Most people know of his famous "I Have a Dream" speech and the famous quotes from it. As we honor him today, I share with you my favorite portion of that speech:
"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."
Monday, January 15, 2007
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3 comments:
It seems that THOSE words have gotten lost along the way...
:-(
Which is why I really like them, Hooda. I think they're more relevant today than some of the more well-known portions of his speech...
MLK's "dream" seems to have been distorted and bent since his death. One must wonder how things would have turned out had he not been murdered.
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