five score years ago, a great american, in whose symbolic shadow we standsigned the emancipation proclamation. this momentous decree came as a greatbeacon light of hope to millions of negro slaves who had been seared in theflames of withering injustice. it came as a joyous daybreak to end the longnight of captivity.
but one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the negro isstill not free. one hundred years later, the life of the negro is still sadlycrippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. onehundred years later, the negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midstof a vast ocean of material prosperity. one hundred years later, the negro isstill languishing in the corners of american society and finds himself an exilein his own land. so we have come here today to dramatize an appallingcondition.
in a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. when thearchitects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the constitution andthe declaration of independence, they were signing a promissory note to whichevery american was to fall heir. this note was a promise that all men would beguaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit ofhappiness.
it is obvious today that america has defaulted on this promissory noteinsofar as her citizens of color are concerned. instead of honoring this sacredobligation, america has given the negro people a bad check which has come backmarked "insufficient funds." but we refuse to believe that the bank of justiceis bankrupt. we refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the greatvaults of opportunity of this nation.
so we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demandthe riches of freedom and the security of justice.
we have also come to this hallowed spot to remind america of the fierceurgency of now. this is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or totake the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. now is the time to rise from the darkand desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. now isthe time to open the doors of opportunity to all of god's children. now is thetime to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solidrock of brotherhood.
it would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment andto underestimate the determination of the negro. this sweltering summer of thenegro's legitimate discontent will not pauntil there is an invigorating autumnof freedom and equality. nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but abeginning.
those who hope that the negro needed to blow off steam and will now becontent will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to busineas usual.there will be neither rest nor tranquility in america until the negro is grantedhis citizenship rights. the whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake thefoundations 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 warmthreshold which leads into the palace of justice. in the proceof gaining ourrightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. let us not seek tosatisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterneandhatred.
we must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity anddiscipline. we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physicalviolence. again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meetingphysical force with soul force.
the marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the negro community must notlead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, asevidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destinyis tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to ourfreedom.
we cannot walk alone.and as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shallmarch ahead. we cannot turn back. there are those who are asking the devotees ofcivil rights, "when will you be satisfied?" we can never be satisfied as long asour bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motelsof the highways and the hotels of the cities. we cannot be satisfied as long asthe negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. we cannever be satisfied as long as a negro in mississippi cannot vote and a negro innew york believes he has nothing for which to vote. no, no, we are notsatisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters andrighteousnelike a mighty stream
i am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials andtribulations. some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. some of you havecome from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms ofpersecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. you have been theveterans of creative suffering. continue to work with the faith that unearnedsuffering is redemptive.
go back to mississippi, go back to alabama, go back to georgia, go back tolouisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing thatsomehow this situation can and will be changed. let us not wallow in the valleyof despair.
i say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties andfrustrations of the moment, i still have a dream. it is a dream deeply rooted inthe american dream.
i have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the truemeaning of its creed: "we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men arecreated equal."
i have a dream that one day on the red hills of georgia the sons of formerslaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at atable 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 intoan oasis of freedom and justice.
i have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation wherethey will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of theircharacter.
i have a dream today.
i have a dream that one day the state of alabama, whose governor's lips arepresently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will betransformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will beable to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together assisters and brothers.
i have a dream today.
i have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill andmountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crookedplaces will be made straight, and the glory of the lord shall be revealed, andall flesh shall see it together.
this is our hope. this is the faith with which i return to the south. withthis faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone ofhope. with this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of ournation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. with this faith we will be ableto work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jailtogether, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free oneday.
this will be the day when all of god's children will be able to sing with anew 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 everymountainside, let freedom ring."
and if america is to be a great nation this must become true. so letfreedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of new hampshire. let freedom ringfrom the mighty mountains of new york. let freedom ring from the heighteningalleghenies 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. fromevery mountainside, let freedom ring.
when we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and everyhamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that daywhen 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 ofthe old negro spiritual, "free at last! free at last! thank god almighty, we arefree at last!"
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