Martin 250911

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.

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 is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned.

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.

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

And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

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

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

It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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."

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

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 life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.

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

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

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."

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.