I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King Jr.

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I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King Jr.

“I Have a Dream” is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. In the speech, King spoke about his dream of a America where people would be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. He also called for laws to be changed to ensure that African Americans had the same rights as white Americans, including the right to vote and the right to equal treatment under the law. The speech is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential speeches in American history.

The speech is not only a call for an end to racial discrimination but also a powerful testament to the ideals of freedom, equality, and justice. Here are some key excerpts from the speech:

“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 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 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.”
“This is our hope, and 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.”
“And when this happens, and 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!'”

Quotes Pertaining to Civil Rights

“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Dr. King’s famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech was delivered at ‘The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,’ a call to justice beyond the traditional civil rights movement’s focus.” ~Charles B. Rangel
“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.” ~Rosa Parks
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Sometimes, I am also identified as a civil rights leader or a human rights activist. I would also like to be thought of as a complex, three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood human being with a rich storehouse of experiences, much like everyone else, yet unique in my own way, much like everyone else.” ~Coretta Scott King
“Every American citizen must have an equal right to vote. There is no reason which can excuse the denial of that right. There is no duty which weighs more heavily on us than the duty we have to ensure that right. … It is wrong—deadly wrong—to deny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote in this country. There is no issue of states rights or national rights. There is only the struggle for human rights.” ~President Lyndon B. Johnson
“Impossible is just a small word that is thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in a world they’ve been given to explore the power they have, to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It is an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It is a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing!” ~Muhammad Ali
“The time is always right to do what is right.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
“It is impossible to struggle for civil rights, equal rights for blacks, without including whites. Because equal rights, fair play, justice, are all like the air: we all have it, or none of us has it. That is the truth of it.” ~Maya Angelou
“I have a dream that one day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered as our prince of peace, of civil rights. We owe him something major that will keep his memory alive.” ~Morgan Freeman
“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” ~Booker T. Washington