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I Have a Dream

January 15, 2002

This is in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

"So I say to you, my friends, that even though we must face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.  It is a dream deeply rooted in the American 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 every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places shall be made plain, and the crooked places shall be made straight and the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope.  This is the faith that I go back to the South with.  With this faith to hear 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.  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 mountain side, let freedom ring' - and if America is to be a great nation, this must be true  (Sterba, 2000, p. 550-551)."

Reference:  Sterba, J. P. (Ed.) (2000).  Ethics: classical western texts in feminist and multicultural perspectives.  New York: Oxford University Press.

What is your dream, and what are you willing to do to achieve it?

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Created: 2008-12-13, Updated: 2009-01-07