Martin Luther King, Jr. Is best known for his contribution to the African American civil rights movement in the United States. Born Michael King, Jr. On January 15, 1929, King was the son of a reverend and a former teacher. Martin Luther King, Jr. Is best known for his contribution to the African American civil rights movement in the United States. Born Michael King, Jr. On January 15, 1929, King was the son of a reverend and a former teacher. The future activist was skeptical about Christianity from an early age.
In his iconic speech at the Lincoln Memorial for the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, King urged America to 'make real the promises of democracy.' King synthesized portions of his earlier speeches to capture both the necessity for change and the potential for hope in American society. I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. [ applause] 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 [ Audience:] ( Yeah) who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
( Hmm) But one hundred years later ( All right), the Negro still is not free. ( My Lord, Yeah) One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. ( Hmm) One hundred years later ( All right), the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later ( My Lord) [ applause], the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. ( Yes, yes) And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence ( Yeah), they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.
This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men ( My Lord), would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. ( My Lord) Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds. [ enthusiastic applause] ( My Lord, Lead on, Speech, speech) But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. ( My Lord) [ laughter] ( No, no) We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. ( Sure enough) And so we’ve come to cash this check (Yes), a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom ( Yes) and the security of justice.
( Yes Lord) [ enthusiastic applause] We have also come to this hallowed spot ( My Lord) to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. ( Mhm) This is no time ( My Lord) to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. [ applause] ( Yes, Speak on it!) Now is the time ( Yes it is) to make real the promises of democracy. ( My Lord) Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time [ applause] to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Icloud download for windows vista 32 bit. Now is the time ( Yes) [ applause] ( Now) 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 summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent ( Yes) will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. ( My Lord) 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. ( Yes) And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. [ enthusiastic applause] There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. 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.