martin luther king jr i have a dream speech quotes

And as we stand on the threshold of the second half of the twentieth century, a crisis confronts us both. The duality of interests of labor and Negroes makes any crisis which lacerates you a crisis from which we bleed. That is why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature, spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth. That is why Negroes support labor’s demands and fight laws which curb labor.

Our needs are identical with labor’s needs: decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old-age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children, and respect in the community. There are pitifully few Negro millionaires and few Negro employers. Negroes are almost entirely a working people. This unity of purpose is not an historical coincidence. This month, we look back at a speech King gave to the Fourth Constitutional Convention of the AFL-CIO in December 1961. Less is known about predecessors to that speech. The speech is one of the most famous and inspiring speeches of all time, and with good reason.

Many of us memorized parts of it while in school. “A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few.”Ĭivil rights leader Martin Luther King is perhaps best known for his iconic 1963 I Have a Dream speech.

Martin luther king jr i have a dream speech quotes