Ahh... a dream that I hope someday will be realised =)

So yeah. It's 6:13 AM, and I'm going back to bed.

 
Personalities like Hitler and Gandhi who are so different to each other and yet both are so powerful in their capability to drive crowds towards a common goal.

Some of most famous presidential speeches are George Washington's pledge in 1789 that spoke of protecting the new nation's liberties and freedoms under a government instituted by themselves. Abraham Lincoln's plea during the Civil War to heal with malice toward none, with charity toward all, Also, John F. Kennedy's speech to "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country which has become a popular motivational line across the world.

Another famous speech comes from Mother Teresa titled 'A National Prayer Breakfast' which again inspired crowds to a great extent. Going through these speeches can be a great learning for individuals wanting to study the art of motivating people through speeches. Most of these famous speeches are available online.

The topic of this post is about something KRS said during his performance...

KRS was excited about the diversity that he saw in the crowd that evening, which is actually pretty normal for any Hip-Hop show in Ann Arbor.  He was also obviously blown away and ecstatic about the energy he was receiving from the crowd.  We were hype.  At one point in the show he went into a pretty long talk with the biggest grin on his face the entire time.  What he said has stuck with me to this day.  He said, "Hip-Hop is the only culture on the planet that has manifested Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' speech."  He went on to quote this portion of MLK's speech:

...All Good. 

Já na primeira cena, me encantei. A música I have a dream, uma das minhas preferidas da banda, toca a alma e faz a ambientação de uma garota privada da presença de um pai – exatamente como acontece comigo, como todos sabem. Mas de melancólico o filme não tem nada, muito pelo contrário. O sorriso no meu rosto era constante nas exatas duas horas de duração. Talvez seja porque todas, todas, todas, todas, todas as músicas do ABBA dizem algo especial e me remetem à uma situação gostosa de se lembrar. Por exemplo, Waterloo, que tocou no filme me lembra Londres, cidade que passei a virada do ano de 2006/2007. Já Take a chance on me me lembra meus dias solitários no silêncio do meu quarto. Não dá pra não citar Dancing Queen, outro best seller dos meus queridos suecos, que foi muito bem introduzido no roteiro de Catherine Johnson, assim como Super Trouper e The Winner takes it all. É bem verdade que faltou Fernando, que me lembra a Austrália mesmo sem eu nunca ter estado lá. Fica a crítica.

Também não dá pra falar de Mamma Mia! sem lembrar o excesso de felicidade dos personagens. É muito engraçado ver a Meryl Streep – a ex poderosa Miranda Pristley – encarnando Donna, uma americana de passado, digamos, safadinho, confinada em uma ilha grega com a responsabilidade de criar uma filha sozinha. A trama é basicamente essa: Sarah, filha de Donna, está prestes a se casar e tem um sonho (é aqui que toca I Have a Dream) de conhecer o pai, coisa que a mãe nunca permitiu. Ela, então, descobre um diário antigo de Dona e envia um convite para três dos amores da mãezona. É bem surreal, porque os caras se deslocam dos Estados Unidos, embora o roteiro sugira que um deles seja sueco (mais influência ABBA), para ir ao casamento de uma estranha, na Grécia. Lá chegando encontram o antigo amor, a própria Dona e aí começa toda história. Uma vila feliz, com personagens caricatos e bem felizes. Uma boa pedida para quem quer dar boas risadas no cinema. Chega a ser contagiante. No filme, os atores Pierce Brosnan, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth e Stellan Skarsgard. Quem quiser mais informações sobre Mamma Mia!, pode conferir neste hotsite, muito bom por sinal. Dá pra sentir o clima.

Para quem não conhece o ABBA

Eles fizeram muito sucesso na década de 70, quando os compositores suecos Björn Ulvaeus e Benny Andersson, e as vocalistas Agnetha Fältskog e Anni-Frid Lyngstad (também conhecida como Frida) se conheceram, se casaram – dizem até que rolava ciúmes entre eles, algo como um quarteto amoroso – e deslancharam para o sucesso com composições em inglês, francês, alemão e até espanhol. Estima-se que o grupo já tenha vendido, até o ano de 2006, mais de 370 milhões de cópias, principalmente pelo último trabalho, ABBA Gold, uma coletânea das principais músicas. Eu tenho e volta e meia escuto por aqui. Tá bom, vai... eu confesso: escuto todos os dias, toda hora e, inclusive, agora. Rs...

Here are the pictures....

Marice

Nu stiu pe unde am citit vorba asta, dar daca stai sa te gandesti, oare nu e cam asa? Pe cati i-au inspirat putinele vorbe spuse cu atata convingere de Martin Luther King Jr. "I have a dream"

Nu de mult am fost in biserica baptista din Milano, si era pusa pe perete o poza mare cu M.L.K si cu vorbele spuse de el, tocmai pentru a aduce aminte oamenilor cat de important e sa visezi cu ochii deschisi, sa stii ce iti doresti, sa stii ce vrei sa ajungi, spre ce tanjesti, si toate energiile si resursele ce le ai sa le canalizezi intracolo.

Iosif cel din cartea Genezei a visat, iar cei din familia lui au ras de el, de visele lui, de indrazneala si maretia acelor vise, insa au trait spre a vedea cu ochii lor implinirea a ceea ce cu ani in urma parea atat de departe si de irealizabil.

Cu ceva ani in urma visam sa ma duc misionar in ce stii ce tara indepartata, influentat de scrierile misionarilor care asa au facut, sa studiez si eu ce stii ce dialect, sa ma apuc sa traduc Noul Testament... si sa fiu si eu unu care prin munca mea sa aduc o schimbare in bine in inima si viata acelor oameni (despre care nu stiu nimic concret, care sunt doar un vis nedefinit)

Visam si eu cum visa Paler. El zicea ca visa sa mearga la Polul Nord, iar visul lui era asa de frumos, stand cu cartea in poala, lipit cu spatele de teracota fierbinte :) - destul de comoda "expeditia", nu-i asa?

Am revenit cu picioarele pe pamant. (desi mai sunt cateodata cu capul in mori) Parca visul ala s-a spulberat, si nu asta ma deranjeaza, ci faptul ca nici un alt vis maret nu i-a luat locul.

Nu mi se pare maret sa visez la nu stiu ce masina, mi se pare un vis marunt (si irealizabil deocamdata), poate deaia nici nu-l visez :) si mi se pare cel putin ciudat sa muncesc din greu doar pentru niste ziduri de apartament, pentru traiul de supravietuire din tara noastra.

In viata tre sa fie mai mult de atat, VIATA E CU SIGURANTA MAI MULT DE ATAT !

Nu pot zice "I have a dream", insa pot zice "vreau sa visez..."

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a fantasy
To help me through reality
And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness
Still another mile

I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream - I have a dream

En un tutorial pasado mencionamos como añadir subtítulos en youtube (detallando, finalmente, que DotSub era la mejor opcion), pero ahora Subply incluso se presenta como una mejor alternativa, que requiere prácticamente un esfuerzo nulo de nuestra parte.

Funciona de la siguiente manera:

* Le damos un link de un video de YouTube a Subply (la versión gratuita limitada a 5 minutos de video)
* El video tiene que estar en inglés, y nos darán subtitulos en inglés / español de manera gratuita (para el resto, tendremos que comprar “paquetes” de traducción)
* En las siguientes 24 horas, SubPLY se encargará de traducir el contenido, y luego obtendremos un archivo SRT para subirlo a YouTube.

Un ejemplo, "I have a dream".

As far as black Americans were concerned, the nation's response to Brown was agonizingly slow, and neither state legislatures nor the Congress seemed willing to help their cause along. Finally, President John F. Kennedy recognized that only a strong civil rights bill would put teeth into the drive to secure equal protection of the laws for African Americans. On June 11, 1963, he proposed such a bill to Congress, asking for legislation that would provide "the kind of equality of treatment which we wou

ld want for ourselves." Southern representatives in Congress managed to block the bill in committee, and civil rights leaders sought some way to build political momentum behind the measure.

A. Philip Randolph, a labor leader and longtime civil rights activist, called for a massive march on Washington to dramatize the issue. He welcomed the participation of white groups as well as black in order to demonstrate the multiracial backing for civil rights. The various elements of the civil rights movement, many of which had been wary of one another, agreed to participate. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Congress of Racial Equality, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee and the Urban League all managed to bury their differences and work together. The leaders even agreed to tone down the rhetoric of some of the more militant activists for the sake of unity, and they worked closely with the Kennedy administration, which hoped the march would, in fact, lead to passage of the civil rights bill.

On August 28, 1963, under a nearly cloudless sky, more than 250,000 people, a fifth of them white, gathered near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington to rally for "jobs and freedom." The roster of speakers included speakers from nearly every segment of society -- labor leaders like Walter Reuther, clergy, film stars such as Sidney Poitier and Marlon Brando and folksingers such as Joan Baez. Each of the speakers was allotted fifteen minutes, but the day belonged to the young and charismatic leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had originally prepared a short and somewhat formal recitation of the sufferings of African Americans attempting to realize their freedom in a society chained by discrimination. He was about to sit down when gospel singer Mahalia Jackson called out, "Tell them about your dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream!" Encouraged by shouts from the audience, King drew upon some of his past talks, and the result became the landmark statement of civil rights in America -- a dream of all people, of all races and colors and backgrounds, sharing in an America marked by freedom and democracy.

For further reading: Herbert Garfinkel, When Negroes March: The March on Washington...(1969); Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-1963 (1988); Stephen B. Oates, Let the Trumpet Sound: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr. (1982).

"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!"

Distribution statement: Accepted as part of the Douglass Archives of American Public Address (http://douglass.speech.nwu.edu) on May 26, 1999. Prepared by D. Oetting (http://nonce.com/oetting).

Permission is hereby granted to download, reprint, and/or otherwise redistribute this file, provided this distribution statement is included and appropriate point of origin credit is given to the preparer and Douglass.

Vide record of the "I have a dream"Speech - 17:28 mins.

Cem anos atrás, um grande americano, na qual estamos sob sua simbólica sombra, assinou a Proclamação de Emancipação. Esse importante decreto veio como um grande farol de esperança para milhões de escravos negros que tinham murchados nas chamas da injustiça. Ele veio como uma alvorada para terminar a longa noite de seus cativeiros.
Mas cem anos depois, o Negro ainda não é livre.
Cem anos depois, a vida do Negro ainda é tristemente inválida pelas algemas da segregação e as cadeias de discriminação.
Cem anos depois, o Negro vive em uma ilha só de pobreza no meio de um vasto oceano de prosperidade material. Cem anos depois, o Negro ainda adoece nos cantos da sociedade americana e se encontram exilados em sua própria terra. Assim, nós viemos aqui hoje para dramatizar sua vergonhosa condição.

De certo modo, nós viemos à capital de nossa nação para trocar um cheque. Quando os arquitetos de nossa república escreveram as magníficas palavras da Constituição e a Declaração da Independência, eles estavam assinando uma nota promissória para a qual todo americano seria seu herdeiro. Esta nota era uma promessa que todos os homens, sim, os homens negros, como também os homens brancos, teriam garantidos os direitos inalienáveis de vida, liberdade e a busca da felicidade. Hoje é óbvio que aquela América não apresentou esta nota promissória. Em vez de honrar esta obrigação sagrada, a América deu para o povo negro um cheque sem fundo, um cheque que voltou marcado com "fundos insuficientes".

Mas nós nos recusamos a acreditar que o banco da justiça é falível. Nós nos recusamos a acreditar que há capitais insuficientes de oportunidade nesta nação. Assim nós viemos trocar este cheque, um cheque que nos dará o direito de reclamar as riquezas de liberdade e a segurança da justiça.

Nós também viemos para recordar à América dessa cruel urgência. Este não é o momento para descansar no luxo refrescante ou tomar o remédio tranqüilizante do gradualismo.
Agora é o tempo para transformar em realidade as promessas de democracia.
Agora é o tempo para subir do vale das trevas da segregação ao caminho iluminado pelo sol da justiça racial.
Agora é o tempo para erguer nossa nação das areias movediças da injustiça racial para a pedra sólida da fraternidade. Agora é o tempo para fazer da justiça uma realidade para todos os filhos de Deus.

Seria fatal para a nação negligenciar a urgência desse momento. Este verão sufocante do legítimo descontentamento dos Negros não passará até termos um renovador outono de liberdade e igualdade. Este ano de 1963 não é um fim, mas um começo. Esses que esperam que o Negro agora estará contente, terão um violento despertar se a nação votar aos negócios de sempre.

Mas há algo que eu tenho que dizer ao meu povo que se dirige ao portal que conduz ao palácio da justiça. No processo de conquistar nosso legítimo direito, nós não devemos ser culpados de ações de injustiças. Não vamos satisfazer nossa sede de liberdade bebendo da xícara da amargura e do ódio. Nós sempre temos que conduzir nossa luta num alto nível de dignidade e disciplina. Nós não devemos permitir que nosso criativo protesto se degenere em violência física. Novamente e novamente nós temos que subir às majestosas alturas da reunião da força física com a força de alma. Nossa nova e maravilhosa combatividade mostrou à comunidade negra que não devemos ter uma desconfiança para com todas as pessoas brancas, para muitos de nossos irmãos brancos, como comprovamos pela presença deles aqui hoje, vieram entender que o destino deles é amarrado ao nosso destino. Eles vieram perceber que a liberdade deles é ligada indissoluvelmente a nossa liberdade. Nós não podemos caminhar só.

E como nós caminhamos, nós temos que fazer a promessa que nós sempre marcharemos à frente. Nós não podemos retroceder. Há esses que estão perguntando para os devotos dos direitos civis, "Quando vocês estarão satisfeitos?"

Nós nunca estaremos satisfeitos enquanto o Negro for vítima dos horrores indizíveis da brutalidade policial. Nós nunca estaremos satisfeitos enquanto nossos corpos, pesados com a fadiga da viagem, não poderem ter hospedagem nos motéis das estradas e os hotéis das cidades. Nós não estaremos satisfeitos enquanto um Negro não puder votar no Mississipi e um Negro em Nova Iorque acreditar que ele não tem motivo para votar. Não, não, nós não estamos satisfeitos e nós não estaremos satisfeitos até que a justiça e a retidão rolem abaixo como águas de uma poderosa correnteza.

Eu não esqueci que alguns de você vieram até aqui após grandes testes e sofrimentos. Alguns de você vieram recentemente de celas estreitas das prisões. Alguns de vocês vieram de áreas onde sua busca pela liberdade lhe deixaram marcas pelas tempestades das perseguições e pelos ventos de brutalidade policial. Você são o veteranos do sofrimento. Continuem trabalhando com a fé que sofrimento imerecido é redentor. Voltem para o Mississippi, voltem para o Alabama, voltem para a Carolina do Sul, voltem para a Geórgia, voltem para Louisiana, voltem para as ruas sujas e guetos de nossas cidades do norte, sabendo que de alguma maneira esta situação pode e será mudada. Não se deixe caiar no vale de desespero.

Eu digo a você hoje, meus amigos, que embora nós enfrentemos as dificuldades de hoje e amanhã. Eu ainda tenho um sonho. É um sonho profundamente enraizado no sonho americano.

Eu tenho um sonho que um dia esta nação se levantará e viverá o verdadeiro significado de sua crença - nós celebraremos estas verdades e elas serão claras para todos, que os homens são criados iguais.

Eu tenho um sonho que um dia nas colinas vermelhas da Geórgia os filhos dos descendentes de escravos e os filhos dos desdentes dos donos de escravos poderão se sentar junto à mesa da fraternidade.

Eu tenho um sonho que um dia, até mesmo no estado de Mississippi, um estado que transpira com o calor da injustiça, que transpira com o calor de opressão, será transformado em um oásis de liberdade e justiça.

Eu tenho um sonho que minhas quatro pequenas crianças vão um dia viver em uma nação onde elas não serão julgadas pela cor da pele, mas pelo conteúdo de seu caráter. Eu tenho um sonho hoje!

Eu tenho um sonho que um dia, no Alabama, com seus racistas malignos, com seu governador que tem os lábios gotejando palavras de intervenção e negação; nesse justo dia no Alabama meninos negros e meninas negras poderão unir as mãos com meninos brancos e meninas brancas como irmãs e irmãos. Eu tenho um sonho hoje!

Eu tenho um sonho que um dia todo vale será exaltado, e todas as colinas e montanhas virão abaixo, os lugares ásperos serão aplainados e os lugares tortuosos serão endireitados e a glória do Senhor será revelada e toda a carne estará junta.

Esta é nossa esperança. Esta é a fé com que regressarei para o Sul. Com esta fé nós poderemos cortar da montanha do desespero uma pedra de esperança. Com esta fé nós poderemos transformar as discórdias estridentes de nossa nação em uma bela sinfonia de fraternidade. Com esta fé nós poderemos trabalhar juntos, rezar juntos, lutar juntos, para ir encarcerar juntos, defender liberdade juntos, e quem sabe nós seremos um dia livre. Este será o dia, este será o dia quando todas as crianças de Deus poderão cantar com um novo significado.

"Meu país, doce terra de liberdade, eu te canto.

Terra onde meus pais morreram, terra do orgulho dos peregrinos,

De qualquer lado da montanha, ouço o sino da liberdade!"

E se a América é uma grande nação, isto tem que se tornar verdadeiro.

E assim ouvirei o sino da liberdade no extraordinário topo da montanha de New Hampshire.

Ouvirei o sino da liberdade nas poderosas montanhas poderosas de Nova York.

Ouvirei o sino da liberdade nos engrandecidos Alleghenies da Pennsylvania.

Ouvirei o sino da liberdade nas montanhas cobertas de neve Rockies do Colorado.

Ouvirei o sino da liberdade nas ladeiras curvas da Califórnia.

Mas não é só isso. Ouvirei o sino da liberdade na Montanha de Pedra da Geórgia.

Ouvirei o sino da liberdade na Montanha de Vigilância do Tennessee.

Ouvirei o sino da liberdade em todas as colinas do Mississipi.

Em todas as montanhas, ouviu o sino da liberdade.

E quando isto acontecer, quando nós permitimos o sino da liberdade soar, quando nós deixarmos ele soar em toda moradia e todo vilarejo, em todo estado e em toda cidade, nós poderemos acelerar aquele dia quando todas as crianças de Deus, homens pretos e homens brancos, judeus e gentios, protestantes e católicos, poderão unir mãos e cantar nas palavras do velho spiritual negro:

"Livre afinal, livre afinal.

Agradeço ao Deus todo-poderoso, nós somos livres afinal."

By MALINI JOHAR SCHUELLER and ED WHITE

Long before the end of the Democratic National Convention, commentators and African-American civil rights activists were situating Obama's nomination in the long trajectory of Black political struggles. Surely Obama's addresss would address claim this history--after all, he was to give his speech on the very anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.s "I Have a Dream" speech.

Obama had barely spoken when some commentators like Cornel West on Tavist Smiley's talk show expressed astonishment at the veiling of blackness. Indeed, the convention was virtually shorn of any possible contamination by blackness.

Watching the official video about Obama, one might think black was simply a variety of white, an odd variant, perhaps, resulting from the mixing of Hawaiians and Kansans. No doubt deadbeat dads don't deserve accolades or prominence, but the sheer absence of any reference to Kenya, the land of his father's birth or even a photograph of his father was strategic. And every fleeting scene showed the Illinois Senator shaking hands with white constituencies that, according to conventional wisdom, might not be trusted to vote for a black man: the blue-collar workers, old white men, old white women, white farmers. Were it not for the occasional black person, one would think Obama was running for President of Idaho.

Obama's book about his father, as many have noted, sets out to discover a father only to arrive at a mother. Put another way, go searching for blackness, and what you actually find is whiteness.
After all, the absurd question of a year ago "is he black enough" has proven the wrong question. Obama made this point himself when he noted that the election was " not about me, it's about you."

That's right. Obama's race is not about Obama. In his video, he was either putting white people at ease, or alone, gazing pensively, sitting studiously, almost unable or unwilling to look at the political world around him. The real focus, instead, was on you, the non-black viewers and voters, who were granted the freedom to revel in their own transcendence of race without painful and annoying reminders of unresolved racial problems. MLK became "the preacher" of long ago, his color and cause unmentioned. Obama"s race became an "unlikely characteristic," a statistical improbability. Chicago's South Side became a marker of public service, not a disastrous failure of US racism.

It's not surprising then that the cameras repeatedly gave us earnest white faces gazing at Obama. " This isn't about me, it's about you" It's not about where Obama came from, but about the satisfaction that whites might take in voting for a black man. If the final speech, a tour de force of rhetorical blending, to be sure, has been praised to the rafters, it is because it was liberal race-porn. It was the spectacle of tens of thousands watching themselves overcome their own discomforts about race. White voters' love for Obama is really a love for themselves. A love for their own liberalism which has transcended race and evident in their voting for an African-American. A reassurance to them that America isn't racist any more, while voting for Obama means that they don't have to think about racial injustice. They don't have to think abou the one million African-Americans incarcerated because of laws that favor the privileged or the crime of driving while black. To a generation of young white voters who can rebel against their overtly racist parents, it is an embodiment of living in a post-racist society.

Geraldine Ferraro and others tried to make this argument, but the resentment with which they fumbled toward this insight left them rightly condemned as creepy speakers of America's racial code.
The McCain campaign understands this dynamic, too, and has been

struggling for a way to answer. The day after Obama's speech, they rolled out their own strategy in the form of Sarah Palin's elevation.

Liberal commentators have been quick to condemn McCain's pick as a cynical ploy to draw disaffected Clinton supporters to the Republican camp. Such criticism naively misunderstands the new racial code of this election. McCain is not assuming, in devious Rovian fashion, that he can trick unthinking voters into voting for a woman. Rather, he is offering an escape for cynical non-blacks resentful of their historical situation. They were about to face an election in which they had to finally admit they would not vote for a black man. But now McCain has offered them a palatable way out: now voters do not have to say they prefer McCain to Obama, they can say that they are actively supporting a woman.

So Palin is the logical answer to Obama's performance. Once again, it's not about the candidate, it's about the drama of the voter's conscience. If you watched the DNC, and envied all those delegates displaying their big progressive hearts, if you wished that you too could feel so good, but if you still can't imagine voting for a black man, the RNC provided the alternative you've been waiting for. Never mind that the gun-loving, community organizer-hating, hockey mom with lipstick has never advocated women's causes. This one's for you!

Let's hope that voters take seriously Obama's insight that the election is as much about them as the candidates.

Malini Johar Schueller is a professor at the department of English at the University of Florida where she teaches courses on American literature culture. She is the author of U.S. Orientalisms and most recently, "Exceptional State: Contemporary US Culture and the New Imperialism," published by Duke University Press in June 2007.
and of the forthcoming book, Locating Race: Global Sites of Post-Colonial Citizenship.

Ed White is Associate Professor of English at the University of FLorida and author most recently of The Backcountry and the City

The site allows you to save your word cloud and make it available for other site visitors to see. I was very surprised to see that my ideas were actually not very original at all. At least three other people in the past three hours entered King's "I Have a Dream" speech, another guy had already uploaded the U.S. Constitution, and passages from the Bible are very well-represented: I saw portions of three of the four canonical gospels, including the Sermon on the Mount; 1 Corinthians 13; parts of Isaiah; passages from Revelation; and what I think was Genesis, but it was in French so I'm not sure. And I thought I was really clever entering passages from the Bible.

On the other end of the spectrum, recent political speeches are also popular subjects. This use is very interesting; it can quickly point out the main themes of a speech. Many people have entered the recent convention speeches of Obama, McCain, and Palin, but not Biden.

So, make your own cool word clouds and see how neat it can be. Here's one more I maid, I'll give a tilde to whoever can identify the original text used (this is very possible if you're familiar with the work).

P.S. Un review la film, mai incolo.

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a fantasy
To help me through reality
And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness still another mile
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream

Today, August 28th, is far more significant than Dr. King’s January birthday because today marked a moment in history that transformed people. This moment changed mindsets and created a sacred space. It provided a moment for thought, a moment to name the resistance against change and equity in America. It created a moment and space to discuss what is and what could be, to plant the seed of a significant vision, to share a dream.

Today is even more significant because in spite of our desire to be color-blind in this country, we know that the reality is that color informs many things we do, say, and think. And the reality is that it will be a long time before we as a country will be. As I live in the world, I see the underlying and subtle differences in treatment of people of color. But King’s words continue to resonate with me at what has been accomplished. Today, Senator Barack Obama will deliver a speech before the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO. He will accept the party’s nomination as the Democratic candidate for President of the United States with the largest percentage of African Americans attending the convention, standing at 24% for the first time in the history of the conventions.

But Senator Obama is also proof positive that as far as we have, there are places in America that show us that we have not come as far enough. Because the behavior and the treatment received by many of his workers in the southern part of our nation showed how ignorant many Americans continue to be, because of the comments made by some members of unions, we know that there are parts of the country that feel that Senator Obama is not the right color for the presidency.

But Senator Obama ultimate is proof positive, proof positive that a man of African ancestry may seek the highest office in this country providing he meets the right criteria. Proof positive that this country isn’t as wholly ignorant as we thought. Proof positive that continuous and steady commitment to a thought, an ideal, a belief can ultimately manifest itself into reality.

Senator Obama may become the first president of African ancestry. He has and will continue to make mistakes not because he’s Black but because there is a learning process in any job regardless of how much experience one has. But at the end of the day, when it all is said and done, Senator Obama cannot do this alone. He cannot change mindsets without a continuous and steady support system. He cannot reach his vision, MLK’s vision, our vision for equity if we do not remain engaged in the political process.

Today, I have a dream, a vision for the future, where my daughter can run for the highest office in this country and not be judged by her gender or race or culture, but by the content of her character, her morale stance, and her ability to do better.

Men det går väl snart över
som med allt annat skit.

I morgon blir det gårdsliv och grilla
Shalini, Christa, förhoppningsvis Kirsi..
och en tjej som jag glömde namnet på (sorry)
det är Shalinis kompis..åsså jag då.
Sen en massa ungar också.. inte att förglömma *ler*
Det är gött att göra någonting med ungarna
(och med attans trevliga vänner)
sådant sitter i för livet sen.. i barnen i alla fall *ler*
Jag menar..
Göra någonting till en trevlig vana, ofta, året runt
Och inte bara ett par gånger om året.
Hoppas vädret blir bra..
Bara det är uppehåll så är det ok.
Vi grillade ju genom hela vintern så det ska nog gå bra.

Hanna mår bättre i alla fall..
Ögonen är lite kladdiga på morgonen
Hon hostar visserligen... men hon mår bra
Det är ju skönt.

Jamen det var ju skit vilken tid det tar att få ett beslut
i om Arbogarättegången ska tas om i Tingsrätten..
Den jävsöverklagan som Christine Schürrer har lämnat in.
Har setat och uppdaterat Magazin24 hela gårdagen
och så idag då... men nada beslut.
Det är ju förjävligt om den ska tas om
Sicken Uggla att ha en glapp näbb..
Kunde hon inte ha knipit!!!
Gud vad trött man blir!!

Min goa söta vän Shalini
kom över i förmiddags och klippte mig.
Hon klippte säkert över 1 dm av bakhåret
och jämnade till min lugg som jag själv hade kapat, hehe
Jag är jättenöjd - Tack gumman!! Mycket hjärtan till dig!!

På Lördag så är Marcus bjuden på Söta Williams födelsedagsfest
på Busborgen i Västerås.
Han har räknat ner dagarna.. lillgubben.
Han längtar ju så.. både efter busborgen och efter Wille
Han är ju lite osynlig den grabben, varannan vecka..

Synd att jag inte har en bil.. skulle behöva en sådan ju.
Jag skulle komma lättare till Västerås (el överallt ju)
och hälsa på min gamla älskade pappa
och min körkortlösa syster Merja
och lika körkortlösa (och slöa) vänner, hehe
och så kunde vi göra lite utflykter hit än dit..
För att inte tala om att det skulle underlätta när jag ska handla.
Ibland så frågar jag faktiskt efter skjuts.. men är lite dålig på det.
Kan själv är mitt motto, hehe (skyll dig själv då gamla skata)

I have Dream!

I have a dream that one day,
down in Koping
all singelparents have a helt new car to use.
one day just there in Koping 3 little boys and one tös
will be able to join morsans fartfyllda cardriving.
Some day... some day my friends..my dream will slå in.

Oh Yeah.. I have i dream...

Hahaha.. fan så dåligt.. jag är verkligen kass
Martin Luther Kings version är kanske ett snäpp bättre
eller vad säger ni?  hehehe

Bäst att avsluta här.. annars så kan det gå hur som helst ju.
Det verkar som om hjärnan inte ha fått så mycket syre på sistone
så den lever sitt egna lilla liv ju, hehe
Ja ni vet.. hostat ut mycket luft men knappt fått in någonting.
Fast egentligen är det ganska nice.. enkelt... hahaha

Nä nu blir det ett avslut..

Ha en trevlig kväll alla!!
sköt om er och varandra..
Använd mycket hjärtan i era ord
och ta djupa andetag så slipper ni mina problem ju, hehe

KramKram!!

Also, I wonder if anyone picked up on Obama's direct reference to the work of MLK. The day of the speech being the 40th anniversary of King's I Have A Dream speech, Obama paraphrased King in his line about Republicans forcing people to pick themeselves up by their own bootstraps, even though they might not have any.

I have a dream - I dare to imagine a world not unlike that described by John Lennon. I imagine an international welfare system, providing the basic needs of life, to all, free of charge, as a right.

I look to the creation of the British Welfare State in 1945, following the Beverage report of 1942. The subsequent National Insurance Act and National Health Service Act.

This was created to tackle the horrors of late Victorian Britain and has been under attack ever since by those opposed to any form of social cooperation, or socialism. The most sustained attack came in the 1980's when the right wing government of Thatcher weakened the welfare system, privatised the essentials of human life (for profit) and encouraged corporate provision of basic services (for profit). Privatisation extended well beyond the utilities of water and energy (remember the attack on the coal miners?) to the privatisation of housing. We now call it a housing market - how easily we fall into line?

In 1914 90% of dwellings in Britain were privately rented. In 1993 70% of dwellings were privately 'owned' (with debt to banks). Thatcher also attacked the welfare state by limiting children's access to free school meals and ending free milk. She is also known for the introduction of aerated ice-cream. Yes, bulking ice-cream out with air. That seems to typify her economic policies - create a profit margin, thus a surplus for private gain. Never the provision of quality but instead the creation of winners and losers, capitalists and consumers, with a profit skimmed off.

Those of you who ideologically rally to the right wing call of unregulated market economics think of the time you spend trying to contact your bank by phone, the hours spent listening to recorded messages, the rise in your gas bills, the need to boil your water and the ludicrous mess that is our train 'network'. Think of your mortgage rising and your blood pressure. Think of houses that will fall down before you do, of equipment that fails before the warranty is up. What about your health? Is this the best we can get? What about the 'quality' - the quality of life? I'm not talking of the past but of my dream for the future!

My dream - is to take the principle of the welfare state and apply it globally - to everyone, irrespective of race, religion, age, health, ability to pay or even if they want it or not.

Clean drinking water, basic food, shelter, access to basic healthcare. Clean air too.

This paid for by all of us, the wealthy, through taxation, via international organisations (such as a true United Nations). Not hand outs for doing nothing, not dependency upon benefits and grants but a simple safety net and thus the ability to function as human beings, to work, create and supply.

There are those who say we cannot afford it. These are the same as the Victorian gentlemen (gentle?) who praised work houses, asylums, exploitation of foreign people and resources. The same as those who draped in fine clothes, jewels and fine perfume step over the poor, destitute and depressed begging in the street. The same as those who looked upon people with different skin colour as either slaves or vermin.

We, in this country, have moved on from those dark days of extreme wealth and extreme poverty - largely thanks to Lloyd George and Beverage - yet the threat of slipping back into those times is returning as the beast of corporate greed prowls the globe, cloaked in media beautification and advertising. The gap between rich and poor is widening - not just globally but in our own country. Some think this is good. How sick is that? They'll have us building famine walls across the land before see us healthy.

We can afford a global human dignity. We can afford an International Welfare System. We can eradicate the gross disparity in living conditions, quality of life, life expectancy, health. Oh yes, we can do this. We will have to change but we can do it. In the past our wealth was extracted from the poorer regions of the Empire on the backs of slaves, serfs and the murdered (to put it bluntly). What is stopping us is the myth that it cannot be done (quickly), that we would all be living in squalor and, the worst reason of all, that a lot of people do not care. A few even actively encourage an economic system that keeps themselves segregated in their opulent wealth, estates, gated communities and secure palaces. We sit in our safe countries detached from real suffering, safe behind our passports, immigration officials and border guards.

We rich get fat, depressed, bored and stressed. The poor get sick, starve, terrified or killed. The proof that the present system isn't working is all around us. Life is, for most of us, not all that good. We turn to drugs, religion or suicide as ways to cope. We block it out, have a drink, watch TV, take anti-depressants, focus on any distraction we can to deny the truth. We are not as well as we could be.

The signs are it is going to get much worse: Global warming, energy crisis, food supplies, population increase, pollution, loss of drinkable water, debt, ill health. Oh stop! However, these are issues that will not, cannot go away. There is no magic wand, no caring super power (god), no alternate universe. We are up against the wall with nowhere to hide. So either we do something about it and make life better or we just numb our heads and give up. As you are reading this (as opposed to being off your head or dead) I guess you are not really the "bury your head and ignore it" sort of person.

So, lets have a Beverage Report for the 21st century, for our problems of today, for the people around us and the place we live. 60 years ago the National Health Service changed life in Britain. Not everyone believed in it, just as some prefer the 'ways' in the US today. They are a small minority. The majority want a safer, securer, healthier and fairer future - and we know, in our hearts that it might just be us who needs help in the future - so better help everyone and be a good Samaritan. It also makes us feel better helping others.

Life today is better than those men of Victorian Britain knew - so too could our future be better than today!

Imagine ... and then make it happen.

This topic is the marginalized identity of the 5th year. 

It's been in the back of my mind at least since my 1st year at Berkeley, when I would ask older folk at some Senior Showcase, "Yo, who's that mysterious guy over there playing that guitar like he's the only one in the room?"

"Fool, he's a 5th year." One-two-three-four-fiiiifth.

I've had 2 days of class to feel this out. Given my experience, I'm pretty adept at keeping a low profile with the newly renovated Mach 5. I've made an effort try out new routes and park at new places just to shake shit up. Even if I have to go through Sproul and park once again at Eshleman just so I could have that good ass rosemary chicken sandwich for lunch, having hands occupied with handlebars leaves none free to take your dumb flyer. (Not like I would've been offered one anyway. It's like I have a 5th year scent. Or maybe it's more of a musk.) In addition, I've finally been given the privilege of having class at Haas and Wurster for the first time, and it feels pretty good to come into it with no expectations of finding people you know, or that pervading jaded feeling that you know exactly what's going down with the rest of the semester given 3 years in an engineering curriculum. It's weird being able to stay awake for one of them 80-minute lectures because you were sincerely interested in the topic and were already calculating ways they relate to your own research. 

Given that, it kinda sucks to have it come down to me finding out there are only four boxes to check off in a course questionnaire. I almost wanted to draw a half-box, or maybe protest the under-representation of appropriate check boxes in course questionnaires. One day justice will be ours.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I do feel somewhat weird given the luxury of an extra semester, and for the most part, my peers do feel the same way. I would account it largely to the real-world-Eye-of-Sauron gazing upon us so menacingly, as if implying if we don't find what we want to do quick, orcs will pillage my apartment looking for my Capital One card.

I've been used to letting the world pass by like I was in line for something I don't necessarily want to do right now and I keep letting people behind me go ahead. This time I'm getting used to shaking my fist and getting what I want. The lady at the Berkeley Bowl express line didn't like that too much though.

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!"

Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963

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Distribution statement: Accepted as part of the Douglass Archives of American Public Address (http://douglass.speech.nwu.edu) on May 26, 1999. Prepared by D. Oetting (http://nonce.com/oetting).

Permission is hereby granted to download, reprint, and/or otherwise redistribute this file, provided this distribution statement is included and appropriate point of origin credit is given to the preparer and Douglass.