I Have a Dream Speech

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Delivered at the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, D.C.
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest
demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great merican, in whose sym!olic shadow we stand
today, signed the "mancipation #roclamation. $his momentous decree came as
a great !eacon light of hope to millions of %egro slaves who had !een seared in
the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous day!rea& to end the long
night of their captivity.
'ut one hundred years later, the %egro still is not free. (ne hundred years later,
the life of the %egro is still sadly crippled !y the manacles of segregation and the
chains of discrimination. (ne hundred years later, the %egro lives on a lonely
island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. (ne hundred
years later, the %egro is still languished in the corners of merican society and
finds himself an e)ile in his own land. nd so we*ve come here today to
dramati+e a shameful condition.
In a sense we*ve come to our nation*s capital to cash a chec&. ,hen the
architects of our repu!lic wrote the magnificent words of the -onstitution and the
Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which
every merican was to fall heir. $his note was a promise that all men, yes, !lac&
men as well as white men, would !e guaranteed the .unaliena!le /ights. of .Life,
Li!erty and the pursuit of 0appiness.. It is o!vious today that merica has
defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citi+ens of color are concerned.
Instead of honoring this sacred o!ligation, merica has given the %egro people a
!ad chec&, a chec& which has come !ac& mar&ed .insufficient funds..
'ut we refuse to !elieve that the !an& of justice is !an&rupt. ,e refuse to !elieve
that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.
nd so, we*ve come to cash this chec&, a chec& that will give us upon demand
the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
,e have also come to this hallowed spot to remind merica of the fierce urgency
of %ow. $his is no time to engage in the lu)ury of cooling off or to ta&e the
tran1uili+ing drug of gradualism. %ow is the time to ma&e real the promises of
democracy. %ow is the time to rise from the dar& and desolate valley of
segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. %ow is the time to lift our nation
from the 1uic&sands of racial injustice to the solid roc& of !rotherhood. %ow is the
time to ma&e justice a reality for all of 2od*s children.
It would !e fatal for the nation to overloo& the urgency of the moment. $his
sweltering summer of the %egro*s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is
an invigorating autumn of freedom and e1uality. %ineteen si)ty3three is not an
end, !ut a !eginning. nd those who hope that the %egro needed to !low off
steam and will now !e content will have a rude awa&ening if the nation returns to
!usiness as usual. nd there will !e neither rest nor tran1uility in merica until
the %egro is granted his citi+enship rights. $he whirlwinds of revolt will continue
to sha&e the foundations of our nation until the !right day of justice emerges.
'ut there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm
threshold which leads into the palace of justice4 In the process of gaining our
rightful place, we must not !e guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not see& to satisfy
our thirst for freedom !y drin&ing from the cup of !itterness and hatred. ,e must
forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. ,e must
not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. gain and
again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul
force.
$he marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the %egro community must not
lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white !rothers, as
evidenced !y their presence here today, have come to reali+e that their destiny is
tied up with our destiny. nd they have come to reali+e that their freedom is
ine)trica!ly !ound to our freedom.
,e cannot wal& alone.
nd as we wal&, we must ma&e the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
,e cannot turn !ac&.
$here are those who are as&ing the devotees of civil rights, .,hen will you !e
satisfied5. ,e can never !e satisfied as long as the %egro is the victim of the
unspea&a!le horrors of police !rutality. ,e can never !e satisfied as long as our
!odies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the
highways and the hotels of the cities. ,e cannot !e satisfied as long as the
negro*s !asic mo!ility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. ,e can never !e
satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self3hood and ro!!ed of their
dignity !y a sign stating4 .For ,hites (nly.. ,e cannot !e satisfied as long as a
%egro in Mississippi cannot vote and a %egro in %ew 6or& !elieves he has
nothing for which to vote. %o, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not !e satisfied
until .justice rolls down li&e waters, and righteousness li&e a mighty stream..
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and
tri!ulations. 7ome of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. nd some of
you have come from areas where your 1uest 33 1uest for freedom left you
!attered !y the storms of persecution and staggered !y the winds of police
!rutality. 6ou have !een the veterans of creative suffering. -ontinue to wor& with
the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. 2o !ac& to Mississippi, go !ac&
to la!ama, go !ac& to 7outh -arolina, go !ac& to 2eorgia, go !ac& to
Louisiana, go !ac& to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, &nowing that
somehow this situation can and will !e changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
nd so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a
dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the merican dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning
of its creed4 .,e hold these truths to !e self3evident, that all men are created
e1ual..
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of 2eorgia, the sons of former slaves
and the sons of former slave owners will !e a!le to sit down together at the ta!le
of !rotherhood.
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 !e 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 !e judged !y the color of their s&in !ut !y the content of their character.
I have a dream today8
I have a dream that one day, down in la!ama, with its vicious racists, with its
governor having his lips dripping with the words of .interposition. and
.nullification. 33 one day right there in la!ama little !lac& !oys and !lac& girls will
!e a!le to join hands with little white !oys and white girls as sisters and !rothers.
I have a dream today8
I have a dream that one day every valley shall !e e)alted, and every hill and
mountain shall !e made low, the rough places will !e made plain, and the
croo&ed places will !e made straight9 .and the glory of the Lord shall !e revealed
and all flesh shall see it together..
$his is our hope, and this is the faith that I go !ac& to the 7outh with.
,ith this faith, we will !e a!le to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of
hope. ,ith this faith, we will !e a!le to transform the jangling discords of our
nation into a !eautiful symphony of !rotherhood. ,ith this faith, we will !e a!le to
wor& together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to
stand up for freedom together, &nowing that we will !e free one day.
nd this will !e the day 33 this will !e the day when all of 2od*s children will !e
a!le to sing with new meaning4
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's ride,
!rom every mountainside, let freedom ring"
nd if merica is to !e a great nation, this must !ecome true.
nd so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of %ew 0ampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of %ew 6or&.
Let freedom ring from the heightening lleghenies of
#ennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow3capped /oc&ies of -olorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of -alifornia.
'ut not only that4
Let freedom ring from 7tone Mountain of 2eorgia.
Let freedom ring from Loo&out Mountain of $ennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
nd when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from
every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will !e a!le to
speed up that day when all of 2od*s children, !lac& men and white men, Jews
and 2entiles, #rotestants and -atholics, will !e a!le to join hands and sing in the
words of the old %egro spiritual4
!ree at last" !ree at last"
#han$ %od &lmighty, we are free at last"