I Have a Dream
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 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 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!