i h**e a dream by martin luther king,jr.
i am happy to join with you today in what will go down in h**tory as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the h**tory of our nation.
five score years ago,a great american,in whose symbolic shadow we stand today,signed the emancipation proc**tion.th** momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of negro sl**es who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice.it came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
but one hundred years later,the negro still ** not free.one hundred years later,the life of the negro ** still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of d**crimination.one hundred years later,the negro lives on a lonely **land of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.one hundred years later,the negro ** still langu**hed in the corners of american society and finds himself an exile in h** 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 prom**sory note to which every american was to fall heir.th** note was a prom**e 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 ** obvious today that america has defaulted on th** prom**sory note,insofar as her citizens of color are concerned.instead of honoring th** sacred obligation,america has given the negro people a bad check,a check which has come back marked"insufficient funds.
but we refuse to believe that the bank of justice ** bankrupt.we refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of th** nation.and so,we've come to cash th** check,a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
we h**e also come to th** hallowed spot to remind america of the fierce urgency of now.th** ** no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradual**m.now ** the time to make real the prom**es of democracy.now ** the time to r**e from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.now ** the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.now ** 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.th** sweltering summer of the negro's legitimate d**content will not pass until there ** an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.nine** sixty-three ** not an end,but a beginning.and those who hope that the negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will h**e a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.and there will be neither rest nor tranquility in america until the negro ** granted h** citizenship rights.the whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
but there ** 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 sat**fy 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 d**cipline.we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.again and again,we must r**e 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 d**trust of all white people,for many of our white brothers,as evidenced by their presence here today,h**e come to realize that their destiny ** tied up with our destiny.and they h**e come to realize that their freedom ** 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 sat**fied?we can never be sat**fied as long as the negro ** the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.we can never be sat**fied as long as our bodies,he**y with the fatigue of tr**el,cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.we cannot be sat**fied as long as a negro in m**s**sippi cannot vote and a negro in new york believes he has nothing for which to vote.no,no,we are not sat**fied,and we will not be sat**fied until"justice rolls down like waters,and righteousness like a mighty stream.
i am not unmindful that some of you h**e come here out of great trials and tribulations.some of you h**e come fresh from narrow jail cells.and some of you h**e come from areas where your quest-quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.you h**e been the veterans of creative suffering.continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering ** redemptive.go back to m**s**sippi,go back to alabama,go back to south carolina,go back to georgia,go back to lou**iana,go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities,knowing that somehow th** situation can and will be changed.
let us not wallow in the valley of despair,i say to you today,my friends.
and so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow,i still h**e a dream.it ** a dream deeply rooted in the american dream.
i h**e a dream that one day th** nation will r**e 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 h**e a dream that one day on the red hills of georgia,the sons of former sl**es and the sons of former sl**e owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
i h**e a dream that one day even the state of m**s**sippi,a state sweltering with the heat of injustice,sweltering with the heat of oppression,will be transformed into an oas** of freedom and justice.
i h**e 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 h**e a dream today!i h**e a dream that one day,down in alabama,with its vicious rac**ts,with its governor h**ing h** lips dripping with the words of"interposition"and"**ification"-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 s**ters and brothers.
i h**e a dream today!i h**e 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.?th** ** our hope,and th** ** the faith that i go back to the south with.
with th** faith,we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.with th** faith,we will be able to transform the jangling d**cords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.with th** 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.
and th** will be the day-th** will be the day when all of god's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
my country 't** 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 ** to be a great nation,th** 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 m**s**sippi.
from every mountainside,let freedom ring.
and when th** 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!