A pastor in the United States once said something very inspiring. What’s his name?

Martin Luther King - "I Have a Dream"

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 - 1968 April 4, 2011), a famous leader of the American civil rights movement. Graduated from university in 1948. From 1948 to 1951, he continued his studies in Philadelphia on the east coast of the United States. In 1963, Martin Luther King met with President Kennedy and demanded the passage of new civil rights laws to give blacks equal rights. On August 28, 1963, he delivered the "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Winner of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. In April 1968, Martin Luther King went to Memphis and led a workers' strike before he was assassinated. He was only 39 years old. Since 1986, the U.S. government has designated the third Monday in January as National Martin Luther King Day. Martin Luther King was ranked 8th among the 100 most influential people in the United States by the authoritative American journal "The Atlantic Monthly".

"I have a dream" is a famous speech delivered by Martin Luther King at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on August 28, 1963. The content is mainly about the equality of the black nation. It has a great influence on the United States and even the world, and has been incorporated into middle school curriculum in our country.

I Have a Dream

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I began to read the speech. I kept reading. That day, the entire venue was in high spirits. I suddenly remembered something. In June of the previous year, fresh from a peaceful rally of several thousand people on the streets of downtown Detroit, Michigan, I gave a speech at Cobo Hall in which I used the phrase "I have a dream". I had used it many times before that. I wanted to use it again right then and there. I can't say why. I didn't think about it before speaking either. I said this. At that time, I started not to read the speech script at all.

I am delighted to join you today in what will go down in American history as the greatest demonstration for freedom and equality.

One hundred years ago, a great American, whose symbolic influence we stand here today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. For countless black slaves, this important decree was like a beacon of hope because they had been groaning in the midst of inhumane racial discrimination. It was like a joyful dawn in the endless night of imprisonment.

But, one hundred years later, blacks still were not free. A hundred years later, the shackles of apartheid and the chains of racial discrimination have continued to make black people live an inhuman life; a hundred years later, the United States is already a sea of ??material prosperity, but black people in the United States are stranded on an island of poverty; One hundred years later, black people are still suffering on the margins of American society, even in exile in their own homeland!

So, we are here today to reveal this tragedy to the world. In a sense, we came to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the founders of our Republic wrote such important documents as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they signed a promissory note that every American will inherit. This promissory note promised that the inalienable "rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" of all people—not just whites but blacks as well—must be safeguarded.

Today’s situation shows that the U.S. government is not prepared to honor this promissory note as far as the current situation of black citizens is concerned. Instead of faithfully performing such a sacred duty, it gave the Negro masses a check that was invalid, marked "insufficient earmarks" on the back. However, we never believe that the bank of righteousness will go bankrupt. We would never believe that there are not enough funds in this country that is so rich in opportunity. So here we are, to cash a check that will give us the full security of freedom and equity we demand.

Another purpose of our coming to this sacred place is to remind the US government that the current situation is extremely urgent and there is no time to use any cooling methods or sedatives to delay. Now is the time to deliver on democracy. The time has come to emerge from the dark and bleak valley of segregation and run toward the golden avenue of racial equality.

It is time to remove the crumbling system of racial discrimination from America and build a solid alliance of brothers. Now, it is time for all God’s children to achieve equal freedom.

If our country ignores this critical moment, the consequences will be fatal. Black people's dissatisfaction with their experiences in dire straits is legitimate. This sentiment will never subside until freedom and equality arrive in the crisp autumn weather. Those who think that black people do not need to go to war like this, but on the contrary, should be content, will be shocked once our country regresses to its original state.

American society will never be peaceful if black people do not have civil rights. The whirlwind of protest will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the light of righteousness breaks through the dark sky.

However, people who are standing in front of the warm threshold leading to the palace of justice, there is something I must say to you: in the process of fighting for legitimate rights, we must never do anything wrong. . We must never adopt an attitude of hatred to satisfy our desire for freedom. Our struggle must always be conducted on a platform of high self-esteem and self-discipline. We must never allow creative nonviolent protest to degenerate into violence. On the contrary, in the battle between the strength of the body and the strength of the soul again and again, we must sublimate to a more sacred realm.

For now, let us not be distrustful of all white people because of the prevailing militancy among the black masses. What is happening here today can prove that many of our white brothers have begun to realize that their destiny and our destiny are linked. They have come to realize that their freedom and our freedom are inseparable. We cannot act alone. At the same time, when we act, we must keep moving forward without looking back.

Some people ask ardent civil rights advocates: "When will you be satisfied?" As long as black people live under the horrific brutality of police brutality, we will never be satisfied; as long as we drag on Our bodies, tired from running, cannot stay in motels on highways or hotels in cities. We will never be satisfied; as long as the main place of activity for black people is from a small ghetto to a larger one. We will never be satisfied with the ghetto; we will never be satisfied as long as our children are insulted by the "Black Stop" signs they see everywhere, their sense of self is lost, and their dignity is stripped away. We cannot be satisfied so long as the negroes in Mississippi do not have the right to vote, and the negroes in New York do not have the right to vote.

No, never! We are not satisfied! We will not be satisfied until righteousness rolls in like the tide and righteousness like the rolling waves.

I have also noticed that some of you have just escaped from all kinds of pain; some have just come out of a cell; some have been crazily persecuted for their pursuit of freedom and have been brutally suppressed by the police. For many years, you have suffered inhuman suffering. But you must firmly believe that the suffering you do not deserve will be compensated.

Go back, 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 black neighborhoods in our northern cities, know this This situation will eventually change.

We must not immerse ourselves in the valley of despair. Friends, I say to you: Despite the difficulties I face now and in the future, I still have a dream. This dream is deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise to live up to the true meaning of its creed—that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

I have a dream that one day, in the red hills of Georgia, the sons and daughters of slaves and slave owners will eat together around the same table as brothers and sisters.

I have a dream that one day, even a state like Mississippi, in the throes of racial discrimination and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and fairness.

I have a dream that one day my four children can live in a country where people are no longer judged by the color of their skin, but only by their character.

I have this dream today!

I have a dream that one day, in the southern state of Alabama, filled with vicious racists and a governor who spouts bluster, the sons and daughters of black people can be like brothers to the sons and daughters of white people. Holding hands like sisters.

I have this dream today!

I dream that one day, every ravine will be filled, every mountain will be leveled, the rough places will become flat, and the rough places will be straightened, so that the glory of God can be revealed. All living beings from all over the world can come and enjoy it.

This is our common wish. This is the confidence I will take with me when I return to the South. With such faith, we can carve out the stone of hope from the mountain of despair.

With such confidence, we can turn our country’s discordant chaos into a heart-warming and beautiful symphony. With this kind of faith, we can work together, pray together, fight together, go to jail together, and defend freedom together because we know we will be free.

It will be the day, it will be the day, when all God's children will sing the new meaning of this song: "My country, the home of beauty and freedom, I am for you Sing. You are where our fathers died, you are the pride of our founding fathers, and let freedom ring from every hill." If America is to become a great nation, this wish must come true.

So, let freedom ring from the towering heights of New Hampshire!

Let freedom ring from the mountains of New York State!

Let freedom ring from the majestic Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snow-covered Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the rugged mountains of California!

But more than that, let freedom ring from the Stone Mountains of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain in Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from the hills and mountains of Mississippi! Let freedom ring in every hill!

When we let freedom ring, when we let freedom ring in every village, in every state and town, we can speed up that day. Then God's children, black and white, Jew and Gentile, Protestant and Catholic, will be able to join hands and sing the old Negro hymn: "Free at last! Free at last." Thanks to Almighty God, we are finally free!"

——Excerpted from "The Autobiography of Martin Luther King"