The Rest of MLK'S Speech...

[Robert Braun]

It seems fitting on this anniversary of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, that we take a moment to examine a portion of his "I have a Dream" speech.

He spoke much on the subject of freedom, a reality that seems to elude many classrooms and certainly the plethora of news broadcasts that will today quote and re-quote only a sentence or two regarding civil rights...

“ I have a dream today.

"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, 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 with which I return to the South. 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 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. 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 snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

"Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks 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 every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

"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!'"

You can read the full text of MLK's "I have a dream" speech here--
odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1951-1975/mlk/dream.htm

[Martin]

Mr. Braun thanks for posting. Very powerful. Makes one proud to be an American.

LeRoy Martin

[John Christiansen]

What makes this speech even more inspiring is the fact that is was entirely impromptu. King arrived at the rally that day with a prepared speech that he had written dicussing how the attendees of the march on Washington were there to "cash a check" that the government had written but never honored in the cause of civil rights.

King actually began his speech that day reading from his prepared speech, but caught up in the moment, he reached to his ministerial training and came up with the words that most of us are so familiar with, quoted by Mr. Braun above.

When you read the full text of the speech, it's obvious at which point King departs from his written text and begins improvising. It hits you in the heart, because they're words from the heart.

We've all read or heard great speeches, but so many are prepared ahead of time or the product of speechwriters. Not so with Martin Luther King, Jr. He had a gift born of conviction.

I heartily recommend Stephen Oates biography of King, TEXTLet the Trumpet SoundTEXT for anyone interested in further information.