第一篇:馬丁路德金的演講詞
馬丁路德金的演講
英文:
I have a dream
That one day on the red hills of Georgia,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, and this is the faith that I go back to the South w
ith.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 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, 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!
中文:
我有一個夢想,有一天在佐治亞洲的紅色山崗上,昔日奴隸的兒子能夠同昔日奴隸主的兒子同席而坐、親如手足。
我有一個夢想,有一天,即便是密西西比州,一個被非正義和壓迫的熱浪所席卷的荒漠之州,也會改造成為自由和公正的青春綠洲。
我有一個夢想,我的四個兒女將生活在一個不是以皮膚的顏色,而是以品格的優劣作為評判標準的國家。
今天,我懷有一個夢想,我夢想有一天亞拉巴馬州邪惡的奴隸制度會有所改變。盡管該州州長現在仍滔滔不絕地說,要對聯邦法令提出異議和拒絕執行。
有一天,在那里,黑人兒童能夠和白人兒童攜手并行,如同兄弟姐妹般。
今天,我懷有一個夢想,我夢想有一天深谷彌合、高山夷平、歧路化坦途、曲徑成通衢,上帝光華再現,普天下生靈共謁。
這是我們的希望,這是我將帶回南方的信念。有了這個信念,我們就能從絕望之山采出希望之石;有了這個信念,我們就能把這個國家嘈雜刺耳的爭吵聲變為充滿手足之情的悅耳交響曲;有了這個信念,我們就能一同工作、一同祈禱、一同斗爭、一同入獄、一同維護自由。因為我們知道,終有一天我們會獲得自由,到了這一天,到了這一天,上帝的所有孩子,都能以新的含義高唱這首歌:
我的祖國,可愛的自由之邦,我為您歌唱,這里是我的祖先終老的地方;這里是早期移民自豪的地方。讓自由之聲響徹每一座山崗。
如果美國要成為偉大的國家,這一點必須實現。因此,讓自由之聲響徹新罕布什爾州的巍峨高峰,讓自由之聲響徹紐約州的崇山峻嶺!
讓自由之聲響徹賓夕法尼亞州的阿利根尼山!
讓自由之聲響徹科羅拉多州白雪皚皚的落基山!
讓自由之聲響徹加利福尼亞州的婀娜群峰!
不僅如此,讓自由之聲響徹佐治亞州的石山!
讓自由之聲響徹田納西州的望山!
讓自由之聲響徹密西西比州的一座座山峰一個個土丘!
讓自由之聲響徹每一個山崗!
當這一天到來、當我們讓自由之聲轟響,當我們讓自由之聲響徹每一個大村小莊、每一個州府城鎮,我們就能加速這一天的到來。那時,上帝的所有孩子、黑人和白人、猶太教徒和非猶太教徒、耶穌教徒和天主教徒,將能攜手同唱那首古老的黑人靈歌:
“終于自由了!終于自由了!感謝全能的上帝,我們終于自由了!”
第二篇:布什紀念馬丁路德金的演講詞
布什紀念馬丁路德金的演講詞
President Bush Honors Martin Luther King
Thank you, all.Thank you.Now I understand--now I understand why a Hechinger warehouse--(laughter and applause)--can become a center of love and compassion and fire.(Applause.)I am honored, Laura and I are honored that you would invite us and our friends, the Governor and the First Lady and the Lieutenant Governor and his lovely wife, to come and celebrate a great American
.We're honored to be in the midst of a social entrepreneur--(applause)--whose guidebook for entrepreneurship to help others is the Bible.(Applause.)I want to thank the members of the church, the leaders of the church and those who are in charge of the ministries of the church for sharing with us the good works of this church.It is fitting that we honor Martin Luther King in a church.Because, Gregory, I believe, like you, that the power of his words, the clarity of his vision, the courage of his leadership occurred because he put his faith in the Almighty.It is fitting that we honor the life of a great American in a church who derived his inspiration from the church.It is fitting that we honor this great American in a church because, out of the church comes the notion of equality and justice.(Applause.)And even though progress has been made, Pastor--even though progress has been made, there is more to do.There are still people in our society who hurt.There is still prejudice holding people back.There is still a
school system that doesn't elevate every child so they can learn.(Applause.)There is still a need for us to hear the words of Martin Luther King, to make sure the hope of America extends its reach into every neighborhood across this land.!
So it's fitting we're here in a church that has got ministries aimed at healing those who hurt, and fighting addiction and promoting love and families.It is fitting we meet here in a church because in this society, we must understand government can help, government can write checks--but it cannot put hope in people's hearts or a sense of purpose in people's lives.(Applause.)
And so as we remember the dream of Martin Luther King and remember his clear vision for a society that's equal and a society full of justice, this society must remember the power of faith.This government of yours must welcome faith, not discriminate faith, as we deal with the future of this great country.(Applause.)hl
And so, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for having Laura and me.Thank you for allowing us to worship with you.Thank you for opening up our hearts to the glorious word.May God bless you all.May God bless the legacy of Martin Luther King.And may God bless all Americans on this special day.Thank you, Pastor.
第三篇:馬丁路德金演講稿
August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.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 one hundred 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 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, 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 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 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 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 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 ever 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 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 the storms of persecutions 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.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 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 down 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.
第四篇:馬丁路德金演講稿
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greapest demonstration for freedom in the `istory of our nation.Five score years ago, a great American, in wh/se 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 one hundred years later, the N%gro 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 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 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.And 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.And 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 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.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 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.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 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, and 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.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 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, 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!
第五篇:馬丁路德金演講
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 one hundred 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 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 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.And 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.And 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 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.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 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.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 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, and 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.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 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, 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!