Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Quote

"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!'"

by:	Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) US civil rights leader
Source:	Speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. http://libertytree.ca/docs/FreeAtLast
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Categories:	Civil Rights, Courage, Faith, Freedom, God, Happiness, Liberty, Love, Non-Violence, Peace, Prosperity, Responsibility, Tolerance, Black, Children
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Reader comments about this quote:

It's a classic quote, but Rev. Archibald Carey, Jr. said it first in 1952 at the Republican National Convention. -- E Archer, NYC
-- Anonymous
To thank God Almighty for being free gets 5 stars. The burgeoning statist theocracy that Rev. King was embroiled with has bloomed in tyranny and gets a thumbs down for freedom lost. Beyond this sound bite, the whole speech carried a good message and was meaningful. -- Mike, Norwalk
I still wonder if a person can be a man of god and a politition. -- cal, lewisville, tx
The so called "statist theocracy" that Mike refers to is perhaps the same one that stopped on the racist, nazi like parts of society that were and are always ready to stomp on our rights. You can call enforcng the law of the land "statist theocracy" if you will some others may choose to call it freedom. -- Waffler, Smith
I agree with Mike and add that the quote does identify the exact requirements that would establish freedom for all, -- Anon
We really ought to try letting freedom ring someday. You know, like being able to say any hate filled thing some fool might want to say with the only consequence being public derision, not government sanction. You know, like a private business being able to operate in any foolish fashion it might want to such as refusing to hire a particular group which may actually give it a competitive edge, without government coercion. Public ridicule stops racists and Nazi's more effectively than oppressive government action. -- Ken, Allyn, WA
Rid yourself of these baseless titles of God's children, black men and white men, Jew and Gentile, Protestant and Catholic, and you will recognize true responsibility and then and only then, can you become free. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown 1
Sillik, your childish / prideful ignorance of nature’s law, science, truth and human nature / nobility of man is staggering while being beyond belief, if not for the reality thereof. What is your shallow misdirection / off topic fog that concerns the titles of God’s children and their individual sovereignty. Without an author or progenitor of ethics, morals, responsibility, right and wrong - the void / vacuum that is atheism has NO claim on such. Your claim to socialism’s right / wrong / morals / responsibility does not - can not distinguish between Marx, Mao, Mussolini, Hitler, Jesus, Gandhi or Mother Teresa. FYI, I cut and pasted this from Logan’s post the other day - it works really well: Moral code originated with a belief in God. Otherwise, we're nothing more or less than animals in this world acting on mere insticnt. Is it wrong for a lion or tiger to kill? We would say no. Then, if there be no God, there is no right or wrong, because who is to say what is right or wrong? Murder is simply a means of survival (natural selection). Right or wrong is only a matter of opinion, originated by one man or another, and can be changed just as easily as it was originated, unless there is a God. The only absolute, if there is no God, is that there are no absolutes. It's simply impossible. Why is violence wrong? Violence is simply an application of the law of the survival of the fitest and means of self promotion, if there be no God. In such case, Hitler should be praised for his ability to survive. -- Mike, Norwalk 1
I can't forget to explain, as always, to the negative minded mentally ill, don't stop being men, just stop being color coded. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown
Be men, not black or white, be simply men. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown
Sillik, please explain to those of us (those of the negative minded mentally ill), what does being men mean? Please don't use religious terms or concepts (as would be God endowed or related); OR, your normal circular word salad that doesn't mean anything or an empty NONdefinitive non sequitur. Please use a more tangible definition — by example: a physically matured bipedal primate mammal (a specific / limited specie of homo sapiens) with unique XY chromosomes. -- Mike, Norwalk
Sillik, by religious terms or concepts (as would be God endowed or related — as illustrated above) I mean, don't employ abstracts such as: ethics, morals, responsibility, right and wrong in your definition of what men are / a man is. -- Mike, Norwalk
Mr Mike Norwalk, good to make written contact with you once again. Men face reality, when they have $33 trillion debt to the world they don't talk about how many yards Tom Brady tossed the football. But that's all you're gonna hear from your mentally ill President Biden. Me, I want to discuss this predicament and find a solution to it, but in the world of the mentally ill like you, you tell me it doesn't exist. I say it exists and there's an solution. Gross domestic production can be raised substantially and reverse the current trend from a loss direction to a gain direction. Balance the debt budget constraints, you balance your budget, and you balance your mind, and I won't call you mentally ill anymore. I will than make claim to your mental health. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown 1
Sillik, hahaha / LOLOLOL — once again I lower my shaking head while in a state of almost uncontrollable guffaw. WHAT ? ? ? Being the socialist that you are, you just can't keep on subject or string together a coherent chain of facts or truth. I ask you what a man is and you try and answer with: "men face reality". What distinguishes between men and women that face reality? OK, in your Sillik alternate universe, since you are not a man, does "socialist" have some sex or gender connotation I'm not aware of? As to your example, are you saying only men toss balls? In the real world of math, science, fiscal laws and of the mentally healthy, the $33 trillion debt you reference can NOT ! ! ! be extinguished completely through constraints, budget balancing or production increase. Once again I'll give a very terse explanation. The Federal Reserve Corporation lends debt that it creates out of nihility with interest. With out going into to much economics that you don't understand anyway; JUST to pay the interest off, more debt with interest must be encumbered. A good simile here is trying to dig your way out of a hole — the hole only gets bigger. -- Mike, Norwalk
Yah, Mr Mike Norwalk, I think I have to stick with my example, men, as well as women, face reality. Men or women don't play football, baseball, basketball, hockey, etc. Men or women are also not concerned with winning Oscars. But these "subjects" are all that are discussed by the contemporary conventional individuals. Men and women concern themselves with building a civilized, life promoting environment, hence my interest in Socialism. Socialism means understanding our true social feelings is the start to understanding our purpose in the life process. The social responsible individual is the most beneficial and advanced organism that the challenging life force offers to existence. Resource allocation must be prioritized at this time and can't be emphasized enough.. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown
I love this speech. I am sad that we have so many who want to destroy the nation with division and communism. Hopefully, we will see this pendulum begin to swing back to a more virtuous humanity in 2024. I will pray for that and the naysayers. -- Abby 1

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