered one of the greatest speeches in American history. Its contents did not surprise me at all, because we worked together to write it and these ideas were very close to us, but we were completely unprepared for the way Dr. King delivered it. We clearly saw in front of us the images that he spoke about in his speech, and her language was mesmerizing.
However, I must say something else about this speech that I always say when I lecture about Dr. King to students all over America. I tell them you have to study the whole speech carefully because the text up to the words “I have a dream” is a reflection of what he strives for. The details and passion of the struggle are revealed precisely in those paragraphs that precede the famous phrase.
The spirit that Dr. King tried to revive in people was a truly American spirit, just like his struggle. And in this struggle, I was especially inspired by the fact that the words of Dr. King gave strength to ordinary people who finally realized their own capabilities.
My political views were already formed by the time I first met Dr. King. I was already quite active in the fight for people's civil rights. I came to him with certain expectations, and he fully met them. Like many other black men of my generation, I experienced two extremely important moments. American history: I was born during the Great Depression and fought for America against the Nazis in World War II.
However, after the war, I returned to my homeland, where black Americans were denied their basic civil rights - a so-called democracy in which political evil continued to humiliate us. Then we looked around and saw England, Belgium and France, the great colonialists who desperately clung to their colonies even after the end of World War II. I still believe that it was this experience that formed the basis for the beginning of the struggle for civil rights in America. We had to take a risk and fight this injustice and evil.
Dr. King left behind a great legacy, but to my great regret, it is neglected in American schools. It is simply not studied. Why? Because reactionary America is still trying to deny those hopes and achievements. Our heritage is under vicious attack from legislators, Congress, courts and judges who want to leave our struggles in the past while simultaneously undermining the foundations of modern struggles.
This is why I sometimes say in my speeches that we must stop idolizing Dr. King and look at him as common man, who inspired himself and others to fight for civil rights. Pay attention to the details: his strategy, speech, intelligence and thinking. Only then will you be able to understand how this simple man found the strength to reinvent himself. Who was Martin Luther King before he became Dr. Martin Luther King? After all, he experienced the same difficulties and hardships that many of his followers experienced. He had the same fears and hopes, anxieties and expectations. To deify him means to some extent belittle his achievements. Therefore, I would not advise this and would insist on re-evaluating his achievements, which, undoubtedly, were achievements of the highest order.
One of my most vivid memories of that day was something I will likely never experience again: a giant wave of people going home with a sense of satisfaction and hope. This was America at its best. And I have no doubt that we can get her back if we put in the effort. We need leaders, speakers and women we can trust, not a compromise form of leadership that cynically defends the power of a few at the expense of the many.
We now face a new and much more complex problem. Part of this dilemma is that we Americans have been able to convince ourselves to believe in the nobility that America supposedly represents. However, the truth is that now we are more likely to be scoundrels than righteous. We are not yet able to admit this. Black people still bear the brunt of this infamy, but today the lens through which we must view our struggle is not just race: it is gender, economics, human rights, the formation of a powerful elite and right-wing populist movements that seek to undermine American democracy and impose their version of a great America.
Now the first rays of a new struggle have appeared on the horizon. People's patience has come to an end again. Americans have turned their attention to those who are working hard to keep America at this stage of aggression, hostility and obsession with being number one in the world. I am amazed at the cruelty of America, American politics and society. But the direction of the wind is changing. In my experience, when people's patience runs out, activism begins to gain momentum, and through activism, change comes.
I feel that this spirit is already in the air when I give lectures at colleges in America, where I am now being invited much more often. Young people are waiting for change. In them I see optimism and hope that they cannot yet clearly express. But sooner or later they will express them, because they have to. And this is also the legacy of Dr. King
InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.
Martin Luther (1473-1546)
- Theologian, leader of the Reformation, author of the Bible translation into German. The first Protestant denomination, Lutheranism, is named after Martin Luther.
- Luther is the author of the phrase “On this I stand and cannot do otherwise. May God help me,” which he said in response to the proposal to abandon the fight against the Roman throne.
- Tried to reform Catholic Church and did not plan to become the leader of a new denomination, but as a result he became the founder of the first Protestant movement.
- As Chris Wickham, author of the book, notes, the Reformation carried out by Luther was a religious and cultural turning point. It split Western and Central Europe and created two opposing blocs - which still exist today - with gradually diverging cultural and political structures. By the way, if you want to know what led Europe to the Reformation and what we owe to it, the book “Medieval Europe” is for you.
According to legend, Martin Luther nails 95 theses criticizing the theology of Catholicism to the doors of the Wittenberg church.
Excerpt from the film “The Luther Passion”
Martin Luther King (1929-1968)
- Martin Luther King actually has a lot in common with Martin Luther. He is also a Protestant, but not a Lutheran, but a Baptist (one of the Protestant movements that appeared much later than Lutheranism).
- Martin Luther King, like his famous almost-namesake, fought for what he considered right and fair. He led the Black Civil Rights Movement in the United States.
- He was a brilliant speaker. His famous “I have a dream” speech went down in history. In it, Martin Luther King advocated for equal rights for all people, regardless of skin color.
Martin Luther King is famous for his statements not only about human rights, but also about morality. Courage, boldness, perseverance and nobility are perhaps a small part of the characteristics that the American politician possessed:
"Love is the only force that can turn any enemy into a friend.
If a person has not discovered something for himself that he is ready to die for, he is not able to live fully
If they told me that the world would end tomorrow, I would plant a tree today.
Scientific research has overtaken spiritual development. We have guided missiles and unguided people.
The ultimate measure of a person's worth is not how he behaves in times of comfort and convenience, but how he carries himself in times of struggle and controversy.
Cowardice asks - is it safe? Expediency asks: is it prudent? Vanity asks - is this popular? But conscience asks: is this right? And the time comes when you have to take a position that is neither safe, nor prudent, nor popular, but it must be taken because it is right."
Martin Luther King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta (Georgia) in the family of a Baptist church pastor. The Kings' home was located on Auburn Avenue, a middle-class black neighborhood in Atlanta. At the age of 13, he entered the Lyceum at Atlanta University. At age 15, he won a public speaking competition sponsored by an African-American organization in Georgia.
In the fall of 1944, King entered Morehouse College. During this period he became a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Here he learned that not only blacks, but also many whites, were opposed to racism.
In 1947, King was ordained as a minister, becoming his father's assistant in the church. After receiving a bachelor's degree in sociology from college in 1948, he attended Crowser Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, where he received a bachelor's degree in divinity in 1951. In 1955, Boston University awarded him a Doctor of Theology degree.
King often attended Ebenezer Baptist Church, where his father served.
In 1954, King became pastor of a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama. In Montgomery, he led a major black protest against racial segregation in public transport, after the Rosa Parks incident occurred in December 1955. The boycott of bus lines in Montgomery, which lasted 381 days, despite the resistance of the authorities and racists, led to the success of the action - the US Supreme Court declared segregation in Alabama unconstitutional.
In January 1957, King was elected head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization created to fight for civil rights for the African-American population. In September 1958, he was stabbed in Harlem. In 1960, King, at the invitation of Jawaharlal Nehru, visited India, where he studied the activities of Mahatma Gandhi.
With his performances (some of them are now considered classics oratory) he called for achieving equality through peaceful means. His speeches gave energy to the civil rights movement in society - marches began, economic boycotts, mass departures to prison, and so on.
Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech, which was heard by about 300 thousand Americans during the March on Washington in 1963 at the foot of the Lincoln Monument, became widely known. In this speech he celebrated racial reconciliation. King redefined the essence of the American democratic dream and ignited a new spiritual fire in it. King's role in the nonviolent struggle to pass laws prohibiting racial discrimination has been noted Nobel Prize peace.
As a politician, King was a truly unique figure. In laying out the essence of his leadership, he spoke primarily in religious terms. He defined the leadership of the civil rights movement as a continuation of earlier pastoral service and used the African American religious experience in most of his messages. According to the traditional American standard political views, he was a leader who believed in Christian love.
Like so many other prominent figures in American history, King resorted to religious phraseology, thereby evoking an enthusiastic spiritual response from his audience.
On March 28, 1968, King led a 6,000-strong protest march in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, to support striking workers. On April 3, speaking in Memphis, King said: “We have difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter. Because I have been to the top of the mountain... I looked ahead and saw the Promised Land. I may not be there with you, but I want you to know now that all of us, all the people, will see this Earth.” On April 4, at 6:01 p.m., King was fatally wounded by a sniper while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
“The murder sparked nationwide outrage, with black riots in more than a hundred cities. In the federal capital, houses burned six blocks from the White House, and machine gunners were stationed on the balconies of the Capitol and the lawns around the White House. Across the country, 48 people were killed, 2.5 thousand were wounded, and 70 thousand soldiers were sent to suppress the unrest. In the eyes of activists, King's assassination symbolized the incorrigibility of the system and convinced thousands of people that nonviolent resistance was a dead end. More and more blacks turned their attention to organizations like the Black Panthers.
The killer, James Earl Ray, received a 99-year prison sentence. It was officially accepted that Ray was a lone killer, but many believe that King fell victim to a conspiracy. The Episcopal Church in the USA recognized King as a martyr who gave his life for the Christian faith; his statue is placed in Westminster Abbey (England) among the martyrs of the 20th century. King was nominated as an anointed man of God and was considered to be at the forefront of the democratic achievements of the civil rights movement.
King was the first black American to have a bust erected in the Great Rotunda of the Capitol in Washington. The third Monday in January is celebrated in America as Martin Luther King Day and is considered a national holiday.
From the speech "I have a dream":
“And although we face challenges today and will face them tomorrow, I still have a dream. This dream is deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will stand upright and live by the true meaning of its principle: “We hold it to be self-evident that all men are created equal.”
I dream that one day in the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveholders will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.
I dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, sweltering under the heat of injustice and oppression, will turn into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I dream that the day will come when my four children will live in a country where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but according to their personality traits.
I'm dreaming today!
I have a dream today that one day in Alabama, with its vicious racists and a governor who speaks of intervention and nullification, one day, in Alabama, little black boys and girls will join hands as sisters and brothers with little white boys. and girls.
Original text (English)
And 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" - one day right there 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!"
M.L. King, August 28, 1963
Five decades ago great American, under whose symbolic shadow we gather today, signed the Negro Emancipation Proclamation. This important decree became a majestic beacon of light of hope for millions of black slaves scorched by the flames of withering injustice. It became a joyful dawn that ended the long night of captivity.
But after a hundred years we are forced to face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro, unfortunately, continues to be crippled by the shackles of segregation and the shackles of discrimination. A hundred years later, the black man lives on a deserted island of poverty in the middle of a vast ocean of material prosperity. A hundred years later, the black man is still languishing in the margins American society and finds himself in exile on his own land. So we came here today to highlight the drama of the deplorable situation.
In a sense, we came to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the beautiful words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note that every American would inherit. According to this bill, all people were guaranteed the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Today it has become obvious that America has not been able to pay on this bill what is due to its colored citizens. Instead of paying this sacred debt, America issued a bad check to the Negro people, which returned marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice has failed. We refuse to believe that there are not enough funds in the vast reservoirs of our state's capabilities. And we have come to receive this check - a check by which we will be given the treasures of freedom and guarantees of justice. We have come here to this sacred place also to remind America of the urgent requirement of today. This is not the time to be satisfied with pacifying measures or to take the sedative medicine of gradual solutions. It is time to emerge from the dark valley of segregation and enter the sunlit path of racial justice. It is time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. The time has come to lead our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be mortally dangerous for our nation to ignore the special importance of this moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negroes. The sultry summer of legitimate Negro discontent will not end until the invigorating autumn of freedom and equality arrives. 1963 is not the end, but the beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to let off steam and will now calm down will have a rude awakening if our nation returns to business as usual. Until the Negro is given his civil rights, America will see neither serenity nor peace. Revolutionary storms will continue to shake the foundations of our state until the bright day of justice comes.
But there is something else that I must say to my people who stand on the blessed threshold at the entrance to the palace of justice. In the process of conquering our rightful place, we should not give grounds for accusations of unseemly actions. Let us not seek to quench our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must always wage our struggle from a noble position of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. We must strive to reach great heights by responding to physical strength with mental strength. The remarkable militancy which has taken possession of Negro society should not lead us to the distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers have realized, as evidenced by their presence here today, that their destiny is closely connected with our destiny and their freedom is inevitably connected with our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
And once we start moving, we must swear that we will move forward.
We can't turn back. There are those who ask those dedicated to the cause of civil rights: "When will you calm down?" We will never rest until our bodies, heavy with the weariness of long journeys, can find lodgings in roadside motels and city inns. We will not rest as long as the Negro's main mode of movement remains moving from a small ghetto to a large one. We won't rest until a Negro in Mississippi can't vote and a Negro in
New York City believes it has nothing to vote for. No, we have no reason to rest, and we will never rest until justice begins to flow like waters, and righteousness becomes like a mighty stream.
I do not forget that many of you came here after going through great trials and suffering. Some of you have come here straight from cramped prison cells. Some of you have come from areas where you have been subjected to storms of persecution and police brutality for your desire for freedom. You have become veterans of creative suffering. Keep working, believing that undeserved suffering will be redeemed.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that one way or another this situation can and will change. Let us not suffer in the valley of despair.
I tell you today, my friends, that despite the difficulties and disappointments, I have a dream. This is a dream deeply rooted in the American Dream.
I have a dream that the day will come when our nation will rise up and live up to the true meaning of its motto: “We hold it to be self-evident that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that the day will come in the red hills of Georgia when the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveholders can sit together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that the day will come when even the state of Mississippi, a desert state sweltering under the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that the day will come when my four children will live in a country where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by what they are.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that the day will come when in the state of Alabama, whose governor now claims to interfere in the internal affairs of the state and defy the laws passed by Congress, a situation will be created in which little black boys and girls can join hands with little white boys and girls and walk together like brothers and sisters.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that the day will come when all the lowlands will rise, all the hills and mountains will fall, the rough places will be turned into plains, the crooked places will become straight, the greatness of the Lord will appear before us and all mortals will be convinced of this together.
This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South.
With this faith, we can hew the stone of hope from the mountain of despair. With this faith we can transform the discordant voices of our people into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we can work together, pray together, fight together, go to prison together, defend freedom together, knowing that one day we will be free.
This will be the day when all God's children will be able to sing, giving new meaning to these words: "My country, it is I you, sweet land of freedom, it is I who sing your praises. Land where my fathers died, land of pilgrims' pride, let freedom ring with all mountain slopes."
And if America is to be a great country, this must happen.
Let freedom ring from the tops of the stunning hills of New Hampshire!
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York!
Let freedom ring from the high Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Colorado Rockies!
Let freedom ring from the curved mountain peaks of California!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain in Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and knoll of the Mississippi!
Let freedom ring from every mountain slope!
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we can hasten the coming of that day when all God's children, black and white, Jew and Gentile, Protestant and Catholic, can join hands and sing the words of the old Negro spiritual hymn: "Free at last! Free at last! Thanks to the almighty Lord, we are free at last!"
This speech is considered one of the best speeches in history and was voted the best speech of the 20th century by the American public speaking community.
The speech was delivered during one of the most important stages of the American black rights movement in the United States of 1955-1968 during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
On August 28, 1963, under a nearly cloudless sky, more than 250,000 people, a fifth of them white, gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., under the slogan “jobs and freedom.”
The list of speakers included speakers from almost every segment of society - labor leaders, clergy, movie stars, and others.
Each speaker was allotted fifteen minutes, but the day belonged to a young and charismatic Baptist preacher from Tennessee.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. originally prepared a brief and somewhat formulaic account of the suffering of African Americans trying to realize their freedom in a society constrained by discrimination. He was about to sit down when singer Mahalia Jackson shouted, "Tell them about your dream, Martin! Tell them about your dream!"
Encouraged by the cries of the audience, King drew on some of his past speeches and the result was a landmark statement of civil rights in America—the dream of all people, of all races, colors and backgrounds, sharing an America marked by freedom and democracy.
King's speech was replete with references to the Bible, and also addressed the concepts of American freedom and equality that had long been proclaimed but had never been realized for African Americans. King, being an experienced preacher, perfectly structured the tempo of his speech, combining it with his singing timbre. The speech made an indelible impression on all participants in the march and ultimately forced the US authorities to grant equal rights to all its citizens
"I have a dream." Speech by Martin Luther King on August 28, 1963
(translated into Russian)
Five decades ago, the great American under whose symbolic shadow we gather today signed the Negro Emancipation Proclamation. This important decree became a majestic beacon of light of hope for millions of black slaves scorched by the flames of withering injustice. It became a joyful dawn that ended the long night of captivity.
But after a hundred years we are forced to face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro, unfortunately, continues to be crippled by the shackles of segregation and the shackles of discrimination. A hundred years later, the black man lives on a deserted island of poverty in the middle of a vast ocean of material prosperity. A hundred years later, the black man still languishes on the margins of American society and finds himself in exile on his own soil. So we came here today to highlight the drama of the deplorable situation.
In a sense, we came to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the beautiful words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note that every American would inherit. According to this bill, all people were guaranteed the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Today it has become obvious that America has not been able to pay on this bill what is due to its colored citizens. Instead of paying this sacred debt, America issued a bad check to the Negro people, which returned marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice has failed. We refuse to believe that there are not enough funds in the vast reservoirs of our state's capabilities. And we have come to receive this check - a check by which we will be given the treasures of freedom and guarantees of justice. We have come here to this sacred place also to remind America of the urgent requirement of today. This is not the time to be satisfied with pacifying measures or to take the sedative medicine of gradual solutions. It is time to emerge from the dark valley of segregation and enter the sunlit path of racial justice. It is time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. The time has come to lead our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be mortally dangerous for our nation to ignore the special importance of this moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negroes. The sultry summer of legitimate Negro discontent will not end until the invigorating autumn of freedom and equality arrives. 1963 is not the end, but the beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to let off steam and will now calm down will have a rude awakening if our nation returns to business as usual. Until the Negro is given his civil rights, America will see neither serenity nor peace. Revolutionary storms will continue to shake the foundations of our state until the bright day of justice comes.
But there is something else that I must say to my people who stand on the blessed threshold at the entrance to the palace of justice. In the process of conquering our rightful place, we should not give grounds for accusations of unseemly actions. Let us not seek to quench our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must always wage our struggle from a noble position of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. We must strive to reach great heights by responding to physical strength with mental strength. The remarkable militancy which has taken possession of Negro society should not lead us to the distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers have realized, as evidenced by their presence here today, that their destiny is closely connected with our destiny and their freedom is inevitably connected with our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And once we start moving, we must swear that we will move forward. We cannot turn back. There are those who ask those dedicated to the cause of civil rights: "When will you calm down?" We will never rest until our bodies, heavy with the weariness of long journeys, can find lodgings in roadside motels and city inns. We will not rest as long as the Negro's main mode of movement remains moving from a small ghetto to a large one. We will not rest until the Negro in Mississippi can't vote and the Negro in New York thinks he has nothing to vote for. No, we have no reason to rest, and we will never rest until justice begins to flow like waters, and righteousness becomes like a mighty stream.
I do not forget that many of you came here after going through great trials and suffering. Some of you have come here straight from cramped prison cells. Some of you have come from areas where you have been subjected to storms of persecution and police brutality for your desire for freedom. You have become veterans of creative suffering. Keep working, believing that undeserved suffering will be redeemed.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that one way or another this situation can and will change. Let us not suffer in the valley of despair.
I tell you today, my friends, that despite the difficulties and disappointments, I have a dream. This is a dream deeply rooted in the American Dream.
I have a dream that the day will come when our nation will rise up and live up to the true meaning of its motto: “We hold it to be self-evident that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that the day will come in the red hills of Georgia when the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveholders can sit together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that the day will come when even the state of Mississippi, a desert state sweltering under the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that the day will come when my four children will live in a country where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by what they are.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that the day will come when in the state of Alabama, whose governor now claims to interfere in the internal affairs of the state and defy the laws passed by Congress, a situation will be created in which little black boys and girls can join hands with little white boys and girls and walk together like brothers and sisters.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that the day will come when all the lowlands will rise, all the hills and mountains will fall, the rough places will be turned into plains, the crooked places will become straight, the greatness of the Lord will appear before us and all mortals will be convinced of this together.
This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South.
With this faith, we can hew the stone of hope from the mountain of despair. With this faith we can transform the discordant voices of our people into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we can work together, pray together, fight together, go to prison together, defend freedom together, knowing that one day we will be free.
This will be the day when all God's children will be able to sing, giving new meaning to these words: "My country, it is I you, sweet land of freedom, it is I who sing your praises. Land where my fathers died, land of pilgrims' pride, let freedom ring with all mountain slopes."
And if America is to be a great country, this must happen.
Let freedom ring from the tops of the stunning hills of New Hampshire!
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York!
Let freedom ring from the high Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Colorado Rockies!
Let freedom ring from the curved mountain peaks of California!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain in Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and knoll of the Mississippi!
Let freedom ring from every mountain slope!
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we can hasten the coming of that day when all God's children, black and white, Jew and Gentile, Protestant and Catholic, can join hands and sing the words of the old Negro spiritual hymn: "Free at last! Free at last! Thanks to the almighty Lord, we are free at last!"
"I have a dream". Speech by Martin Luther King on August 28, 1963
(in English)
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 of light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of suffering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But 100 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 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 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 its citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check that 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"ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice. We have also come to his 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 hoped 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 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 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 - one day right there 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, and 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 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 father"s 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. And 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, 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!"