October 27, 2023 • 16 mins
This podcast features the complete audio of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on August 28, 1963, at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.King's speech is one of the most iconic and moving speeches in American history. In it, he calls for an end to racism and segregation, and he envisions a future where all people will be treated equal.This podcast is a simple way to listen to King's speech in its entirety, without any distractions. It is perfect for anyone who wants to experience the power and eloquence of King's words.
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I have the pleasure to present toyou, doctor Martin Luther King. They
are I am happy to john withyou today in what will go down in
(00:21):
history as the greatest demonstration for freedomin the history of our nation. Five
score years ago, a great Americanin whose symbolic shadow we stand today,
(00:49):
signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentousdecree came as a great beacon light of
hope to millions of Negro slaves whohad been seared in the flames of withering
injustice. It came as a joyousdaybreak to end the long night of their
(01:18):
captivity. But one hundred years later, the Negro steal is not free.
One hundred years later, the lifeof the negro is still sadly crippled by
(01:40):
the manacles of segregation and the chainsof discrimination. One hundred years later,
the negro lives on a lonely islandof poverty in the midst of a vast
ocean of material prosperity. One hundredyears later, the negro has still languished
(02:07):
in the corners of American society andfinds himself in exile in his own land.
And so we've come here today todramatize a shameful condition innocence. We've
come to our nation's capital to casha check. When the architects of our
(02:32):
Republic wrote the magnificent words of theConstitution and the Declaration of Independence, they
were signing a promise, or anote, to whichever American was to fall
out. This note was a promiseat all men, yes, black men
(02:55):
as well as white men, wouldbe gathered, guaranteed the unalienable rights of
life, liberty, and the pursuitof happiness. It is obvious today that
America has defaulted on this promise,or not, in so far as her
(03:15):
citizens of color are concerned. Insteadof honoring this sacred obligation, America has
given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back mark
insufficient funds. But we refuse tobelieve that the bank of justice is bankrupt.
(03:53):
We refuse to believe that that areinsufficient funds in the great faults of
opper tunity of this nation. Andso we've come to cast this check,
a check that will give us thepun demand, the riches of freedom,
and the security of justice. Wehave also come to this hallot spot to
(04:26):
remind America the fierce urgency of Nowthis is no time to engage in the
luxury of cooling off or to takethe tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is
(04:46):
the time to make real the promisesof democracy. Now is the time to
rise from the dark and desolate valleyaggregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.
Now is the time to left ournation from the quick sands of racial
(05:12):
injustice to the solid rocker brotherhood.Now is the time to make justice a
reality for all of God's children.It would be fatal for the nation to
overlook the urgency of the moment.This sweltering summit of the negro's legitimate discontent
(05:36):
will not pass until that is aninvigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen
sixty three is not an end,but a beginning. Those who hoped that
the Negro needed to blow off steamand will now be content will have a
(05:58):
rude awakening. If the nation returnsto business as usual, there will be
neither rest nor tranquility in America untilthe negro has granted his citizenship rights.
(06:26):
The whirlwindsor revolt will continue to shakethe foundations of our nation until the bright
day of justice emerges. But thatis something that I must say to my
people who stand on the warm thresholdwhich leads into the palace of justice.
(06:46):
In the process of gaining our rightfulplace, we must not be guilty of
wrong for deeds. Let our freedomby drinking from with a couple of business
and history. We don't have anotherdollars struggle on the hides playing in the
(07:15):
picnic. You're a disciplined h Wemust knock allow our creative protests to degenerate
into physical violence. A game,and the game we must rise to the
majestic heights, a meeting physical forcefor sold false the models new militant say
(07:39):
which has in talks the Negro communitymust not lead us to make this trust
of all white people. For manyof our white brothers has ever against fire
Dine presidents. Here today, I'mtime to realize that that that and I
(08:05):
realized live freedom is any strict ofthe bounds the live freedom. We cannot
walk along. As we walk,we must make the plants that we shall
always march ahead. We cannot turnback now, Those of high skins and
(08:26):
deputies of civil rights, When willyou be satisfied? That we can never
be satisfied as long as the Negrois a they take of all the other
feel go horrors of an Eastern television. We can never be satisfied as long
as our money and hitting with thefatigue of travel, they're not gain marging
(08:52):
in the hotels and the highways andthe hotels of the city. We cannot
be satisfied as long as a negroin Mississippi cannot vote, and a negro
in New York believes he has nothingfor which to vote. No, No,
(09:22):
we are not satisfied, and wewill not be satisfied until justice rolls
down like waters, and righteousness likea mighty stream. I am not my
unmindful that some of you have comehere out of their trials and tribulations.
(09:54):
Some of you have come fresh fromnow a jail sails. Some of you
have come from areas where your questfor freedom left you battered by the storms
of persecution and staggered by the windsof police brutality. You have been the
veterans of creatives suffering. Continue towork with the faith that online suffering is
(10:24):
redemptive. Go back to Mississippi,go back to Alabama, go back to
South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back
to the slums and ghettos of ournorthern cities, knowing that somehow this situation
can and will be changed. Letus not whalleye in the valley of despair.
(10:48):
I say to you today, myfriend, So even though we face
the difficulties of today and tomorrow,I still have a dream. Yeah,
(11:13):
it is a dream deeply rooted inthe American dream. I have a dream
that one day this nation will riseup and live out the true meaning of
its creed. We hold these twosto be self evident, that all men
(11:35):
are created. I have a dreamthat one day, on the red hills
of Georgia, the sons of farmerslaves and the sons of former slave owners
(11:58):
will be able to down together atthe table of brotherhood. I have a
dream that one day even the stateof Mississippi, a state sweltering with the
heat of injustice, sweltering with theheat of oppression, will be transformed into
(12:20):
an oasis of freedom and justice.I have a dream my four little children
will one day live in a nationwhere they will not be judged by the
color of their skin, but bythe content of their character. I have
a dream today I have a dreamthat one day, down in Alabama,
(12:58):
with its vicious racist, with itsgovernor having his lips dripping with the words
of interposition and nullification, one day, right there in Alabama, little black
bars and black girls will be ableto join hands with little white bars and
white girls as sisters and brothers.I have a dream today. I have
(13:26):
a dream that one day every valorshall be exalted, Every hill and mountains
shall be made low, the roughplaces will be made plain, and the
crooked places will be made straight,and the gore of the Lord shall be
revealed in all flesh shall see it. Together. This is our hope,
and this is the faith that Igo back to the South with. With
(13:50):
this faith, we will be ableto hew out of the mountain of despair
a stone of hope. With thisfaith, we will be able to transform
the jangling discords of our nation intoa beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this
faith, we will be able towork together, to pray together, to
(14:11):
struggle together, to go to jailtogether, to stand up for freedom,
together, knowing that we will befree. One day. This will be
the day, This will be theday when all of God's children be able
to sing with new meaning, mycountry tears of thee sweet land of liberty,
(14:35):
of the scene land where my father'sdied, Land of the pilgrim's pride.
From every mountain side, let freedomring, And if America is to
be a great nation, this mustbecome true. So let freedom ragin from
the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.Let freedom rain from the mighty mountain in
(15:00):
New York. Let freedom ring fromthe heightening allegaties of Pennsylvania. Let freedom
ring from the snow capped rockies ofColorado. Let freedom ring from the curvation
of slopes of California. But notonly that. Let freedom ring from stone
mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ringfrom Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom
(15:28):
ring from every hill and mole hillof Mississippi, from every mountainside, let
freedom ring. And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when
we let it ring from every villageand every hamlet, from every state and
(15:48):
every city, we will be ableto speed up that day with all of
God's children, black men and whitemen, Jews and Gentiles, Roustins and
Catholics, will be able to joinhands and sing in the words of the
all Negro spiritual pre ad last,pread last, Thank God Almighty, we are preadmirst
I have the pleasure to present toyou, doctor Martin Luther King. They
are I am happy to john withyou today in what will go down in
(00:21):
history as the greatest demonstration for freedomin the history of our nation. Five
score years ago, a great Americanin whose symbolic shadow we stand today,
(00:49):
signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentousdecree came as a great beacon light of
hope to millions of Negro slaves whohad been seared in the flames of withering
injustice. It came as a joyousdaybreak to end the long night of their
(01:18):
captivity. But one hundred years later, the Negro steal is not free.
One hundred years later, the lifeof the negro is still sadly crippled by
(01:40):
the manacles of segregation and the chainsof discrimination. One hundred years later,
the negro lives on a lonely islandof poverty in the midst of a vast
ocean of material prosperity. One hundredyears later, the negro has still languished
(02:07):
in the corners of American society andfinds himself in exile in his own land.
And so we've come here today todramatize a shameful condition innocence. We've
come to our nation's capital to casha check. When the architects of our
(02:32):
Republic wrote the magnificent words of theConstitution and the Declaration of Independence, they
were signing a promise, or anote, to whichever American was to fall
out. This note was a promiseat all men, yes, black men
(02:55):
as well as white men, wouldbe gathered, guaranteed the unalienable rights of
life, liberty, and the pursuitof happiness. It is obvious today that
America has defaulted on this promise,or not, in so far as her
(03:15):
citizens of color are concerned. Insteadof honoring this sacred obligation, America has
given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back mark
insufficient funds. But we refuse tobelieve that the bank of justice is bankrupt.
(03:53):
We refuse to believe that that areinsufficient funds in the great faults of
opper tunity of this nation. Andso we've come to cast this check,
a check that will give us thepun demand, the riches of freedom,
and the security of justice. Wehave also come to this hallot spot to
(04:26):
remind America the fierce urgency of Nowthis is no time to engage in the
luxury of cooling off or to takethe tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is
(04:46):
the time to make real the promisesof democracy. Now is the time to
rise from the dark and desolate valleyaggregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.
Now is the time to left ournation from the quick sands of racial
(05:12):
injustice to the solid rocker brotherhood.Now is the time to make justice a
reality for all of God's children.It would be fatal for the nation to
overlook the urgency of the moment.This sweltering summit of the negro's legitimate discontent
(05:36):
will not pass until that is aninvigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen
sixty three is not an end,but a beginning. Those who hoped that
the Negro needed to blow off steamand will now be content will have a
(05:58):
rude awakening. If the nation returnsto business as usual, there will be
neither rest nor tranquility in America untilthe negro has granted his citizenship rights.
(06:26):
The whirlwindsor revolt will continue to shakethe foundations of our nation until the bright
day of justice emerges. But thatis something that I must say to my
people who stand on the warm thresholdwhich leads into the palace of justice.
(06:46):
In the process of gaining our rightfulplace, we must not be guilty of
wrong for deeds. Let our freedomby drinking from with a couple of business
and history. We don't have anotherdollars struggle on the hides playing in the
(07:15):
picnic. You're a disciplined h Wemust knock allow our creative protests to degenerate
into physical violence. A game,and the game we must rise to the
majestic heights, a meeting physical forcefor sold false the models new militant say
(07:39):
which has in talks the Negro communitymust not lead us to make this trust
of all white people. For manyof our white brothers has ever against fire
Dine presidents. Here today, I'mtime to realize that that that and I
(08:05):
realized live freedom is any strict ofthe bounds the live freedom. We cannot
walk along. As we walk,we must make the plants that we shall
always march ahead. We cannot turnback now, Those of high skins and
(08:26):
deputies of civil rights, When willyou be satisfied? That we can never
be satisfied as long as the Negrois a they take of all the other
feel go horrors of an Eastern television. We can never be satisfied as long
as our money and hitting with thefatigue of travel, they're not gain marging
(08:52):
in the hotels and the highways andthe hotels of the city. We cannot
be satisfied as long as a negroin Mississippi cannot vote, and a negro
in New York believes he has nothingfor which to vote. No, No,
(09:22):
we are not satisfied, and wewill not be satisfied until justice rolls
down like waters, and righteousness likea mighty stream. I am not my
unmindful that some of you have comehere out of their trials and tribulations.
(09:54):
Some of you have come fresh fromnow a jail sails. Some of you
have come from areas where your questfor freedom left you battered by the storms
of persecution and staggered by the windsof police brutality. You have been the
veterans of creatives suffering. Continue towork with the faith that online suffering is
(10:24):
redemptive. Go back to Mississippi,go back to Alabama, go back to
South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back
to the slums and ghettos of ournorthern cities, knowing that somehow this situation
can and will be changed. Letus not whalleye in the valley of despair.
(10:48):
I say to you today, myfriend, So even though we face
the difficulties of today and tomorrow,I still have a dream. Yeah,
(11:13):
it is a dream deeply rooted inthe American dream. I have a dream
that one day this nation will riseup and live out the true meaning of
its creed. We hold these twosto be self evident, that all men
(11:35):
are created. I have a dreamthat one day, on the red hills
of Georgia, the sons of farmerslaves and the sons of former slave owners
(11:58):
will be able to down together atthe table of brotherhood. I have a
dream that one day even the stateof Mississippi, a state sweltering with the
heat of injustice, sweltering with theheat of oppression, will be transformed into
(12:20):
an oasis of freedom and justice.I have a dream my four little children
will one day live in a nationwhere they will not be judged by the
color of their skin, but bythe content of their character. I have
a dream today I have a dreamthat one day, down in Alabama,
(12:58):
with its vicious racist, with itsgovernor having his lips dripping with the words
of interposition and nullification, one day, right there in Alabama, little black
bars and black girls will be ableto join hands with little white bars and
white girls as sisters and brothers.I have a dream today. I have
(13:26):
a dream that one day every valorshall be exalted, Every hill and mountains
shall be made low, the roughplaces will be made plain, and the
crooked places will be made straight,and the gore of the Lord shall be
revealed in all flesh shall see it. Together. This is our hope,
and this is the faith that Igo back to the South with. With
(13:50):
this faith, we will be ableto hew out of the mountain of despair
a stone of hope. With thisfaith, we will be able to transform
the jangling discords of our nation intoa beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this
faith, we will be able towork together, to pray together, to
(14:11):
struggle together, to go to jailtogether, to stand up for freedom,
together, knowing that we will befree. One day. This will be
the day, This will be theday when all of God's children be able
to sing with new meaning, mycountry tears of thee sweet land of liberty,
(14:35):
of the scene land where my father'sdied, Land of the pilgrim's pride.
From every mountain side, let freedomring, And if America is to
be a great nation, this mustbecome true. So let freedom ragin from
the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.Let freedom rain from the mighty mountain in
(15:00):
New York. Let freedom ring fromthe heightening allegaties of Pennsylvania. Let freedom
ring from the snow capped rockies ofColorado. Let freedom ring from the curvation
of slopes of California. But notonly that. Let freedom ring from stone
mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ringfrom Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom
(15:28):
ring from every hill and mole hillof Mississippi, from every mountainside, let
freedom ring. And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when
we let it ring from every villageand every hamlet, from every state and
(15:48):
every city, we will be ableto speed up that day with all of
God's children, black men and whitemen, Jews and Gentiles, Roustins and
Catholics, will be able to joinhands and sing in the words of the
all Negro spiritual pre ad last,pread last, Thank God Almighty, we are preadmirst
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