In Honor of Dr. King

Martin Luther King Jr. delivering "I Have a Dream" at the 1963 Washington D.C. Civil Rights March.

Excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 

I Have a Dream Speech - delivered August 28th, 1963

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to 

you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties 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 of its creed: "We hold 

these truths to be self-evident, that all men are 

created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of 

Georgia, the 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 

Mississippi, 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 racists, 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 

together."²

This is our hope, and 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 of despair a stone of hope. 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 work together, to 

pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail 

together, 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 of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must 

become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops 

of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains 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 curvaceous slopes 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 molehill of

          Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow 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!³