[00:01.030]I am happy to join with you today
[00:05.730]in what will go down in history
[00:09.560]as the greatest demonstration for
[00:13.980]freedom in the history of our nation
[00:18.650]Five score years ago a great American
[00:32.580]in whose symbolic shadow we stand
[00:35.090]today signed the Emancipation Proclamation
[00:39.940]This momentous decree came as a great
[00:48.000]beacon light of hope to millions of
[00:50.440]Negro slaves who had been seared
[00:55.170]in the flames of withering injustice
[00:56.430]It came as a
[01:00.730]joyous daybreak to end the long night
[01:04.850]of their captivity
[01:05.920]But one hundred years later the
[01:11.290]Negro still is not free
[01:16.830]One hundred years later
[01:24.850]the life of the Negro is still sadly
[01:27.370]crippled by the manacles of segregation
[01:30.420]and the chains of discrimination
[01:33.080]One hundred years later
[01:35.830]the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty
[01:41.460]in the midst of a vast
[01:44.700]ocean of material prosperity
[01:46.930]One hundred years later
[01:48.910]the Negro is still languished in the
[01:56.850]corners of American society
[01:58.900]and finds himself an exile in his own land
[02:03.180]And so we've come
[02:06.250]here today to dramatize a shameful condition
[02:09.860]In a sense we've come to our nation's capital
[02:14.920]to cash a check When the architects of our
[02:21.300]republic wrote the magnificent words
[02:24.440]of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence
[02:27.880]they were signing a promissory note
[02:33.080]to which every American was to fall heir
[02:37.320]This note was a promise that all men
[02:41.160]yes black men as well as white men
[02:46.390]would be guaranteed the
[02:48.350]unalienable Rights of Life Liberty
[02:50.860]and the pursuit of Happiness
[02:54.420]It is obvious today that
[02:58.130]America has defaulted on this promissory note
[03:03.100]insofar as her citizens of color are concerned
[03:07.060]Instead of honoring this sacred obligation
[03:12.500]America has given the Negro people a bad check
[03:17.850]a check which has come back marked insufficient funds
[03:23.010]But we refuse to believe that
[03:36.650]the bank of justice is bankrupt
[03:39.700]We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds
[03:46.470]in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation
[03:49.330]And so we've come to cash this check a check
[03:52.890]that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom
[03:55.660]and the security of justice
[03:59.130]We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America
[04:14.720]of the fierce urgency of Now
[04:17.840]This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off
[04:26.680]or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism
[04:30.030]Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy
[04:39.910]Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate
[04:46.840]valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice
[04:52.180]Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands
[04:59.050]of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood
[05:03.180]Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children
[05:10.950]It would be fatal for the nation to overlook
[05:15.070]the urgency of the moment
[05:19.420]This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent
[05:24.260]will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn
[05:29.960]of freedom and equality Nineteen sixtythree
[05:34.050]is not an end but a beginning
[05:37.030]And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam
[05:41.480]and will now be content will have a rude
[05:46.910]awakening if the nation returns to business as usual
[05:49.640]And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America
[06:09.280]until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights
[06:13.410]The whirlwinds of revolt
[06:17.440]will continue to shake the foundations of our nation
[06:20.600]until the bright day of justice emerges
[06:22.640]But there is something that I must say to my people
[06:27.280]who stand on the warm threshold which
[06:30.770]leads into the palace of justice
[06:32.990]In the process of gaining our rightful place
[06:38.200]we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds
[06:42.740]Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom
[06:48.310]by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred
[06:52.130]We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of
[07:05.550]dignity and discipline
[07:07.630]We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence
[07:13.080]Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting
[07:19.900]physical force with soul force
[07:23.280]The marvelous new militancy
[07:26.040]which has engulfed the Negro community
[07:29.420]must not lead us to a distrust of all white people
[07:33.710]for many of our white brothers as evidenced by their presence
[07:38.110]here today have come to realize that
[07:40.760]their destiny is tied up with our destiny And they have
[07:56.770]come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom
[07:59.930]We cannot walk alone
[08:01.010]And as we walk we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead
[08:08.360]We cannot turn back
[08:10.370]There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights
[08:18.050]When will you be satisfied
[08:21.020]We can never be satisfied
[08:24.290]as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality
[08:29.820]We can never be satisfied
[08:32.750]as long as our bodies heavy with the fatigue of travel
[08:38.090]cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways
[08:42.900]and the hotels of the cities
[08:44.460]We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility
[08:56.220]is from a smaller ghetto to a
[08:58.350]larger one We can never be satisfied as long as our children
[09:01.880]are stripped of their selfhood
[09:03.040]and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating
[09:05.010]For Whites Only We cannot be satisfied as
[09:06.850]long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote
[09:08.140]and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing
[09:10.260]for which to vote
[09:11.150]No no we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied
[09:14.130]until justice rolls
[09:16.110]down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream
[09:28.900]
[09:29.900]I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials
[09:38.040]and tribulations
[09:40.420]Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells
[09:45.230]And some of you have come from areas
[09:49.180]where your quest quest
[09:50.970]for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and
[09:55.570]staggered by the winds of police brutality
[09:58.810]You have been the veterans of creative suffering
[10:03.760]Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive
[10:11.100]Go back to Mississippi
[10:15.230]go back to Alabama go back to South Carolina
[10:20.470]go back to Georgia go back to Louisiana go
[10:23.660]back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities
[10:28.630]knowing that somehow this situation can
[10:31.760]and will be changed
[10:32.760]Let us not wallow in the valley of despair
[10:37.980]I say to you today my friends
[10:40.540]And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow
[10:54.150]I still have a dream
[10:59.450]It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream
[11:03.810]I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up
[11:13.220]and live out the true meaning of its creed
[11:19.930]We hold these truths to be selfevident
[11:22.370]that all men are created equal
[11:24.010]I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia
[11:39.180]the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners
[11:44.620]will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood
[11:50.180]I have a dream that one day
[11:54.750]even the state of Mississippi
[11:57.840]a state sweltering with the heat of injustice
[12:00.700]sweltering with the heat of oppression
[12:07.690]will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice
[12:11.570]I have a dream
[12:14.500]that my four little children
[12:19.160]will one day live in a nation
[12:22.580]where they will not be
[12:24.660]judged by the color of their skin
[12:26.510]but by the content of their character
[12:27.890]I have a dream today!
[12:29.170]I have a dream that one day
[12:40.880]down in Alabama with its vicious racists
[12:46.870]with its governor having his lips
[12:53.370]dripping with the words of interposition and nullification
[12:55.200]one day right there in Alabama
[12:57.550]little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white
[13:02.730]boys and white girls as sisters and brothers
[13:05.320]I have a dream today!I have a dream that one day
[13:18.090]every valley shall be exalted and every hill and mountain shall
[13:22.230]be made low the rough places will be made plain
[13:25.130]and the crooked places will be made
[13:26.470]straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed
[13:29.340]and all flesh shall see it together
[13:33.140]This is our hope and this is the faith that I go back to the South with
[13:38.990]With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair
[13:43.040]a stone of hope
[13:44.980]With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords
[13:50.990]of our nation into a beautiful
[13:53.310]symphony of brotherhood
[13:55.200]With this faith we will be able to work together to pray together
[13:59.240]to struggle together to go to jail together
[14:03.730]to stand up for freedom together knowing that we
[14:06.470]will be free one day
[14:10.530]And this will be the day this
[14:14.040]will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing
[14:19.210]with new meaning
[14:20.150]My country 'tis of thee sweet land of liberty of thee I sing
[14:26.350]Land where my fathers died land of the Pilgrim's pride
[14:29.930]From every mountainside let freedom ring!
[14:34.740]And if America is to be a great nation
[14:37.670]this must become true
[14:38.690]And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire
[14:45.000]Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York
[14:48.680]Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
[14:52.550]Pennsylvania
[14:53.430]Let freedom ring from the snowcapped
[14:56.760]Rockies of Colorado
[14:57.890]Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California
[15:03.780]But not only that
[15:06.470]Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia
[15:08.400]Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee
[15:12.510]Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi
[15:19.300]From every mountainside let freedom ring And when this happens
[15:25.570]when we allow freedom ring when we let it ring from every village
[15:33.860]and every hamlet from every state and every city
[15:38.520]we will be able to speed up that day when
[15:42.730]all of God's children black men and white men
[15:46.920]Jews and Gentiles Protestants and Catholics
[15:49.590]will be able to join hands and sing in the words
[15:53.310]of the old Negro spiritual
[15:54.240]Free at last! Free at last!
[15:56.810]Thank God Almighty we are free at last!

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 American
in whose symbolic shadow we stand
today 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 their captivity
But one hundred years later the
Negro still is 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 languished in the
corners of American society
and finds himself an exile in his own land
And so we've come
here today to dramatize a shameful condition
In a sense we've 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
yes black men as well as white men
would be guaranteed the
unalienable 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
a 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
And so we've 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 make real the promises of democracy
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 lift our nation from the quicksands
of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood
Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook
the urgency of the moment
This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent
will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn
of freedom and equality Nineteen sixtythree
is not an end but a beginning
And 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
And 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 a 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 they have
come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom
We cannot walk alone
And as we walk we must make the pledge that we shall always 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 the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality
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 our children
are stripped of their selfhood
and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating
For Whites Only We cannot 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 jail cells
And some of you have come from areas
where your quest 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 South Carolina
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
And 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 selfevident
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 and 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 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
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
And this will be the day this
will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing
with 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
And 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 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!