Read the extract from Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech and think about his message to the world. You may wish to read the speech more than once or look-up the entire speech.


“…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. 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 my four children will one day live in a nation


where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.


I have a dream today…


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 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,


To watch Dr. King’s speech on 28 August 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. and to see the full transcript visit: http://www.mlkonline.net/video-i-have-a-dream-speech.html


54 Resource C1 – “I Have a Dream” we are free at last!’”


“I Have a Dream”


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