I am reprinting today, with indebtedness to Martin Luther King Jr., an amended [changes in blue] version of his great speech, I Have a Dream, which, as every great speech will attest, lends itself admirably (I hope) to every crisis:
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 weeks ago, a great North American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed a strike declaration. This momentous declaration came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of government 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 one thousand hours later, the government employee still is not free. One thousand hours later, the life of the employee is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One thousand hours later, the employee lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of immaterial prosperity. One thousand hours later, the employee is still languished in the corners of North 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 fair nation wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution, they were signing a promissory note to which every North American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, union men as well as non union men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that North America, and Toronto in particular, has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of City Hall are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, North America has given the Employees a bad check—a 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. And so, we've 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 North 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 injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of Miller’s – oh no, I mean God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Employee's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Two thousand and nine is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Employee needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in North America until the Employee is granted his 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 Employee community must not lead us to a distrust of all union people, for many of our union 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 city hall rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Employee is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of garbage hauling, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the employee'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 self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Union Members Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as an Employee in Toronto cannot vote and an Employee in Etobicoke 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 cubicles. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- 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 North York, go back to Scarborough, go back to Little India, go back to the Beach/es, go back to Rosedale, go back to the slums and ghettos of our city, 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.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the North 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 PEI, the sons of former union employees and the sons of former non union employees will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the city of Toronto, a city sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, sweltering in the mists of steamy garbage heaps, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my our little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by their union or non union status but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in City Hall, with its vicious councillors, with its mayor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in City Hall little non union boys and girls will be able to join hands with little union boys and 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, and this is the faith that I go back to the office 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.
And 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 fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if North America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of Leslieville.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of High Park.
Let freedom ring from the heightening businesses of the Junction.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped coffee shops of Mississauga.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of New Toronto.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Ward’s Island.
Let freedom ring from the Toronto Zoo.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of the Scarborough Bluffs.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every suburb and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, union men and non union men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, gays and heteros, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Employee spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
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 weeks ago, a great North American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed a strike declaration. This momentous declaration came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of government 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 one thousand hours later, the government employee still is not free. One thousand hours later, the life of the employee is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One thousand hours later, the employee lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of immaterial prosperity. One thousand hours later, the employee is still languished in the corners of North 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 fair nation wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution, they were signing a promissory note to which every North American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, union men as well as non union men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that North America, and Toronto in particular, has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of City Hall are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, North America has given the Employees a bad check—a 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. And so, we've 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 North 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 injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of Miller’s – oh no, I mean God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Employee's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Two thousand and nine is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Employee needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in North America until the Employee is granted his 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 Employee community must not lead us to a distrust of all union people, for many of our union 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 city hall rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Employee is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of garbage hauling, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the employee'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 self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Union Members Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as an Employee in Toronto cannot vote and an Employee in Etobicoke 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 cubicles. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- 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 North York, go back to Scarborough, go back to Little India, go back to the Beach/es, go back to Rosedale, go back to the slums and ghettos of our city, 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.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the North 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 PEI, the sons of former union employees and the sons of former non union employees will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the city of Toronto, a city sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, sweltering in the mists of steamy garbage heaps, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my our little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by their union or non union status but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in City Hall, with its vicious councillors, with its mayor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in City Hall little non union boys and girls will be able to join hands with little union boys and 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, and this is the faith that I go back to the office 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.
And 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 fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if North America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of Leslieville.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of High Park.
Let freedom ring from the heightening businesses of the Junction.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped coffee shops of Mississauga.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of New Toronto.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Ward’s Island.
Let freedom ring from the Toronto Zoo.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of the Scarborough Bluffs.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every suburb and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, union men and non union men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, gays and heteros, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Employee spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
