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Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his famed ‘I have a dream speech
On August 28, 1963, from the marble steps of the hallowed Lincoln Memorial, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Over 250,000 civil rights supporters heard his rousing message. Now a hallmark of U.S. history, this oration would prove to be a major turning point for the American Civil Rights movement.
What you may not know is, MLK went off-script near the end of the oration, partially improvising the enduring phrase “I have a dream…” Masterfully weaving references to ‘sacred touchstones’ such as the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation, MLK helped shape a brighter future for African Americans in a matter of minutes.
The Zero Theft Movement, in our own fight against the rigged layer of the economy, views MLK as an exemplary model for effecting nationwide change. In this article, we will present to you 15 of our favorite quotes from his “I Have a Dream” speech.
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“I Have A Dream” Speech Quotes
- “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.”
- “One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.”
- “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.”
Martin Luther King Jr. waves to the 250,000+ civil rights supporters in attendance
- “Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
- “This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.”
- “The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.”
- “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.”
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9. “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”
10. “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.”
11. “We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”
12. “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.”
Leaders of the March on Washington meet with the 35th President of the U.S. John F. Kennedy
13. “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.”
14. “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.”
15. “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!”
King sought to achieve economic justice for all Americans. Through slavery, redlining, wage discrimination, and much more, the Black community have bore serious economic injustices. The U.S. economy was rigged against them, but we might have an even bigger economic problem on our hands…
Fight the Rigged Layer of the Economy with the Zero Theft Movement
Thank you to Martin Luther King for his powerful and poetic speech and all his work to forge a better future for humanity. Nevertheless, much work remains.
We at the Zero Theft Movement have focused our efforts on eradicating the rigged layer of the economy. Crony capitalists have fixed the system against much of the public throughout world history. African American slavery and the Jim Crow era enabled the white business owners to keep both the black people and the working class down. Beyond the well-known disenfranchisement of African Americans, the aristocracy managed to suppress wages by using racist propaganda. They gave the working class a scapegoat to hate, an ‘inferior’ that they had it better than.
The rigged layer of the economy remains a major, unethical part of our system. Potentially ripping off trillions from the public, crony capitalists hire lobbyists who then corrupt lawmakers. This is regulatory capture and has established the U.S. as a corporatocracy. We are not the democracy politicians often tout.
By exposing the bad actors, we, the public, will benefit from higher wages across the board, markets that involve genuine competition for our business, and a government that legislates based on our interests rather than moneyed interests.
We can achieve this, but we need you to join our movement for an ethical economy.
How YOU can Help
We will eradicate the rigged layer of the economy primarily through the Public’s Total Theft Report.
Through our platform, each and every one of you can propose and vote on reports of potential rigged economy theft. Many of these reports are detailed, comprehensive investigations diving deep into a particular instance or economic sector.
Taking the top-rated proposals from each area, we calculate an accurate estimate for the total amount stolen via the rigged economy. This report we collectively produce serves as strong evidence to prove theft is occurring. Preceding movements have failed because they lacked the kind of evidence we all can collect.
All it takes is twenty minutes a day, to play your part by reviewing and voting on a report.
Free Educational Content
Only through solid education can we truly see the extent of the damage the rigged layer of the economy has caused. That is why we regularly publish educational content on Zerotheft.net that teaches you all about how you’re getting ripped off, in small easily digestible chunks.
Standard Disclaimer
The ZeroTheft Movement does not have any interest in partisan politics/competition or attacking/defending one side. We seek to eradicate theft from the U.S economy. In other words, how the wealthy and powerful rig the system to steal money from us, the everyday citizen. We need to collectively fight against crony capitalism in order for us to all profit from an ethical economy.
Terms like ‘steal,’ ‘theft,’ and ‘crime’ will frequently appear throughout the article. ZeroTheft will NOT adhere strictly to the legal definitions of these terms (since congress sells out). We have broadly and openly defined terms like ‘steal’ and ‘theft’ to refer to the rigged economy and other debated unethical acts that can cause citizens to lose out on money they deserve to keep.