LEAST WE FORGET ON THIS FATEFUL DAY...

[Jeffersons Ghost]

In these times of increasing oppression and loss of civil liberty, let us not forget these words by a truly great American:

I have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr; August 28, 1963

.

Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

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 slave-owners 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!"

[democrank]

1. Thank you, JG.

Every time I hear or read this speech, I get an ache in my throat. Bless Dr. King and his memorable, profound words.

~PEACE~

[Jeffersons Ghost]

4. same here democrank... thanks and here's some other ideas...

First, a quote just for your feelings about the MLK speech:

"As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, keep it."

Now, a few other ideas:

"I want freedom for the full expression of my personality."

"Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes."

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

"Hate the sin, love the sinner."

"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence."

"I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life."

"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."

"Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary."

"Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy."

"It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err."

"One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds."

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."

"You must be the change you want to see in the world."

"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."

"Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right."

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?"

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always."

all previous quotes by ~Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi~

[bumpster]

2. And on this day at a prayer breakfast in the memory of Martin Luther King, JR.

in Stockton, CA I had the honor and pleasure of hearing a bone chilling speech given by a young women that challenged the elders and young people in her family's congregation that Martin's dream has not been fulfilled and challenged every single one of us in the social hall to something about it. The young lady's name is Myesha Patterson and she is the National Public Health Coordinator for the NAACP in Washington DC. I stopped and spoke to Congressman McNerney on the way out the door, I told him I will continue to fight and begged him to fight for us now.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

3. Welcome to DU !!

:hi:

[Jeffersons Ghost]

5. I'm always honored when someone chooses my OPs for their first post at DU...

Bearing the previous words by Dr. King and Gandhi in mind, I will resist feeling proud. After all, it is not my words that evoke these comments but words by truly great humanitarians; truly HUMBLE HUMANITARIANS.

thanks for choosing such a humble place to offer your initial comments, bumpster. WELCOME TO DU!

[newyawker99]

6. Hi bumpster!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Jeffersons Ghost]

7. anyone else care to welcome bumpster to DU? MLK and Gandhi deserve a few kicks! LOL

I just read on another OP that AIR AMERICA is playing Randi Rhodes doing excerpts from speeches by Dr. King.

Here's a little info on a REAL-LIVE social activist:

Here's the traditional gateway but other DUers should feel free to offer other links to this great media:
http://www.airamerica.com/
Here's a picture that will make hetro-sexual males better understand groupie mentality:

Randi Rhodes

This media odyssey begins in Seminole, Texas where Randi took on duties as a waitress in a Mexican restaurant to support her addiction to great radio. After paying some serious dues, a love of broadcasting lead her to New York, Dallas, and Milwaukee before she finally settled in South Florida (WIOD-Miami) and West Palm Beach (WJNO).

In the Air Force, Randi was voted Most Outstanding Woman in 1979 and also won the American Women in Radio and Television award for Best Entertainment Programming.

Randi Rhodes Show
The smoky-voiced Brooklyn native with the lightening fast wit cracks the mic and legions listen. One of the country's first female entertainment and political talk show hosts, Randi has a passion for people.

Her radio talk shows are legendary in South Florida where she has been the comic relief and the pillar of reality when she gives herself to ideas that people rarely express out loud. Her unflinching candor and self-deprecating approach to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness (whatever), have earned her the respect and loyalty. Her ability to research complex ideas but present them so simply and in an exquisitely entertaining way seems effortless. It seems that Randi's opinion was the one you never knew was yours but now is. She holds Nothing back. Randi's life is an open book and people tune in to hear the pages turn. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.1470wnyy.com/page.php%3Fcategory_id%3D144%26page_id%3D108%26jock_id%3D52&h=440&w=343&sz=65&hl=en&sig2=D8UawhzzgBIMPpLuSpHp1g&start=5&tbnid=sBh76pEUlf3MGM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=99&ei=wfirRcqWM6GuaJrhiKgC&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drandi%2Brhodes%26svnum%3D30%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26newwindow%3D1%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN

Randi Rhodes
On-Air Schedule
Monday 3:00am - 5:00am
Tuesday 4:00am - 5:00am
Wednesday 4:00am - 5:00am
Thursday 4:00am - 5:00am
Friday 4:00am - 5:00am
Saturday 4:00am - 6:00am
Sunday 1:00pm - 2:00pm