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P ortland/O bserver * Thursday, January II, 1973
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I HAVE A DREAM
I am happv to join with vou today in what will go down in
h isto ry as the g rea test dem onstration for freedom in the
h isto ry of our nation.
Five sco re y e ars ago, a g reat A m erican, in whose sym bolic
shadow we stand todav, signed the Emancipation P roclam ation.
T his momentous decree cam e as a g reat beacon light of hope
to m illions ot Negro sla v e s, who had been s e a re d in the flam es
of w ithering injustice. It cam e as a joyous daybreak to end
the long night of th e ir capivity.
'• But one hundred y e ars la te r, the Negro is still not free.
One hundred y e ars la te r, the life of the Negro is still sadly
crip p led by the m anacles of segregation and the chains of
d iscrim in atio n .
One hundred y e a rs la te r, the Negro lives
on a lonely island of poverty in the m idst of a vast ocean
of m a te ria l p ro sp erity . Once hundred y ears la te r, the Negro
is s till languished in the c o rn e rs of A m erican society and
finds h im self an exile in his own land. So we have com e here
today to d ram atize a shameful condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's Capitol to cash a
check. When the a rc h ite c ts ot our republic w rote the m agni
ficent words of the Constitution and the D eclaration of Inde
pendence, they w ere signing a pro m isso ry note to which every
A m erican was to fall h e ir. This note was a prom ise that all
men - - y es, black men as well a s white men - - would be
guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, lib e rty , and the
p u rsu it of happiness.
It is obvious today that A m erica has defaulted on this
p ro m isso ry note insofar as h er citizen s of c o lo r a re con
c ern ed . Instead of honoring this sa c re d obligation, A m erica
has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has
com e back m arked "in su fficien t funds". But we refuse to
believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to
believe that th e re a re insufficient funds in the g rea t vaults
of opportunity of this nation.
So we've com e to cash this
check - - a check that will give us upon demand the riches
of freedom and the se cu rity of ju stice. We have also come
to this hallowed spot to rem ind A m erica of the fierce urgency
ot NOW. T his is no tim e to engage in the luxury of cooling
off o r to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism . Now is
the tim e to m ake real the p ro m ises of D em ocracy. Now is
the tim e to r is e from the dark and desolate valley of s e g re
gation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the tim e
to lift o u r nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to
the solid rock of brotherhood.
Now is the tim e to make
justice a reality for all of G od's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of
the moment. T his sw elterin g su m m er of the N egro's ligiti-
m ate discontent will not pass until th ere is an invigorating
autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen six ty -th re e is not
an end, but a beginning. T hose who hope that the Negro needed
to blow ff steam and will now be content will have a rude
awakening if the nation re tu rn s to business as usual. T here
will be neither re s t nor tranquility in A m erica until the
Negro is granted his c itizen sh ip rights.
The whirlwinds
of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of o u r nation
until the bright day of ju stice e m erg es.
But that is som ething that I m ust say to my people who
stand on the warm th resh o ld which leads into the palace of
ju stice. In the p ro ce ss of gaining o u r rightful place we m ust
not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us nor seek to satisfy
our th irs t for freedom by drinking from the cup of b itte rn e ss
and hatred.
We m ust fo rev er conduct o u r stru g g le on the high plane
of dignity and discipline.
We m ust not allow o u r c re a tiv e
p ro test to d egenerate into physical violence. Again and again
we m ust rise to the m ajestic heights of m eeting physical
force with soul force. The m arvelous new m ilitancy which
has engulfed the Negro com m unity m ust not lead us to a d is
tru s t of all white people, fo r many of o u r white b ro th e rs,
as evidenced bv th e ir p resen ce h ere today, have com e to
re a liz e that th e ir destiny is tied up with o u r destiny. And
they have come to rea liz e that th e ir freedom is inextricably
bound to our freedom . We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we m ust make the pledge that we shall
alw ays m arch ahead. We cannot turn back. T here a re those
who ask the devotees of civil rig h ts, "When will you
be sa tis fie d ? "
We can never be sa tisfie d as long as the
Negro is the victim of the unspeakable h o rro rs of police
b ru tality . We can never be sa tisfied a s long as o u r bodies,
heavy with the fatigue of tra v e l, cannot gain lodging in the
m otels of the highways and the hotels of the c itie s . We cannot
be satisfied as long as the N egro's basic m obility is from a
s m a lle r ghetto to a la rg e r one. We can nev er be sa tisfie d
as long as our children a re strip p ed of th e ir selfhood and
robbed of th e ir dignity by signs stating " F o r Whites O n ly ".
We cannot be sa tisfied as long as a Negro in M ississippi
cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing
for which to vote. No, no, we a re not sa tisfie d , and we will
not be satisfied until justice ro lls down like w aters and
righteousness like a mighty stre a m .
I am not unmindful that som e of you have com e h ere out
of g re a t tr ia ls and trib u latio n s.
Some of you have com e
fresh from narrow jail c e lls. Some of you have com e from
a re a s where your auest for freedom left you b attered by the
sto rm s of persecution and staggered by the winds of police
b rutality. You have been the v eteran s of c re a tiv e suffering.
Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is
redem ptive.
Go back to M ississip p i, go back to A labam a, go back to
South C aro lin a, go back to G erogia, go back to L ouisiana,
go back to the slum s and ghettos of o u r n o rth ern c .i.e s ,
knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of d e sp air.
I say to you today, my frien d s, so even though we face the
difficulties of today and tom orrow , I still have a d rea m . It
is a dream deeply rooted in the A m erican d ream .
I have a dream that one day this nation will ris e up and
live out the tru e m eaning of its creed : "W e hold these
tru th s to be self-evident; that all men a r e c re a te d e q u a l".
I have a dream that one day on the red h ills of G eorgia the
sons of fo rm e r slav es and the sons of fo rm er slaveow ners
will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood:
I have a dream --
That one day even the sta te o f M ississip p i, a state sw eltering
with the heat of in ju stice, sw elterin g with the heat of o p p re s
sio n , will be tran sfo rm ed into an o a sis o f freedom and justice
I have a dream --
That my four little child ren will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the c o lo r of rh eir skin but
the content of th e ir c h a ra c te r: I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in A labam a, with its
vicious ra c is ts , with its governor having his lips dripping
with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right
th ere in Alabama little black boys and black g irls will be
able to join hands with little white boys and white g irls as
s is te r s and b ro th ers: I have a dream today --
I have a dream that one day ev ery valley shall be ex alted ,
every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rought places
will be made plan and crooked places will fie made stra ig h t,
and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh
sh all see it together.
This is o u r hope.
T his 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 d e sp air a stone of hope. With this faith we will
be able to tran sfo rm the jangling d isco rd s of our nation into
a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
With this faith we
will be able to work to g eth er, to pray to g eth er, to stru g g le
to g eth er, to go to jail to g eth er, to stand up for freedom to
g e th e r, knowing that we will be free one day.
T his will be the day . . . T his will be the day when all of
G od's children will be able to sing with new meaning "My
country 'tis of th ee, sw eet land of lib erty , of thee I sing.
Land where my fath ers died, land of the p ilg rim 's p rid e,
from every m ountainside, let freedom rin g ," and if A m erica
is to be a g reat nation - - this m ust become tru e.
So let freedom ring -- from the prodigious hilltops of
New H am pshire, let freedom ring: from the mighty m ountains
of New Y ork, let freedom ring -- from the heightening
A lleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of C alifornia!
But not only that- let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of
G eorgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of T ennessee!
Let
freedom
ring from every hill and mole hill of
M ississip p i.
From ev erv m ountainside, let freedom ring,
and when this happens.
When we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from
every village and ev ery h am let, from every sta te and every
city , we will be able to speed up that day when al, of G od's
c h ild ren , black men and white m en, Jews and G entiles, P ro
te sta n ts and C ath o lics, will be able to join hands and sing
in the words of the old Negro sp iritu a l, " F r e e at last! free
at last! thank God alm ighty, we a re free at la st!"