I Have a Dream-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

[Yuki Sohma]

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered the attached speech on August 28, 1963; which speech I love for many reasons but most of all because it calls for unity & love amongst all individuals.

Peace out!

ys

from wikipedia

"I Have a Dream" is a public speech delivered by American activist Martin Luther King, Jr. on August 28, 1963, in which he called for an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream

...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 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. 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 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!"


Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

[White Eagle]

Yes, a good weekend for remembrance.

 

[Jack Springer]

It's a horrible thing that the great words of Martin Luther King, Jr. have been molested into the rhetoric of people like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and others who have turned the dreams of MLK into a money making scam racket forcing businesses to give them money for protection.

Do yourself a favor and listen to what MLK, Jr. was saying and not what the idiots today say he's saying.

They've taken his dream and turned it into a crooked scheme.

 

[CowboyBob]

It's a horrible thing that the great words of Martin Luther King, Jr. have been molested into the rhetoric of people like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and others who have turned the dreams of MLK into a money making scam racket forcing businesses to give them money for protection.

Do yourself a favor and listen to what MLK, Jr. was saying and not what the idiots today say he's saying.

They've taken his dream and turned it into a crooked scheme.

Really? This is what you're commenting on?

You really need to stay away from your computer.

 

[johaninsc]

It's a horrible thing that the great words of Martin Luther King, Jr. have been molested into the rhetoric of people like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and others who have turned the dreams of MLK into a money making scam racket forcing businesses to give them money for protection.

Do yourself a favor and listen to what MLK, Jr. was saying and not what the idiots today say he's saying.

They've taken his dream and turned it into a crooked scheme.

do you ever have anything positive to say..?

 

[bendted]

Does anyone know if he wrote the speech?

 

[opinterph]

Does anyone know if he wrote the speech?

Much of the “I Have a Dream” speech was extemporaneous. [Link]

Toward the end of its delivery, noted African American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted to Dr. King from the crowd, “Tell them about the dream, Martin.” [Wiki]

Martin clutched the speaker's lectern and seemed to reset. I watched him push the text of his prepared remarks to one side. I knew this performance had just been given over to the spirit of the moment. I leaned over and said to the person next to me, “These people out there today don't know it yet, but they're about ready to go to church.”

On Martin Luther King Day, remembering the first draft of 'I Have a Dream'

 

[Jack Springer]

do you ever have anything positive to say..?

My comment was positive about MLK but not about what his dream has become. MLK would be truly pissed at how his dream has been twisted.

 

[Sausy]

One of the most positive affirmations about the possibilities of America ever given. Criticism of Jack Springer's take aside, no one else in the civil rights movement ever approached the soaring vision of MLK, as people who claimed the mantle of leadership from MLK after his assassination(most prominently the aforementioned Jesse Jackson)were more often prone to demagogic, divisive populism. These words, among a number of remarkable speeches given by MLK, however are timeless and their poetry still sings and will do so countless years into the future.

 

[Yuki Sohma]

Good Evening Fellow JUBers,

First, let me thank all who have responded to this thread.

JUBers, here are my thoughts as I read, reread & contemplate Dr. king's words. Even though Dr. King's message reverberates in the arena of racial equality in the 50 United States let us not forget that there's a great big world outside of the United States of America where the struggle for racial equality has & in some cases still does exist.

America, be proud of what you represent but remember you (America) are not alone in the struggles for racial equalities.

Why do I mention such things you ask; well, in the famous words of Mr. Bunker, let me tell you why...

...Say what people everywhere may or may not say about the struggle for LGBT rights, the struggle for LGBT equal rights are just as real as any struggle for racial equality...& that's a fact!!!

So this evening I say, good luck to all us LGBT individuals who may struggle daily with hatred & all too real life threatening dangers.

As the words Mr. Dickens attributes to Mr. Tim "God bless us, every one!"

Peace out.

ys
8/24/2013

 

[bike10]

I was about to enter my senior year in high school in August 1963 and was moved by the speech that day and still enjoy its importance today.

 

[charles-smythe]

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered the attached speech on August 28, 1963; which speech I love for many reasons but most of all because it calls for unity & love amongst all individuals.

Peace out!

ys

...if you look at the racism and violance exhibited by black to whites i believe that more whites are trying to live up to this dream than blacks...for the last 30 years i have deliberately tried to live in diverse neighborhoods...there's been times when i was the only white in the neighborhood...as long as its a middle class neighborhood where (other than skin color) the people were just like me...trying to raise kids...pay bills...and etc...there was never a problem...i had super neighbors...we helped each other like neighbors do in any neighborhood...but when i found myself in less prosprous neighborhoods...it was different...i was a honkie...a cracker...and fair game for anyone...

 

[charles-smythe]

My comment was positive about MLK but not about what his dream has become. MLK would be truly pissed at how his dream has been twisted.

...i agree 100%...mlk wasn't pro-black...he was pro-EVERYONE...reguardless of the color of your skin...that's not how his dream is being played out today...

 

[palemale]

...if you look at the racism and violance exhibited by black to whites i believe that more whites are trying to live up to this dream than blacks.

That's true only on Fox News. The reason the Republican Party is shrinking is because its support is becoming limited to a shrinking, older, racist base. They have driven moderates out of the party. There is barely a Republican Party in the Northeast or West Coast. The still considerable pool of these white racists has had the effect of severely damaging the Republican Party. The Republican response is to try to suppress the votes of minorities and young people. They don't want young, college age whites to vote because, lacking the racism, homophobia and ignorance of older whites, they tend to vote for Democrats.

 

[Jack Springer]

^^

Charles is right. Why are you attacking republicans and FNC in your response to him. Charles is saying that white people have come a long way in accepting black people as equals.

Simply posting typical liberal talking points is not responding to his comment.

 

[rareboy]

^ Yup. Y'all pat yourselves on the backs there. I'll bet that you don't even think of a black as 3/5ths of a person anymore.

 

[Rolyo85]

The majority doesn't get to complain of discrimination. It is NEVER the persecuted, as much as it might loathe losing its unfair privileges and the freedom to oppress minorities. This is something that many white people and most Christians fail to grasp. As a majority, you. Don't. Get. To. Complain.

 

[Jack Springer]

.. and yet you can't say with me that white people and black people are equal. I find that very strange.

 

[Rolyo85]

Because it's a self-evident truth that only people who are new to the concept or who want to hide their discomfort of it, bring up.

And in Republispeech "the color of their skin shouldn't matter" is code for "I should be able to discriminate against them and as long as I don't outright say I do it because of skin color, I should be allowed to get away with it". This is why nobody agrees with you.

 

[Rolyo85]

Also, your attempts to "turn the tables" on the racist accusation and put Bob (or any of us) on the defensive, are transparent and laughable. We know we aren't racist and you are the last person in the world any of us will feel any need to defend it in front of.