Sure, Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was a bit of a sleazebag and questions have been raised over the level of originality deployed in his writings and oratory, but it's still easy to be stirred by his noble cause, which was punctuated by his famous "I Have a Dream" speech of August 23, 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Thankfully, the good folk at American Rhetoric have reproduced it for your reading pleasure. Here's my favourite portion:
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.
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