"I Have a Dream" Video, Text, and Study Questions

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech
August 28, 1963





(Section 1)

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 one hundred 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." 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 which 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 the 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. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. 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. And 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.


(Section 2)

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.

And 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 self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign 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. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Caontinue 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.


(Section 3)

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

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 Istate 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."

(Section 4)
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!




Monday (in class)


Watch the speech on-line.  Research a little bit about who Dr. Martin Luther King was and what he accomplished 


Tuesday

Read the first section of this speech.

1. Who is the “great American”? Related to that, where does this speech take place?


2. What does “five score years” mean? What one word is a synonym for this?


3. What metaphors are used to describe the problems that Negro Americans faced?


4. What three national documents are mentioned on this page, and why are they capitalized?


5. What is a promissory note, and what does it symbolize here?


6. What phrase (four words) is repeated in the paragraph which starts “It would be fatal…” What one word in the first line of that paragraph sums up this sentiment?


Wednesday


Read the second section of this speech.

1. That first section ended with a stern warning to those in power that they can’t put off change any longer. This next section starts with an admonition to those who have been oppressed. List at least 3 positive words to show what kind of protest King is encouraging, and at least 3 negative words to show what he wants to avoid.


2. “They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.” What to does “inextricably” mean?


3. List at least four specific injustices, listed in this speech, that Negroes faced then.


4. Copy the sentence on this page which refers to Amos 5:24.

Thursday

Read the third section of this speech.

1. Copy the sentence in this section which is from the Declaration of Independence.


2. This is the section where the phrase “I have a dream” is repeated. How many times? Summarize what it is that King dreams.


3. What does King want his children to be judged for?


4. Copy the sentence in this section page which refers to Isaiah 40:4.


Friday

Read the fourth section of this speech.


1. What are two key words in the first paragraph of this section? Hint: Each one is repeated several times, and each one gives a clue to how King’s goals will come about.


2. Copy the sentence that refers to music. Why does King use this word picture?


3. King refers to geological features several times. List the proper nouns that refer to this, and then list the common nouns.


4. The phrase “Let freedom ring” is repeated for emphasis. What word, found in the quoted verse of the song “America”, is a synonym for freedom?

5.  In the last lines of his speech, King quotes a Negro spiritual song, "Free at Last."

http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/free_at_last_from.htm

Free at last, free at last

I thank God I'm free at last
Free at last, free at last
I thank God I'm free at last

Way down yonder in the graveyard walk
I thank God I'm free at last
Me and my Jesus going to meet and talk
I thank God I'm free at last

On my knees when the light pass'd by
I thank God I'm free at last
Tho't my soul would rise and fly
I thank God I'm free at last

Some of these mornings, bright and fair
I thank God I'm free at last
Goin' meet King Jesus in the air
I thank God I'm free at last

The Art of Albrecht Dürer

Albrecht Dürer

1471 - 1528

Self-Portrait in Fur Coat

1500

Oil on panel, 67 x 49 cm 

Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Self Portrait at 26

1498

Oil on panel, 52 x 41 cm

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

Christ Among the Doctors

1506

Oil on panel, 65 x 80 cm

Fundacion Coleccion Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

St Peter And St John Healing The Cripple

1513

Engraving, 118 x 74 mm

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Hands of the Apostle

1508, Sketch

A Young Hare

1502

Watercolor and gouache on paper, 25 x 23 cm

Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna

The Last Supper

1523; Wood Block: 21 x 30 cm

Museum of Fine Arts in Boston

Writing Assignment #1: Choose one of these pictures (other than the two self portraits) and write a descriptive paragraph.  Include a topic sentence, at least three sentences containing supporting details, and a conclusion sentence.  The topic sentence may contain the information supplied above each painting, such as when it was created, what kind of art it is, or what museum now owns it.  The three supporting detail sentences need to be your own observations about what is in the painting.  The conclusion should include your opinion about the piece.

Writing Assignment #2: Write a paragraph that compares the two self portraits.  The topic sentence will identify both paintings and make a statement of your opinion or observation about them.  The three supporting detail sentences will explain your topic sentence with specific examples.  The conclusion will restate your opinion in different words.