December 04, 2005

I Have A Dream


ABBA--I have a dream

listen to it now



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"I HAVE A DREAM" (1963)
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.

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.

But 100 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. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. 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, 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 - 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. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check that has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice. We have also come to his hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. 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 to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of 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 summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating 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 steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. 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. 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. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is 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 our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today my friends - so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

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."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

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.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification - one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall 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 we will be able to hew 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, 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 father's died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!"

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi - from every mountainside.

Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring - when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children - black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics - will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"




MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
　　馬丁。路德。金
　　。。。。。。 I say to you, my friends, so 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.
　　……今天，我對你們說，我的朋友們，儘管此時困難與挫折重重，我們仍然有個夢，這是深深紮根於美國夢中的夢。
　　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.
　　我有一個夢：有一天，這個國家將站起來，並實現它的信條的真正含義：“我們認為這些真理是不言而喻的，即所有的人都生來平等。”
　　I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
　　我有一個夢：有一天，在喬治亞州的紅色山丘上，從前奴隸的子孫們和從前奴隸主的子孫們將能像兄弟般地坐在同一桌旁。
　　I have a dream that one day, even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
　　我有一個夢：有一天，甚至密西西比州，一個有著不公正和壓迫的熱浪襲人的荒漠之州，將改造成自由和公正的綠洲。
　　I have a dream 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.
　　我有一個夢：我的4個小孩將有一天生活在一個國度裏，在那裏，人們不是從他們的膚色，而是從他們的品格來評價他們。
　　I have a dream today!
　　今天我有一個夢想！
　　I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
　　我有一個夢：有一天，阿拉巴馬州將變成這樣一個地方，那裏黑人小男孩、小女孩可以和白人小男孩、小女孩，像兄弟姐妹一樣手牽手並肩而行。
　　

　　I have a dream today.
　　今天我有一個夢想。
　　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.
　　我有一個夢：有一天，每一個峽谷將升高，每一座山丘和高峰被削低，崎嶇粗糙的地方改造成平原，彎彎曲曲的地方變得筆直，上帝的榮耀得以展露，全人類都將舉目共睹。
　　This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with.
　　這是我們的希望，這是信念，帶著這個信念我回到南方。
　　With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.
　　懷著這個信念我們將能從絕望之山中開採出一塊希望之石。
　　With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
　　懷著這個信念，我們將能把我們國家的刺耳的不和音，轉變成一曲優美動聽的兄弟情誼交響曲。
　　With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to go to jail together, knowing that we will be free one day.
　　懷著這個信念，我們將能工作在一起，祈禱在一起，奮鬥在一起，一起赴監獄，一起為自由而挺住。因為我們知道，有一天我們將獲自由。
　　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 become true.
　　將會有一天，那時，所有上帝的孩子們將能以新的含義高唱：我的祖國，你是自由的樂土。我為你歌唱：我的先輩的安葬之地，朝聖者心中的聖地，讓自由的聲音，響徹每一道山崗。如果說美國是一個偉大的國家，這必須要成真。
　　So let freedom ring -- from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire, let freedom ring; from the mighty mountains of New York.Let freedom ring -- from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
　　因此，讓自由的聲音從新罕布什爾州巨大的山巔響起吧。讓自由的聲音從紐約州巍巍群山響起吧，讓自由的聲音從賓夕法尼亞州阿拉根尼高原響起吧！
　　Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
　　讓自由的聲音從科羅拉多州冰雪覆蓋的洛磯山脈響起吧！
　　Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
　　讓自由的聲音從加利福尼亞婀娜多姿的山峰上響起吧！
　　But not only that.Let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia.
　　但不僅如此，還讓自由之聲從喬治亞州的石峰上響起吧！
　　Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
　　讓自由之聲從田納西州的觀景峰響起吧！
　　Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.
　　讓自由之聲從密西西比州的每一道山丘響起吧！在每一道山坡上，讓自由之聲響起吧！
　　When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children - black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants - will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
　　當我們讓自由之聲響徹之時，當我們讓它從每一座村莊，從每一個州和每一座城市響起時，我們將能加速這一天的到來，那時，所有上帝的孩子們，黑人和白人，猶太人和異教徒們，基督徒和天主教徒們，將能手挽手，以那古老的黑人聖歌的歌詞高唱：“終於自由了！終於自由了！感謝全能的上帝，我們終於自由了！”

posted by Jacob Chen @ 11:17 PM

4 Comments:

At 12:31 AM, Blogger Whitney L. said...

Hello Jacob,

Oh my~! It is one of my best favorite songs!!!
I always remember the feeling that I first heard this song which was with my ex.
From your e-mail, I heard that you consider quitting the school next semester.
Are you sure to leave behind all these lovely classmates who would share happiness of studying with and have fun with? These three years in NTUST will be a scene in your life which can not afford to miss!! I believe that! Do you?

Well think twice before making final decision!! I am not good at persuasion, but these words are from bottom of my heart!! At least I do not have one to give me a help when my car got power off again!! Ha…..

Good night.
Whitney
7 December 2005

 
At 12:33 AM, Blogger Whitney L. said...

well I have another question! Why does this song go with the article "I have a dream"!?
Whitney

 
At 10:38 AM, Blogger Nora said...

Hey Jacob,

Check out this webside:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/top100speechesall.html
You can listen to this speech, and maybe write a listening log.
( *^_^* )

We all have a dream, with this faith we will be able to study together, to pray together, knowing that we will be free one day.

SO, please don't leave us.

 
At 3:08 PM, Blogger Melissa said...

This is my favourite peice of writing.
I am glad you posted it.

 

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