600 Posts: Speech Day

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Excerpt:

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 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 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."²

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!

40th anniversary of assassination of MLK

Today is the 40^th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King. I've collected websites and radio stories and documentaries to share with you for the occasion:

King's last speech, "I've Been to the Mountaintop"

The radio documentary on the events and "mood" of King's last year

If you haven' the time for the entire documentary, this story from Weekend America is a good summary and gives you a good feel for what the documentary is like:

or go here if the embed doesn't work

This story, which I had never heard, about how James Brown played at the Gahdin on the night MLK was assassinated, and how that show helped "keep the peace" in Boston, unlike other major cities, which went into turmoil.

James Taylor's tribute song to Martin Luther King "Shed a Little Light"

Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Yesterday the watch words were "I have a dream"; however, I would like to provide for you a link to "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", an inspiring open letter Martin Luther King wrote from, well, a Birmingham, Alabama jail.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail

This document, along with Abigail Adams letters to John (see this post) and James Madison's Federalist papers are some of the most essential letters and papers in American history but are usually overshadowed by their showier cousins, like the Declaration of Independence, the "I Have a Dream" speech and the Gettysburg address.

If you haven't the time to read "Letter" - or if your Eng 101 teacher (turned guy you once dated, turned ex-patriot in Ireland via Hungary) didn't assign you to read it, here is what I consider one of the most prescient ideas of it.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

If we adhered to that, my goodness would things be different.