I remember when Dr King was killed. I remember the riots in Washinton DC, how long it took for my father to get home from his job. He told us (way way later) it was dicey – two white men in a sea of people who were justifiably ticked off – they had to drive north to Baltimore in order to come back south to Alexandria. I remember going into Washington with my family later – the city was deserted except for military vehicles. I saw my first machine gun that day. It was scary.
I didn't know who he was at the time of his death but growing up, having that sense that I participated however indirectly, his words affected me. I share his dream of a world where the content of a persons soul is much more important than any outwardly physical attributes. It makes me a bit of a Pollyanna, but I believe that world is closer than we (as humans) think.
This is my first time commenting but I've been following your postings for over a year. Thank you for your voice – and I hope you are better sooner rather than later. 🙂
You have a unique perspective. I certainly hope you are correct, and believe that the only thing standing in the way is the Republican Party. There will always be bigots and racists, but I look forward to the day, when they have to go back into hiding instead of sitting in the House and Senate.
Thank you for your good wishes, and for speaking up at long last. I hope we will hear from you more often now.
I was eleven years old at the time and being Canadian, I did not acquire the relationship to Dr King's importance in history until years later when he was assassinated. I was too removed from the goings on in the US. However for me, the last 5 minutes roughly are the most meaningful, and so I wrote it out here.
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."
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!
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, 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!
Amen Dr King! Thank you for inspiring generations! We can not stop until all share your dream of equality for all.
I remember when Dr King was killed. I remember the riots in Washinton DC, how long it took for my father to get home from his job. He told us (way way later) it was dicey – two white men in a sea of people who were justifiably ticked off – they had to drive north to Baltimore in order to come back south to Alexandria. I remember going into Washington with my family later – the city was deserted except for military vehicles. I saw my first machine gun that day. It was scary.
I didn't know who he was at the time of his death but growing up, having that sense that I participated however indirectly, his words affected me. I share his dream of a world where the content of a persons soul is much more important than any outwardly physical attributes. It makes me a bit of a Pollyanna, but I believe that world is closer than we (as humans) think.
This is my first time commenting but I've been following your postings for over a year. Thank you for your voice – and I hope you are better sooner rather than later. 🙂
Welcme Connie! 🙂
You have a unique perspective. I certainly hope you are correct, and believe that the only thing standing in the way is the Republican Party. There will always be bigots and racists, but I look forward to the day, when they have to go back into hiding instead of sitting in the House and Senate.
Thank you for your good wishes, and for speaking up at long last. I hope we will hear from you more often now.
Thanks, Tom. You can never listen to his words too often.
I was eleven years old at the time and being Canadian, I did not acquire the relationship to Dr King's importance in history until years later when he was assassinated. I was too removed from the goings on in the US. However for me, the last 5 minutes roughly are the most meaningful, and so I wrote it out here.
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."
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:
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.
But not only that:
And when this happens, 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!
Amen Dr King! Thank you for inspiring generations! We can not stop until all share your dream of equality for all.
Thanks everyone. The time I spent helping to organize Vietnam Summer taught me so much about just how great he was.
I met him near the end of his life; he came to the University of Minnesota and gave an anti Vietnam speech.
Time has proven, his way was the correct way. It wasn't certain at the time, and others had more violent ideas.