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
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, 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







