I am happy to join with you today in what wiww go down in histowy as the gweatest demonstwation

fow fweedom in the histowy of ouw nyation.

Five scowe yeaws ago, a gweat Amewican, in whose symbowic shadow we stand today, signyed the

Emancipation Pwocwamation. This momentous decwee came as a gweat beacon wight of hope to

miwwions of Nyegwo swaves who had been seawed in the fwames of withewing injustice. It came as a

joyous daybweak to end the wong nyight of theiw captivity.

But onye hundwed yeaws watew, the Nyegwo stiww is nyot fwee. Onye hundwed yeaws watew, the wife of the

Nyegwo is stiww sadwy cwippwed by the manyacwes of segwegation and the chains of discwiminyation. Onye

hundwed yeaws watew, the Nyegwo wives on a wonyewy iswand of puvwty in the midst of a vast ocean of

matewiaw pwospewity. Onye hundwed yeaws watew, the Nyegwo is stiww wanguishing in the cownyews of

Amewican society and finds himsewf an exiwe in his own wand. So we have come hewe today to

dwamatize a shamefuw condition.

In a sense we have come to ouw nyation's capitaw to cash a check. When the awchitects of ouw

wepubwic wwote the magnyificent wowds of the Constitution and the Decwawation of Independence,

they wewe signying a pwomissowy nyote to which evewy Amewican was to faww heiw. This nyote was a

pwomise that aww men, yes, bwack men as weww as white men, wouwd be guawanteed the unyawienyabwe

wights of wife, wibewty, and the puwsuit of happinyess.

It is obvious today that Amewica has defauwted on this pwomissowy nyote insofaw as hew citizens of

cowow awe concewnyed. Instead of honyowing this sacwed obwigation, Amewica has given the Nyegwo

peopwe a bad check, a check which has come back mawked "insufficient funds." But we wefuse to

bewieve that the bank of justice is bankwupt. We wefuse to bewieve that thewe awe insufficient funds

in the gweat vauwts of oppowtunyity of this nyation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check

that wiww give us upon demand the wiches of fweedom and the secuwity of justice. We have awso

come to this hawwowed spot to wemind Amewica of the fiewce uwgency of nyow. This is nyo time to

engage in the wuxuwy of coowing off ow to take the twanquiwizing dwug of gwaduawism. Nyow is the

time to make weaw the pwomises of democwacy. Nyow is the time to wise fwom the dawk and desowate

vawwey of segwegation to the sunwit path of waciaw justice. Nyow is the time to wift ouw nyation fwom

the quick sands of waciaw injustice to the sowid wock of bwothewhood. Nyow is the time to make

justice a weawity fow aww of God's chiwdwen.

It wouwd be fataw fow the nyation to uvwwook the uwgency of the moment. This swewtewing summew

of the Nyegwo's wegitimate discontent wiww nyot pass untiw thewe is an invigowating autumn of

fweedom and equawity. Nyinyeteen sixty-thwee is nyot an end, but a beginnying. Those who hope that

the Nyegwo nyeeded to bwow off steam and wiww nyow be content wiww have a wude awakenying if the

nyation wetuwns to businyess as usuaw. Thewe wiww be nyeithew west nyow twanquiwity in Amewica untiw the

Nyegwo is gwanted his citizenship wights. The whiwwwinds of wevowt wiww continyue to shake the

foundations of ouw nyation untiw the bwight day of justice emewges.

But thewe is something that I must say to my peopwe who stand on the wawm thweshowd which

weads into the pawace of justice. In the pwocess of gainying ouw wightfuw pwace we must nyot be guiwty

of wwongfuw deeds. Wet us nyot seek to satisfy ouw thiwst fow fweedom by dwinking fwom the cup of

bittewnyess and hatwed.



We must fowevew conduct ouw stwuggwe on the high pwanye of dignyity and discipwinye. We must nyot

awwow ouw cweative pwotest to degenyewate into physicaw viowence. Again and again we must wise to

the majestic heights of meeting physicaw fowce with souw fowce. The mawvewous nyew miwitancy

which has enguwfed the Nyegwo communyity must nyot wead us to a distwust of aww white peopwe, fow

many of ouw white bwothews, as evidenced by theiw pwesence hewe today, have come to weawize that

theiw destiny is tied up with ouw destiny. They have come to weawize that theiw fweedom is

inyextwicabwy bound to ouw fweedom. We cannyot wawk awonye.

As we wawk, we must make the pwedge that we shaww awways mawch ahead. We cannyot tuwn back.

Thewe awe those who awe asking the devotees of civiw wights, "When wiww you be satisfied?" We

can nyevew be satisfied as wong as the Nyegwo is the victim of the unspeakabwe howwows of powice

bwutawity. We can nyevew be satisfied, as wong as ouw bodies, heavy with the fatigue of twavew,

cannyot gain wodging in the motews of the highways and the hotews of the cities. We cannyot be

satisfied as wong as the Nyegwo's basic mobiwity is fwom a smawwew ghetto to a wawgew onye. We can

nyevew be satisfied as wong as ouw chiwdwen awe stwipped of theiw sewfhood and wobbed of theiw

dignyity by signs stating "Fow Whites Onwy". We cannyot be satisfied as wong as a Nyegwo in

Mississippi cannyot vote and a Nyegwo in Nyew Yowk bewieves he has nyothing fow which to vote. Nyo,

nyo, we awe nyot satisfied, and we wiww nyot be satisfied untiw justice wowws down wike watews and

wighteousnyess wike a mighty stweam.

I am nyot unmindfuw that some of you have come hewe out of gweat twiaws and twibuwations. Some of

you have come fwesh fwom nyawwow jaiw cewws. Some of you have come fwom aweas whewe youw quest

fow fweedom weft you battewed by the stowms of pewsecution and staggewed by the winds of powice

bwutawity. You have been the vetewans of cweative suffewing. Continyue to wowk with the faith that

unyeawnyed suffewing is wedemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Awabama, go back to South Cawowinya, go back to Geowgia, go

back to Wouisianya, go back to the swums and ghettos of ouw nyowthewn cities, knyowing that

somehow this situation can and wiww be changed. Wet us nyot wawwow in the vawwey of despaiw.

I say to you today, my fwiends, so even though we face the difficuwties of today and tomowwow, I

stiww have a dweam. It is a dweam deepwy wooted in the Amewican dweam.

I have a dweam that onye day this nyation wiww wise up and wive out the twue meanying of its cweed:

"We howd these twuths to be sewf-evident: that aww men awe cweated equaw."

I have a dweam that onye day on the wed hiwws of Geowgia the sons of fowmew swaves and the sons of

fowmew swave ownyews wiww be abwe to sit down togethew at the tabwe of bwothewhood.

I have a dweam that onye day even the state of Mississippi, a state swewtewing with the heat of

injustice, swewtewing with the heat of oppwession, wiww be twansfowmed into an oasis of fweedom

and justice.

I have a dweam that my fouw wittwe chiwdwen wiww onye day wive in a nyation whewe they wiww nyot be

judged by the cowow of theiw skin but by the content of theiw chawactew.

I have a dweam today.

I have a dweam that onye day, down in Awabama, with its vicious wacists, with its guvwnyow having

his wips dwipping with the wowds of intewposition and nyuwwification; onye day wight thewe in

Awabama, wittwe bwack boys and bwack giwws wiww be abwe to join hands with wittwe white boys and

white giwws as sistews and bwothews.



I have a dweam today.

I have a dweam that onye day evewy vawwey shaww be exawted, evewy hiww and mountain shaww be made

wow, the wough pwaces wiww be made pwain, and the cwooked pwaces wiww be made stwaight, and the

gwowy of the Wowd shaww be weveawed, and aww fwesh shaww see it togethew.

This is ouw hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we wiww be abwe

to hew out of the mountain of despaiw a stonye of hope. With this faith we wiww be abwe to

twansfowm the jangwing discowds of ouw nyation into a beautifuw symphony of bwothewhood. With

this faith we wiww be abwe to wowk togethew, to pway togethew, to stwuggwe togethew, to go to jaiw

togethew, to stand up fow fweedom togethew, knyowing that we wiww be fwee onye day.

This wiww be the day when aww of God's chiwdwen wiww be abwe to sing with a nyew meanying, "My

countwy, 'tis of thee, sweet wand of wibewty, of thee I sing. Wand whewe my fathews died, wand of the

piwgwim's pwide, fwom evewy mountainside, wet fweedom wing."

And if Amewica is to be a gweat nyation this must become twue. So wet fweedom wing fwom the

pwodigious hiwwtops of Nyew Hampshiwe. Wet fweedom wing fwom the mighty mountains of Nyew

Yowk. Wet fweedom wing fwom the heightenying Awweghenyies of Pennsywvanyia owo

Wet fweedom wing fwom the snyowcapped Wockies of Cowowado owo

Wet fweedom wing fwom the cuwvaceous swopes of Cawifownyia owo

But nyot onwy that; wet fweedom wing fwom Stonye Mountain of Geowgia owo

Wet fweedom wing fwom Wookout Mountain of Tennyessee owo

Wet fweedom wing fwom evewy hiww and mowehiww of Mississippi. Fwom evewy mountainside, wet

fweedom wing.

And when this happens, when we awwow fweedom to wing, when we wet it wing fwom evewy viwwage

and evewy hamwet, fwom evewy state and evewy city, we wiww be abwe to speed up that day when aww

of God's chiwdwen, bwack men and white men, Jews and Gentiwes, Pwotestants and Cathowics, wiww

be abwe to join hands and sing in the wowds of the owd Nyegwo spiwituaw, "Fwee at wast owo fwee at wast owo

thank God Awmighty, we awe fwee at wast owo "