And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.

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. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. Now is the time to make justice a reality for 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. 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 make real the promises of democracy. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. 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 refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.īut we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. 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. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Full text, 'I Have a Dream': 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. King's powerful words, especially in light of recent national news and events.

If you, like me, haven't listened to 'I Have a Dream' in its entirety since elementary-school days-where the power of King's words were certainly way over the heads of 10-year-olds, no matter how well-intentioned our fourth- and fifth-grade teachers-today, Martin Luther King Day is as good a day as any to set aside 17 minutes to revisit Dr. It's been nearly 52 years since Martin Luther King Jr., delivered his world-famous 'I Have a Dream' speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial-and his words are just as relevant today as they were half a century ago.

I have a dream speech text