I HAVE A DREAM
The following is an extract from a famous speech made by Martin
Luther King, the American civil rights leader who was assassinated
in 1968:
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and
live out the true message 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 desert state sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression,
will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
l have a dream that my four little children will one day
live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour
of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today |
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama,
whose governor's lips are presently drippng with 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 brothers and sisters
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted,
every hill and mountain 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 with which I return to
the South. 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 God's 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 pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring"
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true.....
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 the day when all of God's children.... will be able
to join hands and sing in the words of that old Negro spiritual.
"Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free
at last!”
|
