Dr. Saidy, Thanks for this forward. I remember reading this in a philosophy class about 7 years ago as a college freshman. Its great to refresh thoughts on this outstanding philosophy. Keep them coming! God Speed! Pa Mambuna Madiba Saidy wrote: > Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. > 1929 -- 1968 > > Born in Atlanta, Georgia, civil rights leader Martin Luther King was one of > the world's best-known advocates of nonviolent social change. Educated in > Pennsylvania at Crozer Theological Seminary and Boston University, King became > a Baptist Church pastor in 1954 and recieved a Ph.D in theology in 1955. > > King was elected president of the newly-formed Montgomery Improvement > Association in 1955 (formed during the black residents' boycott of the city's > buses -- a boycott launched by civil rights activist Rosa Parks refusal to > obey the city's policy mandating segregation on buses.) Despite being slapped > with criminal charges and his house being bombed during this time of civil > unrest, King's actions helped result in the 1956 desegregation of Montgomery's > buses when the Supreme Court declared Alabama's segregation laws > unconstitutional. > > In 1957, King helped to found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference > (SCLC). As president, he emphasized the goal of black voting rights when he > spoke at the Lincoln Memorial during the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom. > At the end of 1959, he resigned from Dexter and returned to Atlanta where the > SCLC headquarters were located. King did not mobilize mass protest activity > during SCLC’s first few years but in 1960 southern black college students > launched a wave of sit-in protests. And, although King sympathized with their > movement and spoke at the founding meeting of the Student Non-Violent > Coordinating Committee SNCC in April 1960, he soon became the target of > criticisms from SNCC activists. > > King and his staff initiated a major campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, where > white police officials were notorious for their anti-black attitudes. In 1963, > clashes between unarmed black demonstrators and police with attack dogs and > fire hoses generated newspaper headlines throughout the world. Subsequent mass > demonstrations in many communities culminated in a march on August 28, 1963, > attracting more than 250,000 protesters to Washington, D.C. Addressing the > marchers from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King delivered his famous I > Have A Dream speech. > > I HAVE A DREAM > > Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand > 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 captivity. > > But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is > still 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 languishing in the corners of American society and finds > himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an > appalling condition. > > In a sense we have 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 would be > guaranteed the inalienable 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 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. So we have 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 rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit > path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to > all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands > of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. > > It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to > underestimate the determination of the Negro. 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. 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. There will be neither rest nor tranquillity 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. > > 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 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 their freedom is > inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. > > And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall 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 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 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 cells. Some of you have > come from areas where your 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. Continue to work with the faith that > unearned suffering is redemptive. > > Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, 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. Let us not wallow in the > valley of despair. > > I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and > frustrations of the moment, 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 slaveowners will be able to sit down together at > a table of brotherhood. > > I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, > sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into > an oasis of freedom and justice. > > I have a dream that my four 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 the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are > presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be > transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be > able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as > sisters and brothers. > > 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!" > > King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and was assassinated April 4, > 1968. In 1986, his birthday -- January 15 -- was made a federal holiday in the > United States. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L > Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------