our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, 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. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. 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 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. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we have come to our nations capital to cash a check. 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. 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. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar 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 insufficient funds. But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have 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 hallowed 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 gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of Gods children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negros legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. 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 citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations 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 plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a 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. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking 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 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. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negros 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 a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. I am not unmindful that some of you have 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 of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. 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 Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, 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, 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. 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 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. This will be the day when all of Gods children will be able to sing with a new meaning, My country, tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims 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 mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped 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, when we allow freedom to 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 Gods 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! Also on HuffPost: ... • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • U.S. State Capitol Buildings 1 of 51 AP Next FOLLOW HUFFPOST POLITICS ON Facebook: Like. 354k Twitter: Get Alerts CONTRIBUTE TO THIS STORY Send Corrections Send us a Link Contact us Send a Tip Send Photos/Videos Comment . Subscribe to the HuffPost Hill newsletter! Read more from Huffington Post bloggers: Paul Brandeis Raushenbush Paul Brandeis Raushenbush: Celebrating Gandhis Birthday by Imagining Nonviolence in the Middle East Nonviolence in the Middle East sounds idealistic to be sure; and to some, dangerously naive. But think of the alternative. Eboo Patel Joe Lapointe Gustav Niebuhr James Perry Ellen Sterling Dr. Judith Rich Eboo Patel Eboo Patel: MLK Was an Interfaith Visionary, Too Following Gandhi was Kings first step on a long journey of learning about the shared social justice values across the worlds religions. Joe Lapointe Joe Lapointe: An Earlier Version of Dr. Kings Dream Speech in Detroit Washington was not Kings first performance of the Dream refrain, which has evolved over a half-century into a classic American prose poem and cultural prayer. Gustav Niebuhr Gustav Niebuhr: A Buddhist View: Kings Compassion Still Among Us In our conversation, I asked Thich Nhat Hanh whether he regarded King, whom he had known, as a bodhisattva, an enlightened being. The monk responded with an unequivocal yes. James Perry James Perry: Two of Everything: The Legacy of Segregation In most American communities there are two of everything. This is not a modern day Noahian tale, rather it is the lingering effect of de jure segregation. More Blog Posts: « First Prev 1 2 Next Last » Filed by Craig Kanalley | Comments 26 Pending Comments 0 View FAQ Comments are closed for this entry View All Favorites . Recency | Popularity . . photo josmo . 43 Fans . 10:20 PM on 02/26/2011 MLK was a brave human drawing all that attention on himself knowing the mentality of the opposition. There were many others that paid that ultimate price. There were also men like Thurgood Marshall that I will always be grateful for. It takes more than just a class and a film during Black history Month to connect your kids to what went down. Please take your kids to any sights and museums that cover the civil rights movement. Im in KS and the brown Vs Board of education was a great visit. Permalink | Share it . spinner mujino . 128 Fans . 06:35 PM on 02/23/2011 America needs more ML Kings now, more than ever. Permalink | Share it . spinner photo HUFFPOST SUPER USER Sean Connolly . 35 Fans . 10:05 PM on 02/14/2011 Person of the Century, in America at least. Permalink | Share it . spinner photo HUFFPOST SUPER USER SelfCentered Live life or die trying! . 1214 Fans . 08:31 PM on 02/13/2011 MLK is the rock for all ages... Permalink | Share it . spinner photo HUFFPOST SUPER USER Dare Taiwo A Pragmatist and a Pundit . 182 Fans . 04:19 AM on 01/18/2011 MLK was indeed a man ahead of his time. To see that despite the hostile environment within which he and his Contemporaries grew up in the then United States of America, they where able to rise above adversaries and limitations to leave indelible footprints in the sand of time. Will that be spoken of us when we have long left this sinful world? Or would we, because of political and ideological differences, allow Politicians to continue to sow seeds of discord among us for their sheer aggrandizement? Would we allow them to continue to hold our economy to ransom because of their desires to wrest political powers from the Party across the aisle? It is time we all come together, not as Conservatives, Democrats, Tea Party, black, white, green, red, brown but as a People with common destinies and with common goals, vision and aspirations for the future of the great Country. Let us make every moment of our lives count. Let us live our lives in the service of humanity Permalink | Share it . photo HUFFPOST SUPER USER wmholt You cant not know. You cant not care. . 1183 Fans . 11:02 AM on 01/19/2011 Fanned! Permalink | Share it . spinner spinner Patricia Mackintosh . 0 Fans . 08:37 PM on 01/17/2011 I agree with Pearlswan. Considering the world in which we are living, it would have been more timely, and certainly more instructive, if you would have published Dr. Kings address on April 4, 1967, at Riverside Church in New York City. This seems particularly true when one considers that this weekend was the 50th anniversary of Dwight D. Eisenhowers speech at the end of his presidency, during which he addressed the military-industrial complex. Everyone should be made aware of these two historical speeches. Our history is being lost. Permalink | Share it . spinner lennybot . 0 Fans . 05:03 PM on 01/17/2011 It is unfortunate that we still have not yet achieved his dream. Too many people elected our current president based on the color of his skin and not the content of his character. Permalink | Share it . This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program photo craphappens . 73 Fans . 10:23 PM on 01/17/2011 I dont know about that. McCain is no saint. Permalink | Share it . spinner MoeB . 1123 Fans . 11:29 AM on 01/18/2011 Proof? Or is the assumption still that since more blacks than ever voted for Obama, that race MUST be the ONLY reason for it? And that said, since most whites voted for McCain, should we also assume that they voted for him ONLY because he was white? Permalink | Share it . There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them All spinner spinner spinner ejreed . 12 Fans . 04:25 PM on 01/17/2011 Martin Luther Kings Final Campaign Remembered . Dr. King should be remembered for his efforts to help millions of poor people. Not just African Americans. newslook/videos/189310-martin-luther-king-s-final-campaign-remembered?autoplay=true Permalink | Share it . spinner t tip . 0 Fans . 03:55 PM on 01/17/2011 You should post the orginal speech the one he copied Permalink | Share it . photo Sizzmo . 37 Fans . 03:59 PM on 01/17/2011 Links? Proof? FACTS? Citations? Permalink | Share it . t tip . 0 Fans . 04:12 PM on 01/17/2011 Look for yourself, but better hurry they a blocking and taking them off the net asap Permalink | Share it . There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them All spinner t tip . 0 Fans . 04:26 PM on 01/17/2011 In case your to lazy check out the writings of I Have a Dream speech Archibald Carey, Jr.s address to the 1952 Republican National Convention. Permalink | Share it . spinner spinner leeloo1111 . 0 Fans . 06:38 PM on 01/17/2011 Youre only focusing on the closing paragraphs of the speeches where Archibald Carey Jr. and MLK both used the Let Freedom Ring theme. So what if he copied that part? Do you think that the rest of his message is discredited because of that? Permalink | Share it . There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them All spinner spinner spinner spinner Citizen-Jane . 767 Fans . 03:44 PM on 01/17/2011 Absolutely transcendent. One of the greatest speeches ever. Definitely my favorite. Permalink | Share it . photo HUFFPOST SUPER USER wmholt You cant not know. You cant not care. . 1183 Fans . 11:09 AM on 01/19/2011 Lincoln would have been proud of that speech. Permalink | Share it . spinner spinner photo HUFFPOST SUPER USER Pearlswan Born in Philly yet my hearts now in Frisco . 412 Fans . 03:35 PM on 01/17/2011 Imho, it would have been more appropriate to our times to post MLKs Vietnam speech, given on April 4, 1967--one year to the day prior to his death. We rarely ever hear the speech that called out the war and poverty (economic inequality) as the greatest obstacles to our nations promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that we still face today. In fact, why not publish both speeches side by side? It would be instructive to all of us. Some progress has been made in some areas but in those most critical to equality, war and money, little progress has occurred. Peace out. Permalink | Share it . spinner stevesanterre . 110 Fans . 02:57 PM on 01/17/2011 He is an inspiration to us all. His example and those of his era should never be forgotten, as issues of civil rights and liberties still are prevalent to this day. Permalink | Share it . spinner photo HUFFPOST SUPER USER Ugonna . 561 Fans . 02:48 PM on 01/17/2011 just amazing. Permalink | Share it . spinner . spinner . 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