(no subject)
I knwo that this isnt a real post, but i feel i should share this with everyone, i mena i am sure that some of you have read it, or even listened to it...
i feel that it is one of the greatest speaches of freedom to date, and well would like to knwo what you think... i mean i am sure you will all get who spoke it very quickly..
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand 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 captivity. But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still 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 languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.
So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we have 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 would be guaranteed the inalienable 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 which 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.
So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this 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 rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. 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 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. 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 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 their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall 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 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 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 cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the 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 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, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, 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 slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four 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 the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, 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 with which I return to the South. 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 when all of God's children will be able to sing with a 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." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. 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 snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks 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 every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let 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!"
i also think i will share a second realisation..
.:THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD
So often if we are asked to name them, we see only the material...
1. Egypt's Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter's Basilica
7. China's Great Wall
Yet, we need to look deeper, personally i feel that
1. To See
2. To Hear
3. To Touch
4. To Taste
5. To Feel
6. To Laugh
7. And to Love
Well i think they are the seven wonders of the world
and i knwo that this is a long, and well, i guess most o you wont read this, but i hope that you will, these are thinsg i have beenthinking over the past week..and i would like to finish with a story i read...
One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
I sawa kid from my class was walking home from school.
Hisname was Kyle.
It looked like he was carrying all of his
books.
I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bringhome all his books on a Friday?
He mu! st really be anerd."
I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a footballgame with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so Ishrugged my shoulders and went on.
As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running towardhim.
They ran at him, knocking all his books out of hisarms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.
His glasseswent flying, and I saw them land in the grass about tenfeet from him.
He looked up and I saw this terriblesadness in his eyes
My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him andas he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I sawa tear in his eye.
As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.
They really should get lives.
" He lookedat me and said, "Hey thanks!"
There was a big smile on his face.
It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
I helped him pick up his books, and asked him wherehe lived.
As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked himwhy I had never seen him before.
He said he had gone to privateschool before now.
I would have never hung out with a private school kidbefore.
We talked all the way home, and I carried someof his books.
He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
Iasked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends
He said yes.
We hung out all weekend and themore I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and myfriends thought the same of him.
Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with thehuge stack of books again.
I stopped him and said,"Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!
" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
Over the next four years, ! Kyle and I became best friends.
When we were seniors, we began to think
about college.
Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
was going to Duke.
I knew that we would always befriends, that the miles would never be a problem.
Hewas going to be a doctor, and I was going for businesson a football scholarship.
Kyle was valedictorian of our class.
I teased him all thetime about being a nerd.
He had to prepare a speech forgraduation.
I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there andspeak
Graduation day, I saw Kyle.
He looked great.
Hewas one of those guys that really found himself during highschool.
He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
!
Today was one of those days.
I could see that he wasnervous about his speech.
So, I smacked him on the backand said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
He looked at mewith one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
"! Thanks," he said.
As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, andbegan
"Graduation is a time to thank those who helpedyou make it through those tough years.
Your parents,your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostlyyour friends...
I am here to tell all of you that being a
friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
Iam going to tell you a story."
I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told thestory of the first day we met.
He had planned to killhimself over the weekend.
He talked of how he hadcleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to doit later and was carrying his stuff home.
He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.
"Thankfully, I was saved.
My friend saved me fromdoing the unspeakable."
I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popularboy told us all about his weakest moment
I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that samegrateful smile.
Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.
Never underestimate the power of your actions.
Withone small gesture you can change a person's life.
Forbetter or for worse
love you all
tenchi...
i feel that it is one of the greatest speaches of freedom to date, and well would like to knwo what you think... i mean i am sure you will all get who spoke it very quickly..
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand 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 captivity. But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still 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 languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.
So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we have 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 would be guaranteed the inalienable 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 which 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.
So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this 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 rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. 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 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. 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 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 their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall 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 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 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 cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the 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 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, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, 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 slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four 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 the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, 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 with which I return to the South. 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 when all of God's children will be able to sing with a 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." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. 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 snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks 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 every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let 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!"
i also think i will share a second realisation..
.:THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD
So often if we are asked to name them, we see only the material...
1. Egypt's Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter's Basilica
7. China's Great Wall
Yet, we need to look deeper, personally i feel that
1. To See
2. To Hear
3. To Touch
4. To Taste
5. To Feel
6. To Laugh
7. And to Love
Well i think they are the seven wonders of the world
and i knwo that this is a long, and well, i guess most o you wont read this, but i hope that you will, these are thinsg i have beenthinking over the past week..and i would like to finish with a story i read...
One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
I sawa kid from my class was walking home from school.
Hisname was Kyle.
It looked like he was carrying all of his
books.
I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bringhome all his books on a Friday?
He mu! st really be anerd."
I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a footballgame with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so Ishrugged my shoulders and went on.
As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running towardhim.
They ran at him, knocking all his books out of hisarms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.
His glasseswent flying, and I saw them land in the grass about tenfeet from him.
He looked up and I saw this terriblesadness in his eyes
My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him andas he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I sawa tear in his eye.
As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks.
They really should get lives.
" He lookedat me and said, "Hey thanks!"
There was a big smile on his face.
It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
I helped him pick up his books, and asked him wherehe lived.
As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked himwhy I had never seen him before.
He said he had gone to privateschool before now.
I would have never hung out with a private school kidbefore.
We talked all the way home, and I carried someof his books.
He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
Iasked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends
He said yes.
We hung out all weekend and themore I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and myfriends thought the same of him.
Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with thehuge stack of books again.
I stopped him and said,"Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!
" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
Over the next four years, ! Kyle and I became best friends.
When we were seniors, we began to think
about college.
Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
was going to Duke.
I knew that we would always befriends, that the miles would never be a problem.
Hewas going to be a doctor, and I was going for businesson a football scholarship.
Kyle was valedictorian of our class.
I teased him all thetime about being a nerd.
He had to prepare a speech forgraduation.
I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there andspeak
Graduation day, I saw Kyle.
He looked great.
Hewas one of those guys that really found himself during highschool.
He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
!
Today was one of those days.
I could see that he wasnervous about his speech.
So, I smacked him on the backand said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"
He looked at mewith one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.
"! Thanks," he said.
As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, andbegan
"Graduation is a time to thank those who helpedyou make it through those tough years.
Your parents,your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostlyyour friends...
I am here to tell all of you that being a
friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
Iam going to tell you a story."
I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told thestory of the first day we met.
He had planned to killhimself over the weekend.
He talked of how he hadcleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to doit later and was carrying his stuff home.
He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.
"Thankfully, I was saved.
My friend saved me fromdoing the unspeakable."
I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popularboy told us all about his weakest moment
I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that samegrateful smile.
Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.
Never underestimate the power of your actions.
Withone small gesture you can change a person's life.
Forbetter or for worse
love you all
tenchi...