I Have a Dream

This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.

Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.

This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.

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.

One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to 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 their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.

This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.

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.

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 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.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to 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 their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

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 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.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?"

We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.

Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.

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.

One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.

[Applause]

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand 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.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

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!"

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to 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 their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

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 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.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to 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 their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

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 hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

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.

So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.

So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

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.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.

Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.

Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.

This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.

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.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice.

We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.

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.

[Applause]

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead.

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.

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.

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."

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro.

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.

One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.

Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

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.

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.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.

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."

One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.

[Applause]

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to 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 their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.