Delivered
on this day on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, in front of
200,000 people, Reverend King said the following: "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 slaveowners will be able to sit down
together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state
of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression,
will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that
my four 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 the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently
dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed
into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join
hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and
brothers. 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.
This is the faith with which I return to the South. 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 when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning,
"My country, 'tis 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 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 peaks 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 every molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring. 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!"
This is an excerpt
from the speech. It is not the complete speech.
The full speech is here.
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