Pride poem by dahlia ravikovitch

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greates•t demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five ~core years ago a great American in whose sym­ holic shado·w we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momen:tous cleeree is a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slave·s who had been ~e.arrd in the flames o[ withering injushcc. It came as a joyous daybre,ak to end the long night of their captivity. But 100 years late.rial prospc·rity. Out> hundred years later the ~egro is still larugui~hed iu the comer~s o.f Ame·rican ~oci. ety and find;:; himself in exile in his own land. So wo '''<' come hf'rP torlay to r1r.amatize a s,hameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a eheck. Whrn the a. reb it ects of our Re:publie wrote the magnificent. wonls of the Constitution a.nd the Declaration o1 Independence, they we·re signing· a promiss'Clr citi7.ens of co.Jo,r arr concP:rned. Instead of

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honoring ih1s sacn'd ohli,gation, America ha.s given the Nngro p0ople a bad check, a check which has come back marked ''insufficient fn nds.''

But we refus.e to helieve that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We rp.fnse to belie\·~~ t.ha.t there are insufficient fuwls in the grea.t vaults of opportunity orf this nation. So we've come to cash this check, a check that will give ns upon oemand the rirhes of freedom and the s·ecurity of justice.

\Ve haYe a.bo come to this hallowed spot to remind Ame.rica of the fipJ·ce urgency of now. 'l'hi:-; is no time to l'llgagc in the luxury of cooling off or to t.ake the tran­ quilizing dmg of graduali::;m. Now is the time to make real the promi~r·s of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark nnll clrsolate valley of segregation to the ,.unlit path of racial justi<·P. Now is the time to li.ft our uation from the quicksands of raeial injustice to the solid r()ek of brotherhood.

Xow is t.he time to mak0 justice a reality for all of God's children. It would be fatal for the nation to over­ look the urgency of the moment. This swelt.ering summer of the i\eg:ro's legitimate disconte.nt. will not pass until there is .an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality -1963 is not an (md but a beginning. Tho>se who hope that tl1e X egro needed to hlow off steam and will now be l'Olltent will ha\·e a ruoP awakening if the na:tion return1'1 to bu,;ine~;.; as usua.I.

'l'here will be 11eitht'T rest nor tranquility in Ame.rica until the Negro i~ granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the founda­ tions of onr nation until the bright days of justice emerge.

(Copyright 101i3, MARTI:-< Lt:THFR KIKc , JR.)

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And that is something that I mus.t say to my pBople who ~tand o.n the worn threshold whieh leads into the palace of justice. In the proce ss of gaining our rightful place we must not he guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not "eek to sati:sfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of biMe·n:le·s,s a.nd hatred.

\Ve must forever conduct our s.truggle on the high plane of dignity and diseiplin e. \Ye must not allow our crea­ tive protests to degen e·rate into physical violence. Again and again we mus t ri se to the maje,stic heights of meding physical fo.rce wi.th soul for-ce. rl'he marvelous new mili­ tancy whi-ch has cn.gulfE>d the Negro community must not lead us to distrust all white people, for many o[ our white hrotlwrs, as evidcncc•J by the·ir prese.nce here today, have eome to realize tha.t th eir destiny is tied up with our de~tiny.

They have come to re.alize that their freedom is in­ extt·ieably hound t.o o~1r fre.room. \\'e cannot walk alone. And as we walk we must make the pledge t~hat we shall always march ahcarl We cannot turn hack. There are those who are .asking the rlevotee·s of civil rights, "When will you be sa.t.isfied 1'' \Ve can never be satisfied as l

\\! e c.an never be satisfied as long as our bodie,s, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.

\Ve cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a Larger one. We <·an never be satis:fie

( Copyright 1963. :\:fAR TI!\' L UTHF.R KING, JR.)

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We oannot be satisfied 3lS long as the Negro in Mis­ sissippi cannot vote and the Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.