I Have a Dream Martin Luther King full text

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin. Luther King

I have a dream I have a dream

One hundred years ago, a great American signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Today we are standing in front of his statue before the rally. This solemn declaration was like the light of a beacon, bringing hope to millions of black slaves suffering in the fire of injustice that destroyed their lives. It comes like a joyful dawn, ending the long night that has held the black man in bondage.

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 bad captivity.

However, one hundred years later, black people have not yet been freed. One hundred years later, in Under the shackles of apartheid and racial discrimination, black people's lives have been oppressed. One hundred years later, black people still live on an island of poverty in a sea of ??abundance. One hundred years later, black people are still shrunk in the corners of American society and realize that they are exiles in their homeland. We are gathering here today to bring this appalling situation to light.

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 an exile in his own land. So we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

It is not that I have not noticed that some of the people participating in today's rally have suffered and been tortured, some have just walked out of narrow cells, and some have been in prison in search of freedom. The place of early residence was struck by frenzied persecution and teetering on the edge of a whirlwind of police brutality. You are the chronic sufferers of man-made suffering. Hang in there and believe that enduring undeserved pain is a form of atonement.

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 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.

Let’s 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 ghettos and ghettos in our northern cities, and be aware of this situation. It can and will change. Let us not fall into despair and be unable to extricate ourselves.

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.

Friends, I say to you today that at this moment, although we have suffered all kinds of difficulties and setbacks, I still have a dream . This dream is deeply rooted in the American dream.

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.

< p>I have a dream that one day this nation will stand up and truly 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 this nation will rise up, live up to the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.”

I dream that one day, On the Red Mountains of Georgia, the sons of former slaves will be able to sit down with the sons of former slave owners and talk about brotherhood.

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 Mississippi, a place like a desert where justice disappears and oppression prevails, will become an oasis of freedom and justice.

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 one day my four children will live in a country where they will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the quality of their character.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color if their skin but by the content of their character.

I I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day something will change in Alabama, where the black boys and girls will be able to compete with the white boys even though the governor of the state still talks dissent and opposes federal law. The girl and I share the same flesh and blood and go hand in hand.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama 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 dream that one day, the valleys will rise, the mountains will fall, the rough and tortuous roads will become smooth, and the Holy Light will be revealed and shine on the world.

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 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. I returned to the South with this belief in mind. With this belief, we will be able to hew a stone of hope from the mountain of despair. With this faith, we will be able to transform the cacophony of bickering in this country into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this belief, we will be able to work together, pray together, fight together, go to jail together, and defend freedom together, because we know that one day, we will be free.

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.

On the day when freedom comes, all God’s children will sing this song with new meaning: “My country, the beautiful land of freedom, I Sing for you. You are the place where our fathers died, you are the pride of the first immigrants, let the voice of freedom ring from every hill."

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 pilgrims' pride,From every mountainside

Let freedom ring.

If America is to be a great country , this dream must come true. Let freedom ring from the towering peaks of New Hampshire! Let the bells of freedom ring from the mountains of New York State! Let freedom ring from the tops of Pennsylvania's Allegheny Mountains! Let freedom ring from the snow-covered Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the winding peaks of California! Not only that, but let the bells of freedom ring from the Stone Ridge of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain in Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill in Mississippi! Let freedom ring from every hillside.

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 snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slops 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!

When we let the freedom bell ring, let the freedom bell ring from every village, every state And as every city rings, we will be able to hasten the day when all of God's children, black and white, Jew and Gentile, Protestant and Catholic, will join hands and sing the ancient song Black spirituals: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

When we let 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!”