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January 15,1991 The Portland Observer -P ase 13
1 The Dream of Martin Luther King, Junior =
A u g u s t 28,1963 ■” Lincoln Memorisi,Wàshington, D.C
I am happy io join with you
today in what will go down in history as
the greatest demonstration for freedom
•n the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great
American, in whose symbolic shadow
we stand today, signed the Emancipa
tion 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 wither
ing injustice. It came as a joyous day
break to end the long night of their cap
tivity.
But one hundred 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 seg
regation and the chains of discrimina
tion; one hundred years later, the Negro
lives on a lonely island of poverty in the
midst of a vast ocean of material pros
perity; one hundred years later, the
Negro is still languishing the comers of
American society and finds himself in
exile in his own land.
So we’ve come here today to
dramatize a shameful condition. In a
sense we’ve come to our nation’s capi
tal to cash a check. When the architects
of our republic wrote the magnificent
words of the Constitution and the Dec
laration of Independence, they were
signing a promissory note to which every
American was to fall heir. This note
was the 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 happi
ness.
It is obvious today that Amer
ica has defaulted on this promissory
note in so far as her citizens of color are
concerned. Instead of honoring this
sacred obligation, America has given
the Negro people a bad check; a check
which has come back marked “ insuffi
cient funds” . 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 the security
of justice.
We have also come to this hal
lowed 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 gradu
alism. Now is the lime to make real the
promises of democracy; now is the
lime to rise from the dark and desolate
valley of segregation to the sunlit path
of racial justic; now is the time to lift
our nation from the quicksands of racial
injustice to the solid rock of brother
hood; now is the time to make justice a
reality for all God’s children. It would
be fatal for the nation to overlook the
urgency of the moment. This swelter
ing summer of the Negro’s legitimate
discontent will not pass until there is an
invigorating autumn of freedom and
equality.
Nine*sen sixty-three is not an
end, but a beginning. And those who
hope 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 citizen
ship rights. The whirlwinds of the re
volt will continue to shake the founda
tions 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 plain of dignity and
discipline. We must not allow our crea
tive protest to generate into physical
violence. Again and again we must rise
to the majestic height of meeting physi
cal force with soul force; and the mar
velous new militancy, which has en
gulfed the Negro community, must not
lead us to a distrust of all white people.
For many of our white brothers, as evi
denced by their presence here today,
have come to realize that their destiny
is tied with our destiny. And they have
come to realize that their freedom is
inextricable bound to our freedom. We
cannot walk alone. And as we talk, we
must make the pledge that we shall
always march ahead. We cannot turn
back.
$&ÏHave a Dt^am ^M aK h, ih August 1963.
There arc those who are ask
ing 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 satis
fied as long as our bodies, heavy with
the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodg
ing in the motels of the highways and
the hotels of the cities; we cannot be
A dream . . .
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 the Negro
in Mississippi cannot vote and a negro
in New York believes that he has noth
ing for which to vote. No! No, we are
not satisfied, and we will not be satis
fied until “ justice rolls down like wa
ters and righteousness like a mighty
stream.”
I am not unmindful that some
of you 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
the storms o f persecution and staggered
by the winds o f police brutality. You
have been the veterans of creative suf
fering. 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 Louisi
ana. Go back tothe slums and ghettos of
our Northern cities, knowing that some
how this situation can and will be
changed. Let us not wallow in the val
ley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends,
so even though we face the difficultied
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 o f its creed,
“ We hold these truths to be self-evi
dent, that all men are created equal.” I
have a dream that one day on the red
hills of Georgia, 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 Missis
sippi, 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 rac
ists, 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 to
gether.”
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 o f despair a stone of
hope. With this faith we shall 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 to
gether, to stand up for freedom together,
knowing that we will be free one day.
And 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 o f lib
erty, of thee I sing. Land where my
father died, land o f 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 m oun
tains 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 curvacious
slopes of California. But not only that
. Let freedom ring from Stone Moun
tain of Georgia; let freedom ring from
Lookout Mountain of Tennessee; let
freedom ring from every hill and mole
hill of Mississippi. From every m oun
tainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, and
when we allow freedom to ring, when
we let it ring from every village and
every hamlet, from every state and ev
ery city, we will be able to speed up that
day when all God’s children, black men
and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Prot
estants 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."
We hold in our hands the power to lift each other
up to new heights of humanity — or to let go,
plunging mankind into an abyss of destruction.
of equal opportunity for all.
M artin Luther King saw a better future for all races
through equal opportunities.
Multnomah ESD, which provides programs and
services to schools in the county, is dedicated to the
principle of nondiscrimination in employment policies
and hiring practices. Job opportunities are listed in
The Portland Observer or call MESD at 255-1841.
Multnomah
Education Service District
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: A
Legacy to Remember
BY REVEREND RODERICK C.
LIGHTNER
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., we as a race of people have a
lot to be thankful to his contributions,
sacrifice and life-giving commitment.
Through the Civil Right Move
ment in the early 1960s, roads were
paved for our present generation to be
able to reap the benefits and comforts
that our Black forefathers and parents
were not able to receive.
We are enjoying the comforts
and reaping the benefits of our labor
through business, labor industry, gov
ernment, entertainment, sports, educa
tion, and our churches.
As black people, “ we have come
this far by faith, leaning on the Lord,
trusting in His Holy Word, knowing that
he hasn’t failed us yet.”
Through Dr. King’s life, sacri
fice and commitment arid also through
the commitment and sacrifices of others
who follow in his footsteps, black people
have gained tremendous strides of
achievements and success.
Presently in our new year of
1991, we are observing the leadership
skills of black mayors of our nation's
leading cities, graduating competent black
college students inthc professional ca
reer fields of law, medicine, engineer
ing, business, journalism and the clergy.
We now assume positions as
supervisors, high ranking military offi
cers, attorneys, doctors, political lead
ers, professors, business executives, etc.
We enjoy the comforts and
luxuries of residing in beautiful homes,
staying in the best of hotels and eating in
the most exclusive restaurants within
our cities.
Yes, we have been blessed as a
race of people, but we must never, never
forget from whence we came!
For many of us, the rural deep
south will always be a part of our family
roots. Our children of our present gen
eration should always be taught and
reminded of their black heritage and
history. Our heritage is rich and carrys
within it a value system of integrity,
pride and faith in God.
The dream of Dr. Martin Lu
ther King must live within each of our
hearts and minds each day of our lives.
As we remember Dr. King on this spe
cial day in his honor, let us focus clearly
on the legacy in which he left us, an
example of genuine conviction, equal
justice for all people and a life of peace
in which all of G od’s people can live.
The choice is ours to make.
Reebok
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