On this day, one day before we inaugurate America’s first black President, we celebrate the life of one of our nation’s most influential individuals; Martin Luther King Jr. King was the chief spokesman of the nonviolent civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination. In 1963 King was named Man of the Year by Time magazine and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure. In 1964, at the age of 35, he was the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
One of the things that King is most remembered for is his famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during a march on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters, the speech is often considered to be one of the greatest and most inspirational in history.
Since I was born in October of 1963 I have grown up with that infamous phrase ringing in my ears, “I Have a Dream“. All through school teachers re-played King’s speech over and over again. Beloveds, how can we forget those beautiful words? Here are a few of my favorite parts, if you wish to view the entire speech in text or video, click here…
I Have A Dream Speech – Text, Audio and Video of Martin Luther
“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.”
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.
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!”
On this day, that we remember this great man and his great works and deeds, I will take the time, and I ask each of you to do the same, to pause from you daily activities and create your own “I Have a Dream” speech. And then, live by it.If you would, please submit your “I Have a Dream” speech to the comments of this post.
So let us begin with MLK’s words “I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream.“…
Tags: dream, insirational, spirituality
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