A Call to Conscience:

[SOteric]

"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 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."

[SOteric]

1. Let us not seek...

"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. "

[SOteric]

2. We cannot walk alone.

"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. "

[SOteric]

5. I have a dream...

"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. "

[SOteric]

6. Free at last!

"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!" "

In loving rememberance of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are stronger for the gift of your dream.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

22. It sounds cheesy...

but I get choked up when I hear that speech. Any one know where I can get a .wav of that?

[LuLu550]

3. thanks for the reminder

[VelmaD]

4. We need him today.

He was already dead when I was born and I still miss him. We as a nation miss him. Can you imagine what he'd have to say about the state of the US today?

Then again if he was still here maybe we wouldn't have gotten to this state. *sigh*

on edit: I just finished reading it all through again and I have goosebumps all over. I'm crying at work. The man was brilliant and his idea - his dream - is still as poignant as it ever was.

[SOteric]

7. It's a powerful message.

And it both inspires me and makes me sad. For all the reasons you mention and a few more.

[VelmaD]

9. I know why it makes me sad...

It's because he's been dead 30+ years now and sometimes I feel like we're not any closer to his dream than we were the day he articulated it.

It's because I think the world isn't the place it could have and should have been if good people like him hadn't been gunned down in cold blood.

It's because there hasn't been someone with the passion and conviction to pick up his banner and bring people together.

[SOteric]

13. Sure there has, Vel

"It's because there hasn't been someone with the passion and conviction to pick up his banner and bring people together. "

Right here in this humble little corner of the internet are people with the passion and conviction to pick up a corner of the Reverend's banner, -as well has a host of other worthy banners.

The very act of creating these boards was picking up a banner with passion and conviction, and a one pronounced corner of that banner is the dream that Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed for us.

Skinner, EarlG and elad have the passion and conviction, Will Pitt has the passion and conviction, JanMichael has the passion and conviction, Bev Harris has the passion and conviction, the list goes on and on. The longer I stay with this group of people the more I see passionate people acting on the convictions of their cause, of all causes for a progressive society and government.

My heart longs to see us as a people treat persons of colour with respect, dignity and equity. My heart longs to see the same respect, dignity and equity for homosexuals.

The men who inspired Dr. King, Thoreau and Gandhi, are still available inspirations on the bookshelves of American schools and libraries. Any day now, someone may hoist that banner again. In some small backwater church, someone may have done already.

:hug:

The story isn't ended yet. Don't close the book.

[flamingyouth]

20. Very well put

I totally agree. We live in frustrating times, but we have to look to people like those you mentioned for an example. I don't think the struggle truly ever will end, but we should never give up, no matter how frustrated we get. (And I do get frustrated, believe you me.)

:hi:

[VelmaD]

21. Thanks SOteric...

you always know exactly what to say to me when I'm down. :hug:

I know you're right about there being people willing to pick up a corner of the banner and try to carry it on. I know a lot of them. I try every day to be one of them though I fail far too often.

Maybe I didn't express myself very well. I think what we're missing is someone like Dr. King who could serve so well as the public face of the cause. He had a kind of dignity and stature that we don't see often enough in public figures. That dignity, I think, was part of what drew people of all races into his dream with him. I think his insistence on non-violent resistence was a big part of that. He made the opposition look foolish and made people feel good about being on "his" side.

And frankly, the man was probably the best public speaker this country has ever produced.

[jimbo fett]

8. When I was a kid, my parents gave me a book...

It was basically a reprint of King's "I have a dream" speech in picturebook format.

Each page had wonderful black and white photographs and with each turn of the page you read more of the speech.

Simple. Compelling. Even for a child it was powerful.

To this day, when I pull that well-worn book out it gives me chills. I wish I could have known Dr. King and I wish I could've known the America that only existed in his dream.


PS. Does anyone know if that book is still in print?

[bobbieinok]

10. I remember when he was killed.....

I got to hear him speak in person 2 times.

In the summer of 1960, MLK came to Tulsa. He was really only known then because of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

He spoke at the largest Negro Baptist Church in North Tulsa; it was the largest space in which a black man could speak then in Tulsa.

I also had the opportunity to hear him speak in the 60s when I was in grad school in CA.

[SOteric]

11. What a compelling experience that must have been, Bobbie

we never know, any of us, when the simple acts of citizenship will lead us to a part of history.

[moof]

12. Dear Martin, Your still the Man.

[wysimdnwyg]

14. A truly great man

35+ years gone, and still greatly missed.


To Martin...

We still believe.

[rasputin1952]

15. I have been fortunate to have been born in the...

latter half of the 20th century. So many things of importance have happened, and so many barriers have been broken down.

There is still work to be done, there always will be. I would be a fool to lay down and say, "we've come far enough".

MLK's legacy, as with that of so many others, has been a rallying cry for non-violent change. His words ring as true today as they did in '63. It is for us, the believers that all are created equal, to challenge the powers that be, and aid them in seeing that this country, this world, would be a better place if we could all learn that we are humans first. All else pales behind that common bond.

Thank you SOteric for bringing these words to life once again. On cold January nights, it warms the heart and soul to know that we can remember those words and that man who believed that all men and women could come together in the Brotherhood of Man.

O8)

[SOteric]

16. Thank you for that.

And happy birthday. :toast:

[rasputin1952]

18. Thanks for the B/D recognition...

at my age, one tends to forget such things. :eyes:

BTW: Dreams can never die, as long as there is at least one wonderful mind to keep them alive. You are one of many with a that wonderful mind. The Dream lives, because you brought it back from our memories.

Thanks again for that!

O8) :hi:

[SOteric]

17. Persnickity Kickity

To keep the dream alive.

[ulysses]

19. thank you.

:thumbsup:

[CrownPrinceBandar]

23. kick! n/t

[ewagner]

24. I remember it well

..and I'm just as teary-eyed now as I was as a young college student when I first heard it.

Thanks SOteric. I needed that.

[DS1]

25. You, to the front of the bus!

[rasputin1952]

26. Kick for the Swing Shift...

:kick:

These words shouldn't be sliding the down the ramp just yet.

O8)

[Mikimouse]

27. Those words will never slide down the ramp...

Dr. King's words are indelibly etched in our consciousness, and if we can let go of our human selfishness for one moment and show our children the truth of what he was trying to say to us, there may be hope for us yet. God bless you, Dr. King, saw you when I was too young to understand, lost you before I had a chance to say thank you.:cry:

[SOteric]

28. Back to the top. Share the dream.

[SOteric]

29. One last goodnight kick for Dr. King.

[Bundbuster]

30. Thanks for the post, SOteric

I'll never forget The day and impact of his assassination - sorrow, anger, hopes dashed. We've come a ways since then, but not far enough. Today AWOL spit on his grave with his hypocritical photo-op stopover between fundraisers.

[Insider]

31. one more nonviolent kick for justice

:kick:

happy birthday, martin