I have a dream

August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights activist said, “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.’"

King said, “one hundred years later, the Negro still is 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.”

King spoke standing on the Lincoln Memorial steps to an audience of 200,000 civil rights supporters in Washington, D.C. King had previously led marches and non-violent protests to support the civil rights movement to give equality to African American citizens. He referenced the “Separate but Equal” law that was created in 1890.

King said, “five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, 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 their captivity.” The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by former President Abe Lincoln.

The crowd was extremely emotional after King’s heartfelt seventeen-minute-long speech. King is seen to be one of the most influential civil rights activists of our time. “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,” said King.

King said “this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with 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!”