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Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous 'I Have a Dream' speech: Full text
MLK's March on Washington address has resonated across generations


Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on Aug. 28, 1963, at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Below is the full text of his address.

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 100 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.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaking to thousands during his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, in 1963.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaking to thousands during his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, in 1963. (AP Photo/File)

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 that 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 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. 1963 is not an end but a beginning. Those who hoped 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.

Martin Luther King, Jr. with his wife, Coretta, left, and civil rights champion Constance Baker Motley before the start of a Southern Christian Leadership Conference banquet in Birmingham, Ala., in 1965.
Martin Luther King, Jr. with his wife, Coretta, left, and civil rights champion Constance Baker Motley before the start of a Southern Christian Leadership Conference banquet in Birmingham, Ala., in 1965. (AP Photo/File)

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.

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 signs 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. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by 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.

Martin Luther King Jr. waving to the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial for his "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963.
Martin Luther King Jr. waving to the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial for his "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963. (AP Photo/File)

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today my friends -- 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.

This is our hope. 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.

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 father's 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 snow-capped 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, and 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!

Hope Wike provided him with camcorder?

Time bomb

You can't trend in front Page

SARS still on the beats,which way Nigeria?

Thinkfree:
I don't know the relationship between East and Terrorism.
Middle East alkaidah terrorists
North East bokoharam terorist
South East Ipob terrorists

Remove IPOB from that your so called list.

Be fast about it

MOLOTOVcockTAIL:
Shey na for the masses ... The masses has rightfully received it. We should all be happy It got to the poor and hungry as intended. Case closed.

My ribs

I hear you

All the way FEM

Nimrah:
Dail
*894*0*124904#
To open a quick firstbank account
I just did

Who you wan scam?

Buhari wear face mask because Mrs Iweala just came in from overseas I think say you no dey fear.

19 states in the northern Nigeria is 150million so the remaining Nigeria is approximately 50million,who did this census and statistics?

This government is heartless be careful, he doesn't respect human rights.

obiekunie2:
this story don tay na!

its like 6 years ago - it was on front page then.

It doesn't matter just seeing it for the first time.

Hmm

We're still in September not October or is she celebrating upfront?

I hope the car is multipurpose it can fly,run on road and sail on sea because you fail to hand over completed road projects to Abians.

Mgbada not mkpada

Looters ground keep having a field day we're just mortals,wipe out 9ja.

Good I'm happy I contributed.

YorubaKinging:
The end is near

It's going to be easier for a camel to pass through a needle eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven - ALMIGHTY Jesus

Wealth doesn't bring content. Because next year this man will be aiming to buy another

The means he's getting this money is a way of death

Little money and satisfaction is better than much riches and turmoil

God always takes care of those who put thier trusts in Him

I'm a living testimony

Yes but you have to work in other to eat

My son had similar challenge but when a woman recommended routine drugs for my wife that's all,we have breathed relief. Just folic Acid,b-complex,and vitamin c it works like magic.NB no antibiotics can do permanently, it will only give quick cure and it reappears late but this routine will get your child's skin back. Don't stop administering the drugs even when it clears,it will boast the child's immunity.

No conclusion what a story

mkoabiola:
It is stil vanity upon vanity

Quote that edifies they poor lazy ones,hustle my bro!

Eagle soar more*

Hhansome:
I see Hope outshining Sam.

Don't ever you say that again what do you know about Imo?

our govt sucks and stinks we don't need their help let's seek it from more humanely country,no safe landing for them if they're here to bring greater evil.

GEJ witnessed fall in oil price even less than 24$ per barrel but Nigeria's never felt it,why are you guys bent on wiping this country with your empty skull, can't you guys fold up your reign and allow citizens with brains to take over. Ndi ihoriho

Erastus and Cecilia Iburu (ibplc and oceanic bank) please come let's celebrate karmar has caught with someone,I lost my job because of this sadist.