"I have a dream..."

[rushrock]

This thread is dedicated to the honor and remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Please post all your thoughts and remembrance about Dr. King.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As most of you already know, Dr. King made great strides in Civil Rights for African Americans using nonviolent tactics such as speeches and demonstrations. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and is recognized as one of the most important men of the Civil Rights Movement. He was assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968, but his words of peace and freedom still live on today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was one of his most famous speeches. It is commonly known as his "I have a dream" speech.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"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 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 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 her 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 this 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 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. 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!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

[wakka102]

Good man. Racists piss me off. Hats off to him :) .

[Bubsa]

His ability to hold an audience has been unrivalled, I think. I've actually listened to that speech in its entirety and not once did I get bored. Could you imagine what the atmosphere must have been like if you were actually there? Wow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A great man. Let his words not fall upon deaf ears.

[Pandaman115]

Spammy, yes, but my birthday on his. :)

[Diminished2b]

His speeches were pretty amazing, I've heard audio clips of several of them before. He is comparable to Hitler in his speech talents. His views stayed persistent throughout all of the extremities and hardships he had to face. He was a major influence to end racism in America.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, and thanks for getting me Monday off.. :lol:

[jemathonical]

He was a top bloke.

 

 

 

His speeches were awesome

[1_man_army]

Thats strange I was reading that speech on Wikipedia no more that 10 minutes before finding this thread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway King, Gandhi & Mandela should stand as inspirations to us all, showing that it is possible to overcome oppression against the odds.

[warri0r45]

Thats strange I was reading that speech on Wikipedia no more that 10 minutes before finding this thread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway King, Gandhi & Mandela should stand as inspirations to us all, showing that it is possible to overcome oppression against the odds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ditto, anyone who stares in the face of 'the man' with the middle finger raised is a hero to me.

[foolgool]

We had a speaker come to school 2 years ago and do the whole speech from memory, it was amazing. The part I remember:

 

 

 

"In Alabama, where all of the little white boys and girls and the black boys and girls can join hands as brothers and sisters..."

[Nadril]

His ability to hold an audience has been unrivalled, I think. I've actually listened to that speech in its entirety and not once did I get bored. Could you imagine what the atmosphere must have been like if you were actually there? Wow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A great man. Let his words not fall upon deaf ears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Completly agreed. I just listened to it from the link here and its an amazing speech.

[issy2]

Obviously I never met him and it is hard to have a 'judgement' about someone you've never met. But he stood up for what he believed in to make things right for himself and others, which, I think, is an amazing quality. That speech is pretty cool too. :)

[assassin_696]

Absolute legend. He stood up for what he believed in with unswerving loyalty yet pacifism at the same time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A truly inspirational man.

[Guest]

Good on Him! Now that's a true Hero. To stand up like that knowing your life is in the balance doing it, takes a true hero. And an amazing speech as well.

[cadburys_egg]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He was ahead of his time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also enjoyed the 90% copypasta in the OP.

[Star.]

He changed the world, you've got to admire him. Did the same as Gandhi with their non-violent protests.

[Abyssalwhip]

I also have a dream, blacks will stop thinking everything is racist (not him but in general)

[cadburys_egg]

I also have a dream, blacks will stop thinking everything is racist (not him but in general)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It may sound racist, but it's actually got some truth behind it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here in Bristol, there are people campaigning to get the mayor and citizens to write a formal apology for the slave trade that our past has been associated with.

 

 

 

We weren't around when it happened, we regret it happened, but what on Earth do you want us to do about it?