I wanted to post a bit of the I Have A Dream speech provided by Martin Luther King, Jr. August 28th, 1963 in Washington D.C.; here it is:
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 state 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.”²
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 (for the whole speech click here).
What an inspiring Man of God, a man of conviction and courage, giving his life for liberation of people in the name of Christ. His passion, motivated by the gospel of hope, was not liberation for just black people—although it was primarily for that—it was liberation for all those who were born white in the South. It was liberation from the demonic filled hatred that was woven into the fabric of the minds and hearts of many people; especially in the South. King’s “Dream” rooted in the gospel of Christ, can be realized now as the “Kingdom” permeates society as yeast does bread; and not yet as the “Kingdom” will be fully realized at the second coming of Christ (don’t misunderstand me, I am not saying that racism should not be fully eradicated “now,” but as long as we live in a fallen world, there will always be traces of prejudice, no matter what its referent or expression)—when the crooked will be made straight, in a fully realized way.
I think King deserves our recognition, first as a brother in Christ, and second as a great man of God who proclaimed the message of hope and liberation that has pulled the thread of racism out of the fabric of our society; which we know will ultimately be completely unraveled, in a realized way, in Christ.