by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on
August 28, 1963
But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro
is still 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 an appalling condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's 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 would be
guaranteed the
inalienable 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 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 rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation
to the sunlit path of racial
justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of
God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands
of racial injustice to the solid rock
of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment
and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer
of the Negro's
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 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 and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall 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 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 Negro's basic mobility
is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never 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 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 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, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, 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 slaveowners will be able to sit down
together at a 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.
I have a dream that my four 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 the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips
are presently dripping with the 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 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 with which I return to the South.
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 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 peaks 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 every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
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 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!"