The United Methodist Church in the USA
confession to native americans
WHEREAS, the gospel calls us to celebrate and protect the worth and dignity of all peoples; and
WHEREAS, the Christian churches, including The United Methodist Church and its predecessors, have participated in the destruction of Native American people, culture, and religious practices; and
WHEREAS, the churches of this country have not sufficiently confessed their complicity in this evil; and
WHEREAS, the churches have been blessed by having members who are Native Americans as well as by engaging in dialogue with Native Americans who practice their traditional religions; and
WHEREAS, confession of our guilt is a first step toward the wholeness that the churches seek through the ecumenical movement;
Therefore, be it resolved, that the United Methodist General Conference confesses that The United Methodist Church (and its predecessor bodies) has sinned and continues to sin against its Native American brothers and sisters and offers this formal apology for its participation, intended and unintended, in the violent colonization of their land; and
Be it further resolved, that The United Methodist Church pledges its support and assistance in upholding the American Indian Religious Freedom Acts (P.L. 95-134, 1978) and within that legal precedent affirms the following:
1. the rights of the native peoples to practice and participate in traditional ceremonies and rituals with the same protection offered all religions under the Constitution of the United States of America;
2. access to and protection of sacred sites and public lands for ceremonial purposes; and
3. the use of religious symbols (feathers, tobacco, sweet grass, bones, and so forth) for use in traditional ceremonies and rituals.
Be it further resolved, that the General Conference recommends that local churches develop similar statements of confession as a way of fostering a deep sense of community with Native Americans and encourages the members of our Church to stand in solidarity on these important religious issues and to provide mediation when appropriate for ongoing negotiations with state and federal agencies regarding these matters.
Adopted 1992
See Social Principles, § 66; “American Indian Religious Freedom Act”; “Native American History and Contemporary Culture as Related to Effective Church Participation”; “Comity Agreements Affecting Development of Native American Ministries by The United Methodist Church”; “The United Methodist Church and America’s Native People.”
A Charter for Racial Justice Policies in an Interdependent Global Community
Racism is the belief that one race is innately superior to all other races. In the United States, this belief has justified the conquest, enslavement, and evangelizing of non-Europeans. During the early history of this country, Europeans assumed that their civilization and religion were innately superior to those of both the original inhabitants of the United States and the Africans who were forcibly brought to these shores to be slaves. The myth of European superiority persisted and persists. Other people who came and who are still coming to the United States, by choice or by force, encountered and encounter racism. Some of these people are the Chinese who built the railroads as indentured workers; the Mexicans whose lands were annexed; the Puerto Ricans, the Cubans, the Hawaiians, and the Eskimos who were colonized; and the Filipinos, the Jamaicans, and the Haitians who lived on starvation wages as farm workers.
In principle, the United States has outlawed racial discrimination; but in practice, little has changed. Social, economic, and political institutions still discriminate, although some institutions have amended their behavior by eliminating obvious discriminatory practices and choosing their language carefully. The institutional church, despite sporadic attempts to the contrary, also still discriminates.
The damage of years of exploitation has not been erased. A system designed to meet the needs of one segment of the population cannot be the means to the development of a just society for all. The racist system in the United States today perpetuates the power and control of those of European ancestry. It is often called “white racism.” The fruits of racism are prejudice, bigotry, discrimination, and dehumanization. Consistently, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders have been humiliated by being given inferior jobs, housing, education, medical services, transportation, and public accommodation. With hopes deferred and rights still denied, the deprived and oppressed fall prey to a colonial mentality that acquiesces to the inequities, occasionally with religious rationalization.
Racist presuppositions have been implicit in U.S. attitudes and policies toward Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. While proclaiming democracy, freedom, and independence, the U.S. has been an ally and an accomplice to perpetuating inequality of the races and colonialism throughout the world. The history of The United Methodist Church and the history of the United States are intertwined. The “mission enterprise” of the churches in the United States and “Westernization” went hand in hand, sustaining a belief in their superiority.
We are conscious that “we have sinned as our ancestors did;/we have been wicked and evil” (Psalm 106:6, Today’s English Version). We are called for a renewed commitment to the elimination of institutional racism. We affirm the 1976 General Conference Statement on The United Methodist Church and Race, which states unequivocally: “By biblical and theological precept, by the law of the Church, by General Conference pronouncement, and by Episcopal expression, the matter is clear. With respect to race, the aim of The United Methodist Church is nothing less than an inclusive church in an inclusive society. The United Methodist Church, therefore, calls upon all its people to perform those faithful deeds of love and justice in both the church and community that will bring this aim into reality.”
Because we believe:
1. that God is the Creator of all people and all are God’s children in one family;
2. that racism is a rejection of the teachings of Jesus Christ;
3. that racism denies the redemption and reconciliation of Jesus Christ;
4. that racism robs all human beings of their wholeness and is used as a justification for social, economic, and political exploitation;
5. that we must declare before God and before one another that we have sinned against our sisters and brothers of other races in thought, in word, and in deed;
6. that in our common humanity in creation all women and men are made in God’s image and all persons are equally valuable in the sight of God;
7. that our strength lies in our racial and cultural diversity and that we must work toward a world in which each person’s value is respected and nurtured; and
8. that our struggle for justice must be based on new attitudes, new understandings, and new relationships and must be reflected in the laws, policies, structures, and practices of both church and state.
We commit ourselves as individuals and as a community to follow Jesus Christ in word and in deed and to struggle for the rights and the self-determination of every person and group of persons. Therefore, as United Methodists in every place across the land, we will unite our efforts within The United Methodist Church:
1. To eliminate all forms of institutional racism in the total ministry of the Church, giving special attention to those institutions that we support, beginning with their employment policies, purchasing practices, and availability of services and facilities;
2. To create opportunities in local churches to deal honestly with the existing racist attitudes and social distance between members, deepening the Christian commitment to be the Church where all racial groups and economic classes come together;
3. To increase efforts to recruit people of all races into the membership of The United Methodist Church and provide leadership-development opportunities without discrimination;
4. To create workshops and seminars in local churches to study, understand, and appreciate the historical and cultural contributions of each race to the Church and community;
5. To increase local churches’ awareness of the continuing needs for equal education, housing, employment, and medical care for all members of the community and to create opportunities to work for these things across racial lines;
6. To work for the development and implementation of national and international policies to protect the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of all people such as through support for the ratification of United Nations covenants on human rights;
7. To support and participate in the worldwide struggle for liberation in church and community; and
8. To support nomination and election processes that include all racial groups employing a quota system until the time that our voluntary performance makes such practice unnecessary.
Adopted 1980
See Social Principles, § 66A; “Global Racism”; “Elimination of Racism in The United Methodist Church”; “Racial Harassment”; and a number of other resolutions in “The Social Community” dealing with aspects of racial justice.
The United Methodist Church and America’s Native People
Most white Americans are isolated from the issues of justice for the United States’ native people by the lapse of time, the remoteness of reservations or native territories and the comparative invisibility of natives in the urban setting, the distortions in historical accounts, and the accumulation of prejudices. Now is the time for a new beginning, and The United Methodist Church calls its members to pray and work for that new day in relationship between native peoples, other minorities, and white Americans.
The United States has been forced to become more sharply aware and keenly conscious of the destructive impact of the unjust acts and injurious policies of the United States government upon the lives and culture of U.S. American Indians, Alaskan natives, and Hawaiian natives. In the past, the white majority population was allowed to forget or excuse the wrongs that were done to the indigenous peoples of this land. Today, U.S. American Indian and Alaskan and Hawaiian natives are speaking with a new and more unified voice, causing both the government and the American people to reexamine the actions of the past and to assume responsibility for the conditions of the present.
A clear appeal is being made for a fresh and reliable expression of justice. The call is being made for a new recognition of the unique rights that were guaranteed in perpetuity of U.S. American Indians by the treaties and legal agreements that were solemnly signed by official representatives of the United States government. A plea is being raised regarding the disruption of Alaskan and Hawaiian natives who were not granted the legal agreements protecting their culture and land base.
The time has come for the American people to be delivered from beliefs that gave support to the false promises and faulty policies that prevailed in the relations of the United States government with the United States of America’s native peoples. These beliefs asserted that:
1. White Europeans who came to this continent were ordained by God to possess its land and utilize its resources;
2. Natives were not good stewards of the environment, permitting nature to lie in waste as they roamed from place to place, living off the land;
3. The growing white population tamed nature and subdued the natives and thus gave truth to the assumption that the white race is superior;
4. The forceful displacement of the natives was a necessary and justifiable step in the development of a free land and a new country;
5. The white explorers and pioneers brought civilization to the natives and generously bestowed upon them a higher and better way of life.
Rarely are these beliefs now so blatantly set forth, yet they are subtly assumed and furnish the continuing foundation upon which unjust and injurious policies of the government are based.
These beliefs, in former times, permitted the government, on the one hand, to seize lands, uproot families, break up tribal communities, and undermine the authority of traditional chiefs. On the other hand, the beliefs enabled the government to readily make and easily break treaties, give military protection to those who encroached on native lands, distribute as “free” land millions of acres of native holdings that the government designated as being “surplus,” and systematically slay those natives who resisted such policies and practices.
In our own time, these beliefs have encouraged the government to:
1. Generally assume the incompetence of natives in the management and investment of their own resources;
2. Give highly favorable leasing arrangements to white mining companies, grain farmers, and cattle ranchers for the use of native lands held in trust by the federal government or historically used as supportive land base;
3. Use job training and other government programs to encourage the relocation of natives from reservations or native territories to urban areas;
4. Utilize government funds in projects that are divisive to the tribal or native membership and through procedures that co-opt native leadership;
5. Extend the control of state government over native nations that are guaranteed federal protection;
6. Terminate federal services and protection to selected native nations and further deny federal recognition to others;
7. Engage in extensive and expensive litigation as a means of delaying and thus nullifying treaty rights and aboriginal land claims;
8. Pay minimal monetary claims for past illegal confiscation of land and other native resources;
9. Lump together United States natives with other racial minorities as a tactic for minimizing the unique rights of native peoples; and
10. Punitively prosecute the native leaders who vigorously challenge the policies of the federal government.
The Church is called to repentance, for it bears a heavy responsibility for spreading false beliefs and for unjust governmental policies and practices. The preaching of the gospel to America’s natives was often a preparation for assimilation into white culture. The evangelizing of the native nations often effected the policies of the government.
The Church has frequently benefited from the distribution of native lands and other resources. The Church often saw the injustices inflicted upon native peoples but gave assent or remained silent, believing that its task was to “convert” the heathen.
The Church is called through the mercy of almighty God to become a channel of the reconciling Spirit of Jesus Christ and an instrument of love and justice in the development of new relations between native nations, other minorities, and whites, in pursuit of the protection of their rights.
The United Methodist Church recognizes that a new national commitment is needed to respect and effect the rights of American Indians and Alaskan and Hawaiian natives to claim their own identities, maintain their cultures, live their lives, and use their resources.
The United Methodist Church expresses its desire and declares its intention to participate in the renewal of the national responsibility to the United States of America’s native people.
The United Methodist Church calls its congregations to study the issues concerning American Indian and Alaskan and Hawaiian native relations with the government of the United States; to develop an understanding of the distinctive cultures and the unique rights of the native people of the United States; to establish close contacts wherever possible with native persons, tribes, and nations; and to furnish support for:
1. The right of native people to live as native people in this country;
2. The right of native people to be self-determining and to make their own decisions related to the use of their lands and the natural resources found on and under them;
3. The right of native people to plan for a future in this nation and to expect a fulfillment of the commitments that have been made previously by the government, as well as equitable treatment of those who were not afforded legal protection for their culture and lands;
4. The right of American Indian nations to exercise the sovereignty of nationhood, consistent with treaty provisions;
5. The right of Alaskan natives to maintain a subsistence land base and aboriginal rights to its natural resources; and
6. The right of native Hawaiians to a just and amicable settlement with the United States through federal legislation related to aboriginal title to Hawaiian lands and their natural resources.
The United Methodist Church especially calls its congregations to support the needs and aspirations of America’s native peoples as they struggle for their survival and the maintenance of the integrity of their culture in a world intent upon their assimilation, Westernization, and absorption of their lands and the termination of their traditional ways of life.
Moreover, we call upon our nation, in recognition of the significant cultural attainments of the native peoples in ecology, conservation, human relations, and other areas of human endeavor, to receive their cultural gifts as part of the emerging new life and culture of our nation.
In directing specific attention to the problems of native peoples in the United States, we do not wish to ignore the plight of native people in many other countries of the world.
Adopted 1980
See Social Principles, § 66A; “Confession to Native Americans”; “Toward a New Beginning Beyond 1992”; “American Indian Religious Freedom Act”; “Native American Representation in The United Methodist Church”; “Rights of Native People of the Americas.”
Kenyans are hard working and determined people. Our major problem has been hegemonic forces which have been beyond the control of common man. However, this situation has been constantly challenged by those variants Kenyans who have sacrificed even their lives to see Kenyan join other self determining nations. This is not a privilege but a God given right.
ALL KENYA ROADS MUST BE MADE ACCESSIBLE
http://www.maniacworld.com/bulldozer-does-a-stoppie.html
W Mugambi Arimi
Life in college can be a lot of fun. While pursuing studies in America, sometime there is that sense of relaxation and sociolization. Life is fun.
NOW YOU ARE TALKING
UK acts tough on shady firms
Story by PAUL REDFERN, NATION Correspondent, London
Publication Date: 03/29/2006
A powerful all-party UK parliamentary group wants London to act immediately against British companies involved with corruption in Africa.
The more than 170-member group's report released today, comes in the wake of massive UK media coverage of the corruption crisis in Kenya.
The emphasis of the report – "The other side of the coin: the role of UK corruption in Africa" – is a three pronged approach calling on the UK government to:
- Rigorously enforce existing laws against international bribery, corruption and money laundering;
- Bring a tough new anti-corruption Bill to parliament before the end of the year;
- Appoint an anti-corruption champion.
Chair of the group, Hugh Bayley says: "Corruption is bleeding Africa to death, and the cost is borne by the poor. The African Union calculates that $148 billion (Sh10.7 trillion) a year is corruptly spirited out of the continent. This is six times what Africa receives in aid.
"Much of the money is banked in Britain or our overseas territories and dependencies and sometimes British citizens or companies are involved in corrupt deals. We want our government to get tough on corruption..."
Mr K. Y. Amoako, former executive secretary to the UN Economic Commission for Africa and a member of the Tony Blair-chaired Commission for Africa says: "This study has proposed very bold actions that, effectively implemented, will make a significant contribution to the fight against corruption – the greatest impediment to investments in Africa.
"I hope it can inspire other countries to examine steps that their governments and citizens can take to tackle the supply side of corruption. While it is the primary responsibility of national governments, regional and civil society in Africa to root out and punish the corruption that damages the continent so badly, it is refreshing and encouraging to see such a candid look at the other side of the coin."
The parliamentary group on Africa decided to carry out an inquiry into corruption and money laundering for four reasons. Firstly, the scale, extent and impact of corruption and related capital flight undoubtedly present a critical obstacle to development in Africa.
Secondly, its 2005 report – "The UK and Africa in 2005: How joined up is Whitehall?" – identified corruption and money laundering as areas which require better policy.
Thirdly, the UK fully endorsed the report of the Commission for Africa which made a number of recommendations on how Western governments can support Africa’s battle against corruption. The UK also chaired the 2005 G8 Summit which committed to take action against graft.
Finally, the issues of corruption and money laundering were raised in consultations with members of the African Diaspora living in the UK.
"The Other Side of the Coin" looks at the responsibility of the UK to combat corruption and money laundering.
It recognises the extent of the problem globally, but focuses on Africa because this is of special interest to the parliamentary group.
Says the report that examines what the UK can do to help African countries fight graft: "(But) we do not excuse corrupt rulers from their ultimate culpability for stealing from their people."
Story by PAUL REDFERN, NATION Correspondent, London
Publication Date: 03/29/2006
A powerful all-party UK parliamentary group wants London to act immediately against British companies involved with corruption in Africa.
The more than 170-member group's report released today, comes in the wake of massive UK media coverage of the corruption crisis in Kenya.
The emphasis of the report – "The other side of the coin: the role of UK corruption in Africa" – is a three pronged approach calling on the UK government to:
- Rigorously enforce existing laws against international bribery, corruption and money laundering;
- Bring a tough new anti-corruption Bill to parliament before the end of the year;
- Appoint an anti-corruption champion.
Chair of the group, Hugh Bayley says: "Corruption is bleeding Africa to death, and the cost is borne by the poor. The African Union calculates that $148 billion (Sh10.7 trillion) a year is corruptly spirited out of the continent. This is six times what Africa receives in aid.
"Much of the money is banked in Britain or our overseas territories and dependencies and sometimes British citizens or companies are involved in corrupt deals. We want our government to get tough on corruption..."
Mr K. Y. Amoako, former executive secretary to the UN Economic Commission for Africa and a member of the Tony Blair-chaired Commission for Africa says: "This study has proposed very bold actions that, effectively implemented, will make a significant contribution to the fight against corruption – the greatest impediment to investments in Africa.
"I hope it can inspire other countries to examine steps that their governments and citizens can take to tackle the supply side of corruption. While it is the primary responsibility of national governments, regional and civil society in Africa to root out and punish the corruption that damages the continent so badly, it is refreshing and encouraging to see such a candid look at the other side of the coin."
The parliamentary group on Africa decided to carry out an inquiry into corruption and money laundering for four reasons. Firstly, the scale, extent and impact of corruption and related capital flight undoubtedly present a critical obstacle to development in Africa.
Secondly, its 2005 report – "The UK and Africa in 2005: How joined up is Whitehall?" – identified corruption and money laundering as areas which require better policy.
Thirdly, the UK fully endorsed the report of the Commission for Africa which made a number of recommendations on how Western governments can support Africa’s battle against corruption. The UK also chaired the 2005 G8 Summit which committed to take action against graft.
Finally, the issues of corruption and money laundering were raised in consultations with members of the African Diaspora living in the UK.
"The Other Side of the Coin" looks at the responsibility of the UK to combat corruption and money laundering.
It recognises the extent of the problem globally, but focuses on Africa because this is of special interest to the parliamentary group.
Says the report that examines what the UK can do to help African countries fight graft: "(But) we do not excuse corrupt rulers from their ultimate culpability for stealing from their people."
LESSONS TO LEARN FROM THE PAST SAGES
"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."
FREEDOM HERO:
DR. MARTIN
LUTHER KING, JR.
"I HAVE A DREAM"
"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 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 is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacle 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 languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land So we have 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 great 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 to the inalienable 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 that 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. So we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is not 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 promise 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 to all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of it's colored citizens. 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. 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 the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.
We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for white only."
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 your 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 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 modern 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, that 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 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; that 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 every mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains 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. This is the faith that I will 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 climb up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one 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 father's 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. So let freedom ring from the 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 every hill and molehill of Mississippi and every mountainside.
And when this happens, when we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement 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 spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
RELATED LINKS
Martin Luther King, Jr. Guestbook: read guestbook entries from other My Hero users from around the world, and input your own entry!
The Washington, DC, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial
The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, is the official, living memorial dedicated to the advancement of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., leader of America’s greatest nonviolent movement for justice, equality and peace.
RECOMMENDED READING
I Have a Dream
by Martin Luther King, Jr., James M. Washington (Editor), James Melvin Washington (Editor), Foreword by Coretta Scott King
Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Robert E. Jakoubek
Martin''s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Doreen Rappaport
The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation
by Drew D. Hansen
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More Featured Freedom Heroes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abraham Lincoln was a U.S president who fought for the abolition of slavery. Angela Davis is a
leader, author, and
professor who has fought for decades
for human rights. Aung San Suu Kyi seeks democracy for Burma. Bill Bradley once a pro-basketball player now is a politician who advocates reform to make America better for all.
CESAR CHAVEZ was a tireless advocate for migrant farm workers. Chief Joseph led the Nez Perce tribe in an effort to keep its homeland. Clara Shortridge Foltz was the first woman to practice law in California. Craig Kielburger
believes kids can
change the world.
Crazy Horse bravely fought for the freedom of the Sioux Nation. Declaration of Human Rights established the basis for human rights beliefs and practices
all over the world. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.
"I Have a Dream" was the civil rights speech that moved the world Eleanor Roosevelt
was a champion for
freedom.
Elizabeth Blackwell opened the first medical school for women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a pioneer in the movement for womens rights. Emmeline Pankhurst fought tirelessly for
women's suffrage,
and succeeded. Frances Ellen Watkins devoted her life to speaking out against slavery.
Fred Korematsu bravely protested the Japanese-American internment. George Washington was the first President of the United States. Harriet Tubman organized the Underground Railroad. Inez Milholland Boissevain : a brief but spectacular life dedicated to women's suffrage.
Inge Sargent is a Burmese princess devoted to human rights for all. Iqbal Masih was
a brave advocate
for child labor laws. James Reeb risked his own life as a brave civil rights crusader. Jane Akre & Steve Wilson won the 2001 Goldman Environmental Prize for their courageous journalism.
Janet Jagan was
the first female
president of
Guyana. Jessie Daniel Ames worked openly and actively on behalf of racial justice. John Adams worked as hard for peace for the United States as he did for its independence. John Lewis has worked for civil rights for all for over 40 years.
Jose Marti is
considered the
father of Cuba's
battle for
independance. Joseph Ki-Zerbo
works to help
Africans retain
control of their
country's agriculture. Judy Feld Carr secretly helped thousands of Jews escape from Syria. Kofi Annan is an honored freedom
hero and an
AIDS activist.
Malcolm Little known as Malcom X, was a warrior in the fight against racism. Marian Wright Edelman is one of the country's leading advocates for children. Martin Luther King, Jr. Peaceful freedom fighter and civil rights activist Mary Harris Jones
worked to free
children from
industrial slavery.
Medgar Wiley Evers
worked to end
racism in America Mohammad Hatta was a central figure in Indonesia's fight for independence. Mohandas K. Gandhi freed India
from British
oppression through
non-violent protest. Morris Seligman Dees is the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Moses led the Jews from slavery and gave them religious laws. Nellie McClung believed in equal rights for all women Nelson Mandela is
a peacemaker and
a freedom hero. Osceola led the Seminoles in their battle for independence.
Paul Revere risked his life for the freedom of the American colonies. Quaid-E-Azam helped to create the nation of Pakistan. RAWA promote women's rights through non-violent action Rev. James Reeb worked for equal rights for all
Robert F. Kennedy was a voice for the powerless and advocate for human rights. Roger Nash Baldwin A pioneer in the struggle for civil justice. Rosa Parks made history when she refused to sit in the back of the bus. Ruby Bridges
bravely led the way
to desegregation
of schools as a
child.
Sir William Wallace was a freedom-fighter for the Scottish people in the early 1300s. Sojourner Truth born into slavery, worked for the freedom of all. Susan B. Anthony led the early Women's Suffrage Movement. The Dalai Lama is
the religious leader
of Tibet and an
emblem of Tibet's
hopes for freedom.
Thomas Jefferson helped the American Colonies achieve independence from Britain. Thurgood Marshall
was the first
African-American
to serve on the
U.S. Supreme Court. Tiananmen Square discuss freedom and democracy at Tian An Min Square. Vaclav Havel despite censorship, wrote plays that helped keep the hope of freedom alive....
W.E.B. Dubois was a leading 19th century writer and scholar.
Last changed on:1/14/2005 12:35:30 PM
angel | animals | artists | business | child | community | earthkeepers |explorers | faith | family | freedom | lifesavers | literary | musician | peacemakers | poets | scientists | sports | teachers | women | writers
Print-Friendly Version
"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."
FREEDOM HERO:
DR. MARTIN
LUTHER KING, JR.
"I HAVE A DREAM"
"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 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 is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacle 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 languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land So we have 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 great 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 to the inalienable 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 that 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. So we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is not 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 promise 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 to all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of it's colored citizens. 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. 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 the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.
We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for white only."
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 your 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 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 modern 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, that 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 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; that 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 every mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains 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. This is the faith that I will 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 climb up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one 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 father's 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. So let freedom ring from the 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 every hill and molehill of Mississippi and every mountainside.
And when this happens, when we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement 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 spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
RELATED LINKS
Martin Luther King, Jr. Guestbook: read guestbook entries from other My Hero users from around the world, and input your own entry!
The Washington, DC, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial
The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, is the official, living memorial dedicated to the advancement of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., leader of America’s greatest nonviolent movement for justice, equality and peace.
RECOMMENDED READING
I Have a Dream
by Martin Luther King, Jr., James M. Washington (Editor), James Melvin Washington (Editor), Foreword by Coretta Scott King
Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Robert E. Jakoubek
Martin''s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Doreen Rappaport
The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation
by Drew D. Hansen
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More Featured Freedom Heroes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abraham Lincoln was a U.S president who fought for the abolition of slavery. Angela Davis is a
leader, author, and
professor who has fought for decades
for human rights. Aung San Suu Kyi seeks democracy for Burma. Bill Bradley once a pro-basketball player now is a politician who advocates reform to make America better for all.
CESAR CHAVEZ was a tireless advocate for migrant farm workers. Chief Joseph led the Nez Perce tribe in an effort to keep its homeland. Clara Shortridge Foltz was the first woman to practice law in California. Craig Kielburger
believes kids can
change the world.
Crazy Horse bravely fought for the freedom of the Sioux Nation. Declaration of Human Rights established the basis for human rights beliefs and practices
all over the world. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.
"I Have a Dream" was the civil rights speech that moved the world Eleanor Roosevelt
was a champion for
freedom.
Elizabeth Blackwell opened the first medical school for women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a pioneer in the movement for womens rights. Emmeline Pankhurst fought tirelessly for
women's suffrage,
and succeeded. Frances Ellen Watkins devoted her life to speaking out against slavery.
Fred Korematsu bravely protested the Japanese-American internment. George Washington was the first President of the United States. Harriet Tubman organized the Underground Railroad. Inez Milholland Boissevain : a brief but spectacular life dedicated to women's suffrage.
Inge Sargent is a Burmese princess devoted to human rights for all. Iqbal Masih was
a brave advocate
for child labor laws. James Reeb risked his own life as a brave civil rights crusader. Jane Akre & Steve Wilson won the 2001 Goldman Environmental Prize for their courageous journalism.
Janet Jagan was
the first female
president of
Guyana. Jessie Daniel Ames worked openly and actively on behalf of racial justice. John Adams worked as hard for peace for the United States as he did for its independence. John Lewis has worked for civil rights for all for over 40 years.
Jose Marti is
considered the
father of Cuba's
battle for
independance. Joseph Ki-Zerbo
works to help
Africans retain
control of their
country's agriculture. Judy Feld Carr secretly helped thousands of Jews escape from Syria. Kofi Annan is an honored freedom
hero and an
AIDS activist.
Malcolm Little known as Malcom X, was a warrior in the fight against racism. Marian Wright Edelman is one of the country's leading advocates for children. Martin Luther King, Jr. Peaceful freedom fighter and civil rights activist Mary Harris Jones
worked to free
children from
industrial slavery.
Medgar Wiley Evers
worked to end
racism in America Mohammad Hatta was a central figure in Indonesia's fight for independence. Mohandas K. Gandhi freed India
from British
oppression through
non-violent protest. Morris Seligman Dees is the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Moses led the Jews from slavery and gave them religious laws. Nellie McClung believed in equal rights for all women Nelson Mandela is
a peacemaker and
a freedom hero. Osceola led the Seminoles in their battle for independence.
Paul Revere risked his life for the freedom of the American colonies. Quaid-E-Azam helped to create the nation of Pakistan. RAWA promote women's rights through non-violent action Rev. James Reeb worked for equal rights for all
Robert F. Kennedy was a voice for the powerless and advocate for human rights. Roger Nash Baldwin A pioneer in the struggle for civil justice. Rosa Parks made history when she refused to sit in the back of the bus. Ruby Bridges
bravely led the way
to desegregation
of schools as a
child.
Sir William Wallace was a freedom-fighter for the Scottish people in the early 1300s. Sojourner Truth born into slavery, worked for the freedom of all. Susan B. Anthony led the early Women's Suffrage Movement. The Dalai Lama is
the religious leader
of Tibet and an
emblem of Tibet's
hopes for freedom.
Thomas Jefferson helped the American Colonies achieve independence from Britain. Thurgood Marshall
was the first
African-American
to serve on the
U.S. Supreme Court. Tiananmen Square discuss freedom and democracy at Tian An Min Square. Vaclav Havel despite censorship, wrote plays that helped keep the hope of freedom alive....
W.E.B. Dubois was a leading 19th century writer and scholar.
Last changed on:1/14/2005 12:35:30 PM
angel | animals | artists | business | child | community | earthkeepers |explorers | faith | family | freedom | lifesavers | literary | musician | peacemakers | poets | scientists | sports | teachers | women | writers
Print-Friendly Version
"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."
FREEDOM HERO:
DR. MARTIN
LUTHER KING, JR.
"I HAVE A DREAM"
"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 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 is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacle 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 languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land So we have 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 great 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 to the inalienable 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 that 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. So we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is not 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 promise 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 to all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of it's colored citizens. 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. 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 the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.
We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for white only."
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 your 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 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 modern 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, that 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 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; that 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 every mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains 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. This is the faith that I will 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 climb up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one 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 father's 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. So let freedom ring from the 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 every hill and molehill of Mississippi and every mountainside.
And when this happens, when we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement 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 spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
RELATED LINKS
Martin Luther King, Jr. Guestbook: read guestbook entries from other My Hero users from around the world, and input your own entry!
The Washington, DC, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial
The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, is the official, living memorial dedicated to the advancement of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., leader of America’s greatest nonviolent movement for justice, equality and peace.
RECOMMENDED READING
I Have a Dream
by Martin Luther King, Jr., James M. Washington (Editor), James Melvin Washington (Editor), Foreword by Coretta Scott King
Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Robert E. Jakoubek
Martin''s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Doreen Rappaport
The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation
by Drew D. Hansen
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More Featured Freedom Heroes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abraham Lincoln was a U.S president who fought for the abolition of slavery. Angela Davis is a
leader, author, and
professor who has fought for decades
for human rights. Aung San Suu Kyi seeks democracy for Burma. Bill Bradley once a pro-basketball player now is a politician who advocates reform to make America better for all.
CESAR CHAVEZ was a tireless advocate for migrant farm workers. Chief Joseph led the Nez Perce tribe in an effort to keep its homeland. Clara Shortridge Foltz was the first woman to practice law in California. Craig Kielburger
believes kids can
change the world.
Crazy Horse bravely fought for the freedom of the Sioux Nation. Declaration of Human Rights established the basis for human rights beliefs and practices
all over the world. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.
"I Have a Dream" was the civil rights speech that moved the world Eleanor Roosevelt
was a champion for
freedom.
Elizabeth Blackwell opened the first medical school for women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a pioneer in the movement for womens rights. Emmeline Pankhurst fought tirelessly for
women's suffrage,
and succeeded. Frances Ellen Watkins devoted her life to speaking out against slavery.
Fred Korematsu bravely protested the Japanese-American internment. George Washington was the first President of the United States. Harriet Tubman organized the Underground Railroad. Inez Milholland Boissevain : a brief but spectacular life dedicated to women's suffrage.
Inge Sargent is a Burmese princess devoted to human rights for all. Iqbal Masih was
a brave advocate
for child labor laws. James Reeb risked his own life as a brave civil rights crusader. Jane Akre & Steve Wilson won the 2001 Goldman Environmental Prize for their courageous journalism.
Janet Jagan was
the first female
president of
Guyana. Jessie Daniel Ames worked openly and actively on behalf of racial justice. John Adams worked as hard for peace for the United States as he did for its independence. John Lewis has worked for civil rights for all for over 40 years.
Jose Marti is
considered the
father of Cuba's
battle for
independance. Joseph Ki-Zerbo
works to help
Africans retain
control of their
country's agriculture. Judy Feld Carr secretly helped thousands of Jews escape from Syria. Kofi Annan is an honored freedom
hero and an
AIDS activist.
Malcolm Little known as Malcom X, was a warrior in the fight against racism. Marian Wright Edelman is one of the country's leading advocates for children. Martin Luther King, Jr. Peaceful freedom fighter and civil rights activist Mary Harris Jones
worked to free
children from
industrial slavery.
Medgar Wiley Evers
worked to end
racism in America Mohammad Hatta was a central figure in Indonesia's fight for independence. Mohandas K. Gandhi freed India
from British
oppression through
non-violent protest. Morris Seligman Dees is the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Moses led the Jews from slavery and gave them religious laws. Nellie McClung believed in equal rights for all women Nelson Mandela is
a peacemaker and
a freedom hero. Osceola led the Seminoles in their battle for independence.
Paul Revere risked his life for the freedom of the American colonies. Quaid-E-Azam helped to create the nation of Pakistan. RAWA promote women's rights through non-violent action Rev. James Reeb worked for equal rights for all
Robert F. Kennedy was a voice for the powerless and advocate for human rights. Roger Nash Baldwin A pioneer in the struggle for civil justice. Rosa Parks made history when she refused to sit in the back of the bus. Ruby Bridges
bravely led the way
to desegregation
of schools as a
child.
Sir William Wallace was a freedom-fighter for the Scottish people in the early 1300s. Sojourner Truth born into slavery, worked for the freedom of all. Susan B. Anthony led the early Women's Suffrage Movement. The Dalai Lama is
the religious leader
of Tibet and an
emblem of Tibet's
hopes for freedom.
Thomas Jefferson helped the American Colonies achieve independence from Britain. Thurgood Marshall
was the first
African-American
to serve on the
U.S. Supreme Court. Tiananmen Square discuss freedom and democracy at Tian An Min Square. Vaclav Havel despite censorship, wrote plays that helped keep the hope of freedom alive....
W.E.B. Dubois was a leading 19th century writer and scholar.
Last changed on:1/14/2005 12:35:30 PM
angel | animals | artists | business | child | community | earthkeepers |explorers | faith | family | freedom | lifesavers | literary | musician | peacemakers | poets | scientists | sports | teachers | women | writers
FREEDOM HERO:
DR. MARTIN
LUTHER KING, JR.
"I HAVE A DREAM"
"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 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 is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacle 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 languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land So we have 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 great 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 to the inalienable 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 that 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. So we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is not 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 promise 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 to all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of it's colored citizens. 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. 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 the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.
We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for white only."
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 your 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 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 modern 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, that 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 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; that 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 every mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains 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. This is the faith that I will 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 climb up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one 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 father's 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. So let freedom ring from the 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 every hill and molehill of Mississippi and every mountainside.
And when this happens, when we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement 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 spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
RELATED LINKS
Martin Luther King, Jr. Guestbook: read guestbook entries from other My Hero users from around the world, and input your own entry!
The Washington, DC, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial
The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, is the official, living memorial dedicated to the advancement of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., leader of America’s greatest nonviolent movement for justice, equality and peace.
RECOMMENDED READING
I Have a Dream
by Martin Luther King, Jr., James M. Washington (Editor), James Melvin Washington (Editor), Foreword by Coretta Scott King
Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Robert E. Jakoubek
Martin''s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Doreen Rappaport
The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation
by Drew D. Hansen
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More Featured Freedom Heroes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abraham Lincoln was a U.S president who fought for the abolition of slavery. Angela Davis is a
leader, author, and
professor who has fought for decades
for human rights. Aung San Suu Kyi seeks democracy for Burma. Bill Bradley once a pro-basketball player now is a politician who advocates reform to make America better for all.
CESAR CHAVEZ was a tireless advocate for migrant farm workers. Chief Joseph led the Nez Perce tribe in an effort to keep its homeland. Clara Shortridge Foltz was the first woman to practice law in California. Craig Kielburger
believes kids can
change the world.
Crazy Horse bravely fought for the freedom of the Sioux Nation. Declaration of Human Rights established the basis for human rights beliefs and practices
all over the world. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.
"I Have a Dream" was the civil rights speech that moved the world Eleanor Roosevelt
was a champion for
freedom.
Elizabeth Blackwell opened the first medical school for women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a pioneer in the movement for womens rights. Emmeline Pankhurst fought tirelessly for
women's suffrage,
and succeeded. Frances Ellen Watkins devoted her life to speaking out against slavery.
Fred Korematsu bravely protested the Japanese-American internment. George Washington was the first President of the United States. Harriet Tubman organized the Underground Railroad. Inez Milholland Boissevain : a brief but spectacular life dedicated to women's suffrage.
Inge Sargent is a Burmese princess devoted to human rights for all. Iqbal Masih was
a brave advocate
for child labor laws. James Reeb risked his own life as a brave civil rights crusader. Jane Akre & Steve Wilson won the 2001 Goldman Environmental Prize for their courageous journalism.
Janet Jagan was
the first female
president of
Guyana. Jessie Daniel Ames worked openly and actively on behalf of racial justice. John Adams worked as hard for peace for the United States as he did for its independence. John Lewis has worked for civil rights for all for over 40 years.
Jose Marti is
considered the
father of Cuba's
battle for
independance. Joseph Ki-Zerbo
works to help
Africans retain
control of their
country's agriculture. Judy Feld Carr secretly helped thousands of Jews escape from Syria. Kofi Annan is an honored freedom
hero and an
AIDS activist.
Malcolm Little known as Malcom X, was a warrior in the fight against racism. Marian Wright Edelman is one of the country's leading advocates for children. Martin Luther King, Jr. Peaceful freedom fighter and civil rights activist Mary Harris Jones
worked to free
children from
industrial slavery.
Medgar Wiley Evers
worked to end
racism in America Mohammad Hatta was a central figure in Indonesia's fight for independence. Mohandas K. Gandhi freed India
from British
oppression through
non-violent protest. Morris Seligman Dees is the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Moses led the Jews from slavery and gave them religious laws. Nellie McClung believed in equal rights for all women Nelson Mandela is
a peacemaker and
a freedom hero. Osceola led the Seminoles in their battle for independence.
Paul Revere risked his life for the freedom of the American colonies. Quaid-E-Azam helped to create the nation of Pakistan. RAWA promote women's rights through non-violent action Rev. James Reeb worked for equal rights for all
Robert F. Kennedy was a voice for the powerless and advocate for human rights. Roger Nash Baldwin A pioneer in the struggle for civil justice. Rosa Parks made history when she refused to sit in the back of the bus. Ruby Bridges
bravely led the way
to desegregation
of schools as a
child.
Sir William Wallace was a freedom-fighter for the Scottish people in the early 1300s. Sojourner Truth born into slavery, worked for the freedom of all. Susan B. Anthony led the early Women's Suffrage Movement. The Dalai Lama is
the religious leader
of Tibet and an
emblem of Tibet's
hopes for freedom.
Thomas Jefferson helped the American Colonies achieve independence from Britain. Thurgood Marshall
was the first
African-American
to serve on the
U.S. Supreme Court. Tiananmen Square discuss freedom and democracy at Tian An Min Square. Vaclav Havel despite censorship, wrote plays that helped keep the hope of freedom alive....
W.E.B. Dubois was a leading 19th century writer and scholar.
Last changed on:1/14/2005 12:35:30 PM
angel | animals | artists | business | child | community | earthkeepers |explorers | faith | family | freedom | lifesavers | literary | musician | peacemakers | poets | scientists | sports | teachers | women | writers
Print-Friendly Version
"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."
FREEDOM HERO:
DR. MARTIN
LUTHER KING, JR.
"I HAVE A DREAM"
"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 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 is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacle 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 languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land So we have 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 great 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 to the inalienable 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 that 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. So we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is not 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 promise 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 to all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of it's colored citizens. 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. 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 the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.
We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for white only."
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 your 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 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 modern 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, that 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 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; that 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 every mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains 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. This is the faith that I will 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 climb up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one 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 father's 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. So let freedom ring from the 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 every hill and molehill of Mississippi and every mountainside.
And when this happens, when we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement 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 spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
RELATED LINKS
Martin Luther King, Jr. Guestbook: read guestbook entries from other My Hero users from around the world, and input your own entry!
The Washington, DC, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial
The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, is the official, living memorial dedicated to the advancement of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., leader of America’s greatest nonviolent movement for justice, equality and peace.
RECOMMENDED READING
I Have a Dream
by Martin Luther King, Jr., James M. Washington (Editor), James Melvin Washington (Editor), Foreword by Coretta Scott King
Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Robert E. Jakoubek
Martin''s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Doreen Rappaport
The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation
by Drew D. Hansen
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More Featured Freedom Heroes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abraham Lincoln was a U.S president who fought for the abolition of slavery. Angela Davis is a
leader, author, and
professor who has fought for decades
for human rights. Aung San Suu Kyi seeks democracy for Burma. Bill Bradley once a pro-basketball player now is a politician who advocates reform to make America better for all.
CESAR CHAVEZ was a tireless advocate for migrant farm workers. Chief Joseph led the Nez Perce tribe in an effort to keep its homeland. Clara Shortridge Foltz was the first woman to practice law in California. Craig Kielburger
believes kids can
change the world.
Crazy Horse bravely fought for the freedom of the Sioux Nation. Declaration of Human Rights established the basis for human rights beliefs and practices
all over the world. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.
"I Have a Dream" was the civil rights speech that moved the world Eleanor Roosevelt
was a champion for
freedom.
Elizabeth Blackwell opened the first medical school for women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a pioneer in the movement for womens rights. Emmeline Pankhurst fought tirelessly for
women's suffrage,
and succeeded. Frances Ellen Watkins devoted her life to speaking out against slavery.
Fred Korematsu bravely protested the Japanese-American internment. George Washington was the first President of the United States. Harriet Tubman organized the Underground Railroad. Inez Milholland Boissevain : a brief but spectacular life dedicated to women's suffrage.
Inge Sargent is a Burmese princess devoted to human rights for all. Iqbal Masih was
a brave advocate
for child labor laws. James Reeb risked his own life as a brave civil rights crusader. Jane Akre & Steve Wilson won the 2001 Goldman Environmental Prize for their courageous journalism.
Janet Jagan was
the first female
president of
Guyana. Jessie Daniel Ames worked openly and actively on behalf of racial justice. John Adams worked as hard for peace for the United States as he did for its independence. John Lewis has worked for civil rights for all for over 40 years.
Jose Marti is
considered the
father of Cuba's
battle for
independance. Joseph Ki-Zerbo
works to help
Africans retain
control of their
country's agriculture. Judy Feld Carr secretly helped thousands of Jews escape from Syria. Kofi Annan is an honored freedom
hero and an
AIDS activist.
Malcolm Little known as Malcom X, was a warrior in the fight against racism. Marian Wright Edelman is one of the country's leading advocates for children. Martin Luther King, Jr. Peaceful freedom fighter and civil rights activist Mary Harris Jones
worked to free
children from
industrial slavery.
Medgar Wiley Evers
worked to end
racism in America Mohammad Hatta was a central figure in Indonesia's fight for independence. Mohandas K. Gandhi freed India
from British
oppression through
non-violent protest. Morris Seligman Dees is the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Moses led the Jews from slavery and gave them religious laws. Nellie McClung believed in equal rights for all women Nelson Mandela is
a peacemaker and
a freedom hero. Osceola led the Seminoles in their battle for independence.
Paul Revere risked his life for the freedom of the American colonies. Quaid-E-Azam helped to create the nation of Pakistan. RAWA promote women's rights through non-violent action Rev. James Reeb worked for equal rights for all
Robert F. Kennedy was a voice for the powerless and advocate for human rights. Roger Nash Baldwin A pioneer in the struggle for civil justice. Rosa Parks made history when she refused to sit in the back of the bus. Ruby Bridges
bravely led the way
to desegregation
of schools as a
child.
Sir William Wallace was a freedom-fighter for the Scottish people in the early 1300s. Sojourner Truth born into slavery, worked for the freedom of all. Susan B. Anthony led the early Women's Suffrage Movement. The Dalai Lama is
the religious leader
of Tibet and an
emblem of Tibet's
hopes for freedom.
Thomas Jefferson helped the American Colonies achieve independence from Britain. Thurgood Marshall
was the first
African-American
to serve on the
U.S. Supreme Court. Tiananmen Square discuss freedom and democracy at Tian An Min Square. Vaclav Havel despite censorship, wrote plays that helped keep the hope of freedom alive....
W.E.B. Dubois was a leading 19th century writer and scholar.
Last changed on:1/14/2005 12:35:30 PM
angel | animals | artists | business | child | community | earthkeepers |explorers | faith | family | freedom | lifesavers | literary | musician | peacemakers | poets | scientists | sports | teachers | women | writers
Print-Friendly Version
"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."
FREEDOM HERO:
DR. MARTIN
LUTHER KING, JR.
"I HAVE A DREAM"
"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 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 is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacle 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 languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land So we have 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 great 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 to the inalienable 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 that 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. So we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is not 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 promise 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 to all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of it's colored citizens. 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. 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 the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.
We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for white only."
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 your 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 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 modern 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, that 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 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; that 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 every mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains 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. This is the faith that I will 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 climb up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one 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 father's 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. So let freedom ring from the 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 every hill and molehill of Mississippi and every mountainside.
And when this happens, when we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement 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 spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
RELATED LINKS
Martin Luther King, Jr. Guestbook: read guestbook entries from other My Hero users from around the world, and input your own entry!
The Washington, DC, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial
The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, is the official, living memorial dedicated to the advancement of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., leader of America’s greatest nonviolent movement for justice, equality and peace.
RECOMMENDED READING
I Have a Dream
by Martin Luther King, Jr., James M. Washington (Editor), James Melvin Washington (Editor), Foreword by Coretta Scott King
Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Robert E. Jakoubek
Martin''s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Doreen Rappaport
The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation
by Drew D. Hansen
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More Featured Freedom Heroes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abraham Lincoln was a U.S president who fought for the abolition of slavery. Angela Davis is a
leader, author, and
professor who has fought for decades
for human rights. Aung San Suu Kyi seeks democracy for Burma. Bill Bradley once a pro-basketball player now is a politician who advocates reform to make America better for all.
CESAR CHAVEZ was a tireless advocate for migrant farm workers. Chief Joseph led the Nez Perce tribe in an effort to keep its homeland. Clara Shortridge Foltz was the first woman to practice law in California. Craig Kielburger
believes kids can
change the world.
Crazy Horse bravely fought for the freedom of the Sioux Nation. Declaration of Human Rights established the basis for human rights beliefs and practices
all over the world. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.
"I Have a Dream" was the civil rights speech that moved the world Eleanor Roosevelt
was a champion for
freedom.
Elizabeth Blackwell opened the first medical school for women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a pioneer in the movement for womens rights. Emmeline Pankhurst fought tirelessly for
women's suffrage,
and succeeded. Frances Ellen Watkins devoted her life to speaking out against slavery.
Fred Korematsu bravely protested the Japanese-American internment. George Washington was the first President of the United States. Harriet Tubman organized the Underground Railroad. Inez Milholland Boissevain : a brief but spectacular life dedicated to women's suffrage.
Inge Sargent is a Burmese princess devoted to human rights for all. Iqbal Masih was
a brave advocate
for child labor laws. James Reeb risked his own life as a brave civil rights crusader. Jane Akre & Steve Wilson won the 2001 Goldman Environmental Prize for their courageous journalism.
Janet Jagan was
the first female
president of
Guyana. Jessie Daniel Ames worked openly and actively on behalf of racial justice. John Adams worked as hard for peace for the United States as he did for its independence. John Lewis has worked for civil rights for all for over 40 years.
Jose Marti is
considered the
father of Cuba's
battle for
independance. Joseph Ki-Zerbo
works to help
Africans retain
control of their
country's agriculture. Judy Feld Carr secretly helped thousands of Jews escape from Syria. Kofi Annan is an honored freedom
hero and an
AIDS activist.
Malcolm Little known as Malcom X, was a warrior in the fight against racism. Marian Wright Edelman is one of the country's leading advocates for children. Martin Luther King, Jr. Peaceful freedom fighter and civil rights activist Mary Harris Jones
worked to free
children from
industrial slavery.
Medgar Wiley Evers
worked to end
racism in America Mohammad Hatta was a central figure in Indonesia's fight for independence. Mohandas K. Gandhi freed India
from British
oppression through
non-violent protest. Morris Seligman Dees is the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Moses led the Jews from slavery and gave them religious laws. Nellie McClung believed in equal rights for all women Nelson Mandela is
a peacemaker and
a freedom hero. Osceola led the Seminoles in their battle for independence.
Paul Revere risked his life for the freedom of the American colonies. Quaid-E-Azam helped to create the nation of Pakistan. RAWA promote women's rights through non-violent action Rev. James Reeb worked for equal rights for all
Robert F. Kennedy was a voice for the powerless and advocate for human rights. Roger Nash Baldwin A pioneer in the struggle for civil justice. Rosa Parks made history when she refused to sit in the back of the bus. Ruby Bridges
bravely led the way
to desegregation
of schools as a
child.
Sir William Wallace was a freedom-fighter for the Scottish people in the early 1300s. Sojourner Truth born into slavery, worked for the freedom of all. Susan B. Anthony led the early Women's Suffrage Movement. The Dalai Lama is
the religious leader
of Tibet and an
emblem of Tibet's
hopes for freedom.
Thomas Jefferson helped the American Colonies achieve independence from Britain. Thurgood Marshall
was the first
African-American
to serve on the
U.S. Supreme Court. Tiananmen Square discuss freedom and democracy at Tian An Min Square. Vaclav Havel despite censorship, wrote plays that helped keep the hope of freedom alive....
W.E.B. Dubois was a leading 19th century writer and scholar.
Last changed on:1/14/2005 12:35:30 PM
angel | animals | artists | business | child | community | earthkeepers |explorers | faith | family | freedom | lifesavers | literary | musician | peacemakers | poets | scientists | sports | teachers | women | writers
LET US GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT IS DUE
By Solomon Boit
While nobody in his right mind can tell Kenyans that all is well in our Local Authorities or any other public institution in Kenya, many critics appear to have clearly lost sight of the deliberate efforts being made by people in Government to change course.
There certainly can be no escaping the fact that Local Authorities are facing many and critical challenges. What cannot be doubted is the resolve by this Government and this ministry in particular to deal with these challenges.
There is irrefutable evidence that things are changing and that, while we have a long way to go before we can claim any measure of success, local authorities have made advances.
Our biggest metropolis, Nairobi has some manifest and isolated success stories that are unmistakable. In the last one and half years alone, the City of Nairobi has planted 6950 trees as part of the beautification programme. This is a programme by the City Government in its pursuit for a better Nairobi.
Though the prevailing drought has slowed down the planting of trees and increased the cost of their maintenance, residents of Nairobi can rest assured that when the rains come, a massive tree planting exercise will be rolled out. And the choice of trees is brilliant. Trees with a higher capability to absorb emissions such as the podo, mukindira and the Nandi Flame have been chosen for this project.
These are trees that will not only clean up the air, but also help regulate daytime temperatures. In some streets e.g. Mama Ngina Street, this is already happening.
Only recently, the Local Government minister, Musikari Kombo, received a call from a lady who called in from Mathare slums to express her gratitude for the erection of floodlights in the sprawling estate. Fifty-two such floodlights are planned for commissioning next month. Related to this, is ongoing work on street lighting and the removal of garbage-mountains that have been an eyesore in the city.
We need as a country to confront four major issues that must permeate the perception of how we engage our local governments. The first is that while we demand cleanliness in our towns, we must take responsibility of the fact we Kenyans are the ones who litter.
The second issue is protection of infrastructure that gets either rehabilitated or installed. All too often, new infrastructure is installed, but vandalised within a week. A street lighting structure can cost up to Sh100,000 to commission. If this kind of structure is vandalised, it compromises the momentum and coverage.
Thirdly, the issue of advocacy where residents demand, without fear, the provision of services, which are rightly theirs. In the just concluded African Peer Review Mechanism, Kenyans were reportedly very dissatisfied with their elected representatives in Local Authorities but were not willing to engage with them actively. It is crucial that this engagement be encouraged so that we can sustain the momentum of improvements that are beginning to happen. The press can assist here in demystifying local governance so that citizens can freely engage with the authorities in their immediate neighbourhoods.
My final comment is more national and relates to the need to acknowledge the good that is happening as loudly as we acknowledge the bad.
The writer is Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government
While nobody in his right mind can tell Kenyans that all is well in our Local Authorities or any other public institution in Kenya, many critics appear to have clearly lost sight of the deliberate efforts being made by people in Government to change course.
There certainly can be no escaping the fact that Local Authorities are facing many and critical challenges. What cannot be doubted is the resolve by this Government and this ministry in particular to deal with these challenges.
There is irrefutable evidence that things are changing and that, while we have a long way to go before we can claim any measure of success, local authorities have made advances.
Our biggest metropolis, Nairobi has some manifest and isolated success stories that are unmistakable. In the last one and half years alone, the City of Nairobi has planted 6950 trees as part of the beautification programme. This is a programme by the City Government in its pursuit for a better Nairobi.
Though the prevailing drought has slowed down the planting of trees and increased the cost of their maintenance, residents of Nairobi can rest assured that when the rains come, a massive tree planting exercise will be rolled out. And the choice of trees is brilliant. Trees with a higher capability to absorb emissions such as the podo, mukindira and the Nandi Flame have been chosen for this project.
These are trees that will not only clean up the air, but also help regulate daytime temperatures. In some streets e.g. Mama Ngina Street, this is already happening.
Only recently, the Local Government minister, Musikari Kombo, received a call from a lady who called in from Mathare slums to express her gratitude for the erection of floodlights in the sprawling estate. Fifty-two such floodlights are planned for commissioning next month. Related to this, is ongoing work on street lighting and the removal of garbage-mountains that have been an eyesore in the city.
We need as a country to confront four major issues that must permeate the perception of how we engage our local governments. The first is that while we demand cleanliness in our towns, we must take responsibility of the fact we Kenyans are the ones who litter.
The second issue is protection of infrastructure that gets either rehabilitated or installed. All too often, new infrastructure is installed, but vandalised within a week. A street lighting structure can cost up to Sh100,000 to commission. If this kind of structure is vandalised, it compromises the momentum and coverage.
Thirdly, the issue of advocacy where residents demand, without fear, the provision of services, which are rightly theirs. In the just concluded African Peer Review Mechanism, Kenyans were reportedly very dissatisfied with their elected representatives in Local Authorities but were not willing to engage with them actively. It is crucial that this engagement be encouraged so that we can sustain the momentum of improvements that are beginning to happen. The press can assist here in demystifying local governance so that citizens can freely engage with the authorities in their immediate neighbourhoods.
My final comment is more national and relates to the need to acknowledge the good that is happening as loudly as we acknowledge the bad.
The writer is Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government
TEACHERS IN KENYA NEEDS MORE RECOGNATION AND RESPECT
Mariene primary school is one of the many schools in Kenya whereby teachers work so hard for very little. It is a well known fact that a strong nation is the one with a health and well informed young generation. The task and burden of shaping and impacting knowledge into these young soul is rested upon the shoulders of the most miserable group of people whose misery has been been subjected on them stupidly. It is the highest time our teachers are given due respect and honor which they have earnrd by virtue of their work.
FARMERS IN CENTRAL IMENTI HAVE RECEIVED A RAW DEAL SO FAR
Very hard working but many road blocks. WHY?
KIRAITU MURUNGI WILL SURVIVE THE ONSLAUGHT
HON. KIRAITU MURUNGI MP SOUTH IMENTI
When the people of Kenya and Meru will know the truth about why Hon Murungi is so much hated, they will come love him more. So far no evidence has been produced to show that he stole from the Republic of Kenya. Infact the oppisite is true regarding all his accusers and detractors. Look at Hon Raila, Hon Musyoka, Hon Ruto, Hon Kenyatta, Hon Kajwang all the ODM leaders. Kiraitu was a stambling block to these perrenial looter and thieves and therefore, he had to be removed from the way. From now henceforth Kenyans should be weary of these self decleared and appointed angels.
LET THE GRABBERS AND LOOTER FACE THE MUSIC NOW JUDGE RINGERA
The people of kenya are tired of reading from the press about who has grabbed what land and stolen what amount of money from the public. This is setting a very bad example to everyone in kenya that the only way to get rich is through corruption and stealing. It is now the highest time KACC did the work it was created to do and if not so it should be scraped and desmantled. The officers in that department were hired by the people of the Republic of Kenya to help them investigate and proscute those found guilty of have acquired wealth in an ilegal manner. However, it has taken over three years to prosecute the first case even though it is well known fact that so much has been looted. Ringera should watch out carefully because kenyans are not fools.
WHAT OTHERS HAVE TO SAY ON THE SAME NOTE
Prominent Kenyans named in the Ndung'u report have 30 days to surrender irregularly-acquired public land or face prosecution.
Mr Justice Ringera
The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) director Aaron Ringera yesterday said the organisation will start recovery proceedings against those who will not have surrendered their title deeds or lease certificates at the end of the stipulated period.
In a public notice published in Tuesday's Daily Nation, the director says: "A surrender and recovery desk has been set up at the commission's offices at our office on Valley Road, Integrity House, in Nairobi, for the purpose of facilitating and documenting the process."
The desk had been necessitated by the willingness by some beneficiaries mentioned in the Ndung'u report, to surrender their title deeds, Mr Ringera said.
However, the director did not name any of them.
The Ndung'u commission of inquiry into illegal or irregularly allocated public land names top government officials in the current and former regimes, led by retired President Daniel arap Moi and former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta, as some of the beneficiaries.
Others are Cabinet minister Njenga Karume and former Road's minister Raila Odinga's family firm, East African Spectre; former ministers Nicholas Biwott, Joseph Kamotho, William ole Ntimama, George Saitoti, and Kipng'eno arap Ng'eny.
Current and former MPs named in the report include Mr Kuria Kanyingi, Mr Mark Too, Mr Chafarno Mokku, Mr Kipkalya Kones and Mr Gideon Moi.
The list also includes former permanent secretaries, a high court judge, provincial commissioners, district commissioners, a former State House comptroller, a former head of the presidential press service; a former police commissioner, a former director of the Criminal Investigations Department and a former head of the Kenya Air Force, among many others.
The report, which was released last year following an outcry by leaders and the public, is a comprehensive list of who-is-who in the Kenyatta and Moi regimes.
Most of the land in question belonged to parastatals and public and research institutions such as the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (Kari), the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) and the Kenya Prisons, among others.
When the report was released, the Government through the ministry of Lands directed the affected institutions to start moves to reclaim the land, even if it meant going to court.
The move generated a new controversy when it turned out that some of the beneficiaries were churches, institutions such as schools and individuals who had title deeds.
Former Lands minister Amos Kimunya announced that the Government was working on a legal framework to overcome the hurdles. He has since been moved to the Ministry of Finance.
Government critics have accused the State of implementing the report to divert attention from the Anglo leasing and Goldenberg scandals, in which some top officials have been implicated.
There are also fears that the report would not be easy to implement because land is a sensitive issue that has in the past led to violence in parts of the country.
According to the report, Prof Saitoti and Mr Ng'eny were each allocated 1,500 hectares of the Nyota Complex ADC in Kuresoi while Mr Kones got 500 hectares of the Sirikwa ADC farm.
Former First Lady Mama Ngina, the mother of official leader of Opposition Uhuru Kenyatta, features prominently in the three-volume dossier over 38 acres hived off the Kikuyu escarpment in 1965.
The report says that the grabbing of public property resulted in some 200,000 illegal titles deeds being issued, and recommends that a tribunal be set up to help handle revocation and review land laws.
On ADC farms and settlement schemes managed by the Settlement Fund Trustees, the report recommends that politicians who acquired large chunks of land either surrender them for redistribution to squarters, or they be made to pay at market rates and the proceeds used to buy land for people without plots.
Yesterday, Mr Ringera said in his notice: "The commission, pursuant to its mandate, has commenced investigations into the illegal allocation of public land mentioned in the Commission of Inquiry into illegal/irregular allocation of public land, commonly known as the Ndung'u report."
The director noted that the report highlights that fact that land reserved for public use, such as road reserves, public toilets, council houses, cemeteries, Government houses, parastatal land, forests, schools research and trust land, among others, was irregularly allocated to private individuals.
"It is further noted that such illegally acquired land was in some instances disposed of to third parties in spite of the fact that there was no legal title capable of passing to the said parties," Mr Ringera said.
The deadline is reminiscent of Mr Ringera's 2003 notice to judicial officers implicated in corruption to resign, which saw more than 100 officials including judges, magistrates and clerks either sacked or forced to quit in the biggest purge on the Judiciary since independence.
Some of the judges opted to resign, while others filed cases in court, most of which are yet to be determined.
WHAT OTHERS HAVE TO SAY ON THE SAME NOTE
Prominent Kenyans named in the Ndung'u report have 30 days to surrender irregularly-acquired public land or face prosecution.
Mr Justice Ringera
The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) director Aaron Ringera yesterday said the organisation will start recovery proceedings against those who will not have surrendered their title deeds or lease certificates at the end of the stipulated period.
In a public notice published in Tuesday's Daily Nation, the director says: "A surrender and recovery desk has been set up at the commission's offices at our office on Valley Road, Integrity House, in Nairobi, for the purpose of facilitating and documenting the process."
The desk had been necessitated by the willingness by some beneficiaries mentioned in the Ndung'u report, to surrender their title deeds, Mr Ringera said.
However, the director did not name any of them.
The Ndung'u commission of inquiry into illegal or irregularly allocated public land names top government officials in the current and former regimes, led by retired President Daniel arap Moi and former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta, as some of the beneficiaries.
Others are Cabinet minister Njenga Karume and former Road's minister Raila Odinga's family firm, East African Spectre; former ministers Nicholas Biwott, Joseph Kamotho, William ole Ntimama, George Saitoti, and Kipng'eno arap Ng'eny.
Current and former MPs named in the report include Mr Kuria Kanyingi, Mr Mark Too, Mr Chafarno Mokku, Mr Kipkalya Kones and Mr Gideon Moi.
The list also includes former permanent secretaries, a high court judge, provincial commissioners, district commissioners, a former State House comptroller, a former head of the presidential press service; a former police commissioner, a former director of the Criminal Investigations Department and a former head of the Kenya Air Force, among many others.
The report, which was released last year following an outcry by leaders and the public, is a comprehensive list of who-is-who in the Kenyatta and Moi regimes.
Most of the land in question belonged to parastatals and public and research institutions such as the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (Kari), the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) and the Kenya Prisons, among others.
When the report was released, the Government through the ministry of Lands directed the affected institutions to start moves to reclaim the land, even if it meant going to court.
The move generated a new controversy when it turned out that some of the beneficiaries were churches, institutions such as schools and individuals who had title deeds.
Former Lands minister Amos Kimunya announced that the Government was working on a legal framework to overcome the hurdles. He has since been moved to the Ministry of Finance.
Government critics have accused the State of implementing the report to divert attention from the Anglo leasing and Goldenberg scandals, in which some top officials have been implicated.
There are also fears that the report would not be easy to implement because land is a sensitive issue that has in the past led to violence in parts of the country.
According to the report, Prof Saitoti and Mr Ng'eny were each allocated 1,500 hectares of the Nyota Complex ADC in Kuresoi while Mr Kones got 500 hectares of the Sirikwa ADC farm.
Former First Lady Mama Ngina, the mother of official leader of Opposition Uhuru Kenyatta, features prominently in the three-volume dossier over 38 acres hived off the Kikuyu escarpment in 1965.
The report says that the grabbing of public property resulted in some 200,000 illegal titles deeds being issued, and recommends that a tribunal be set up to help handle revocation and review land laws.
On ADC farms and settlement schemes managed by the Settlement Fund Trustees, the report recommends that politicians who acquired large chunks of land either surrender them for redistribution to squarters, or they be made to pay at market rates and the proceeds used to buy land for people without plots.
Yesterday, Mr Ringera said in his notice: "The commission, pursuant to its mandate, has commenced investigations into the illegal allocation of public land mentioned in the Commission of Inquiry into illegal/irregular allocation of public land, commonly known as the Ndung'u report."
The director noted that the report highlights that fact that land reserved for public use, such as road reserves, public toilets, council houses, cemeteries, Government houses, parastatal land, forests, schools research and trust land, among others, was irregularly allocated to private individuals.
"It is further noted that such illegally acquired land was in some instances disposed of to third parties in spite of the fact that there was no legal title capable of passing to the said parties," Mr Ringera said.
The deadline is reminiscent of Mr Ringera's 2003 notice to judicial officers implicated in corruption to resign, which saw more than 100 officials including judges, magistrates and clerks either sacked or forced to quit in the biggest purge on the Judiciary since independence.
Some of the judges opted to resign, while others filed cases in court, most of which are yet to be determined.
ODM A BUNCH OF LOOTERS, GRABBERS, THIEVES, AND EGO DRIVEN HYPOCRATES
The clique of the so called ODM luminaries are just a pack of power driven hypocrates who have taken the common man in kenya to be too thick upstairs. These are people who have massed their wealth through questionable, duvious and crooked ways in the yester years. However, due to the nature of the kenyan common man,these ODM chaps always think they are the smartest, and wisest,and coscequently they have taken for granted the elasticity of the kenyan people. Let them be warned that time is up and soon or later they will be running like a cornered cat after it was caught stealing a old lady's milk. Bravo common wananchi for your political maturity!
Let Raila Omolo Odinga come out openly and tell us who are really these guys he seems to know very well. Could this be another marnouver of his trademark of jumping ships as he has done with his old friends in the opposition in the past? Raila can never be trusted.
Let Raila Omolo Odinga come out openly and tell us who are really these guys he seems to know very well. Could this be another marnouver of his trademark of jumping ships as he has done with his old friends in the opposition in the past? Raila can never be trusted.
AFTER A GRUESOME AND CUMBERSOME TASK OF CYCLING 500 MILES FROM KAPSABET TO NAIROBI, W. MUGAMBI ARIMI HAD REASON TO SMILE
This beautiful modern High School was built after a real toil. Cycling for four day in 1993, W Mugambi Arimi was able once more to demonstrate to the kenyans that tribe was never part of his vacaburary. St joseph Girls High School Chepterit came into being. It can be done in the entire country.
ODM DEAD LIKE DODO!
By Barrack Muluka
I am thinking I should be Monsieur Jean-Batiste. I see that the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is posturing for raw power. They want to bamboozle us to install them over us, so that they can do to us what Kanu and Narc have done to us.
ODM big guns assemble not to discuss what they can do for Kenya, but how to divide power and wealth among themselves. I see that I will have to be the voice of the man screaming in the wilderness. I will call their bluff. These power hungry ODM people cannot save Kenya – and you can take these words to the bank.
In my dream, a dear friend asks me, from the blues: "What is the dream of your life?" My response is equally abrupt: "To witness the day when we will look back and say, ‘this far have we come. We travelled on a rocky and slippery uphill road, full of thorns.
But we have built a good country. We mounted on wings like eagles; we ran without getting weary and walked without being faint. Alas, we have this beautiful country! We renewed our strength in hard times and so we have this blessed land and nation, where justice is our shield and defender. We are counted among those who truly dwell in unity, peace and liberty.
See how service is our earnest endeavour and our home a veritable heritage of splendour. We are proud to defend this home, any time. See how with one accord we are all united, in a common bond to build this our nation together. I am proud to witness this day, today, when the glory of Kenya and the fruit of our labour fill every heart with thanks giving’."
But the derisive words of the mocker interrupt my dream: "I will not sack anybody, and nobody will resign! Even if you do not like them, they are going nowhere. And there is nothing you can do about it." Now this is classic contempt after the fashion of the Greek hubris. It is the substance tragedy is fashioned from. I give up on wasting my precious words on those who scoff.
And I am admonished by French dramatist and Nobel Literature laureate (1947), Andre Gide, when he wrote in ‘New Fruits of the Earth’, "Stop transferring poetry into dream; know how to see it in reality." And so I decide to see it as it is. I see that in the end I am bored of pouring poetry onto rocky ground, in a futile dialogue with the deaf. If the dreams I cherish must be fulfilled, then I must dream ahead, with a new generation. Those who once said, "Fellow Kenyans, I am inheriting a country which has been badly ravaged by years of misrule and ineptitude. There has been a wide disconnect between the people and the Government, between the people’s aspirations and the Government’s attitude toward them," have betrayed me.
I see that ODM is enjoying itself, turning the spoon, even as the Government that lied to me about the "return of the culture of due process, accountability and transparency in public office" roasts in its own fat. ODM has affected pious rage.
Kanu vampires and barracudas who ran down one State Corporation after the other, to line their pockets, now deafen you with refrains of "Oh, when the Saints Go Marching In…" As the battalion rings "Oh Lord I want to be among the number, oh when the Saints go marching in…."
I am acutely reminded of how the Catering Levy Trustees and the Kenya Airports Authority once sunk billions of shillings in deposits and liquid investments in collapsed financial institutions in the Kanu sunshine.
Even at the rate of Sh200b, this is Goldenberg 15 times! Sadder still, I know that these funds were sunk despite Treasurer’s guidelines and circulars, and especially Circular No. 10 of 1991.
I am reminded of the Ngemwa Pump Station under the aegis of Kenya Pipeline, in which a paltry nine- kilometre road (yes, kilomita tisa!) cost the Treasury some Sh510m, in effect some Sh56.7m per kilometre! And between 1991 and 1994, KPTC financed fake projects to the tune of Sh1.8b. Consultancy alone, consumed Sh1.75b. The project never took off. Elsewhere in Mombasa, the Kenya Posts Authority paid – between 1995 and 1998 – Sh666m for a container freight project that never was.
These are not Joseph’s dreams. No, this is what you witness when you stop transferring poetry into dream. ODM is nothing, but Kanu just before the Uhuru Project –of course minus Moi, Saitoti and Biwott. And I have told you nothing about all manner of grand theft through emergency import of goods regulations, import duty exemption, diversion of transit goods, disposal of goods impounded by customs, Government tenders and procurement, pending bills, fake contracted services, public asset stripping, external and domestic loan system; and a whole whale of other thieving tricks under the good old Kanu.
Now, because President Kibaki’s inaugural address and his self-serving pious promises of yesteryear have evaporated into hot air and water vapour, the Serpents of yore are disguised as democrats, securely ensconced in ODM.
Youth for Kanu ’92, the singular highest beneficiary of Goldenberg in 1992 is chanting: "Oh when the saints go matching in…." This ODM solidarity is a slippery path for a people who would seek justice as their shield and defender.
Has the time not come when we must look beyond ODM for the beautiful ones who would lead this nation to the land of milk and honey? If President Kibaki and all the President’s men constitute the rocky corner of the deaf, is the ODM the cacophonous sinking sand?
After the constitutional referendum, ODM has outlived its welcome and relevance. I will say it again; Kenya wants new leaders who will be responsible and dignified servants of the people, and not the mandarins of yesteryear, under whatever guise.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's most read articles
Uhuru’s take on ODM unity
Minister targets Raila at city demo
We’ll ignore Government critics, says Kibaki
Russian mercenaries relocated, says Lang’ata MP
‘Standard’ raid: Apologise, Japan asks State
Woman, 26, gets donations for therapy
Michuki handled media like Mungiki
Murungaru wants Kacc stopped from demanding wealth declaration
IMF delays aid decision further due to corruption
Reinstate chiefs, LDP demands
I am thinking I should be Monsieur Jean-Batiste. I see that the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is posturing for raw power. They want to bamboozle us to install them over us, so that they can do to us what Kanu and Narc have done to us.
ODM big guns assemble not to discuss what they can do for Kenya, but how to divide power and wealth among themselves. I see that I will have to be the voice of the man screaming in the wilderness. I will call their bluff. These power hungry ODM people cannot save Kenya – and you can take these words to the bank.
In my dream, a dear friend asks me, from the blues: "What is the dream of your life?" My response is equally abrupt: "To witness the day when we will look back and say, ‘this far have we come. We travelled on a rocky and slippery uphill road, full of thorns.
But we have built a good country. We mounted on wings like eagles; we ran without getting weary and walked without being faint. Alas, we have this beautiful country! We renewed our strength in hard times and so we have this blessed land and nation, where justice is our shield and defender. We are counted among those who truly dwell in unity, peace and liberty.
See how service is our earnest endeavour and our home a veritable heritage of splendour. We are proud to defend this home, any time. See how with one accord we are all united, in a common bond to build this our nation together. I am proud to witness this day, today, when the glory of Kenya and the fruit of our labour fill every heart with thanks giving’."
But the derisive words of the mocker interrupt my dream: "I will not sack anybody, and nobody will resign! Even if you do not like them, they are going nowhere. And there is nothing you can do about it." Now this is classic contempt after the fashion of the Greek hubris. It is the substance tragedy is fashioned from. I give up on wasting my precious words on those who scoff.
And I am admonished by French dramatist and Nobel Literature laureate (1947), Andre Gide, when he wrote in ‘New Fruits of the Earth’, "Stop transferring poetry into dream; know how to see it in reality." And so I decide to see it as it is. I see that in the end I am bored of pouring poetry onto rocky ground, in a futile dialogue with the deaf. If the dreams I cherish must be fulfilled, then I must dream ahead, with a new generation. Those who once said, "Fellow Kenyans, I am inheriting a country which has been badly ravaged by years of misrule and ineptitude. There has been a wide disconnect between the people and the Government, between the people’s aspirations and the Government’s attitude toward them," have betrayed me.
I see that ODM is enjoying itself, turning the spoon, even as the Government that lied to me about the "return of the culture of due process, accountability and transparency in public office" roasts in its own fat. ODM has affected pious rage.
Kanu vampires and barracudas who ran down one State Corporation after the other, to line their pockets, now deafen you with refrains of "Oh, when the Saints Go Marching In…" As the battalion rings "Oh Lord I want to be among the number, oh when the Saints go marching in…."
I am acutely reminded of how the Catering Levy Trustees and the Kenya Airports Authority once sunk billions of shillings in deposits and liquid investments in collapsed financial institutions in the Kanu sunshine.
Even at the rate of Sh200b, this is Goldenberg 15 times! Sadder still, I know that these funds were sunk despite Treasurer’s guidelines and circulars, and especially Circular No. 10 of 1991.
I am reminded of the Ngemwa Pump Station under the aegis of Kenya Pipeline, in which a paltry nine- kilometre road (yes, kilomita tisa!) cost the Treasury some Sh510m, in effect some Sh56.7m per kilometre! And between 1991 and 1994, KPTC financed fake projects to the tune of Sh1.8b. Consultancy alone, consumed Sh1.75b. The project never took off. Elsewhere in Mombasa, the Kenya Posts Authority paid – between 1995 and 1998 – Sh666m for a container freight project that never was.
These are not Joseph’s dreams. No, this is what you witness when you stop transferring poetry into dream. ODM is nothing, but Kanu just before the Uhuru Project –of course minus Moi, Saitoti and Biwott. And I have told you nothing about all manner of grand theft through emergency import of goods regulations, import duty exemption, diversion of transit goods, disposal of goods impounded by customs, Government tenders and procurement, pending bills, fake contracted services, public asset stripping, external and domestic loan system; and a whole whale of other thieving tricks under the good old Kanu.
Now, because President Kibaki’s inaugural address and his self-serving pious promises of yesteryear have evaporated into hot air and water vapour, the Serpents of yore are disguised as democrats, securely ensconced in ODM.
Youth for Kanu ’92, the singular highest beneficiary of Goldenberg in 1992 is chanting: "Oh when the saints go matching in…." This ODM solidarity is a slippery path for a people who would seek justice as their shield and defender.
Has the time not come when we must look beyond ODM for the beautiful ones who would lead this nation to the land of milk and honey? If President Kibaki and all the President’s men constitute the rocky corner of the deaf, is the ODM the cacophonous sinking sand?
After the constitutional referendum, ODM has outlived its welcome and relevance. I will say it again; Kenya wants new leaders who will be responsible and dignified servants of the people, and not the mandarins of yesteryear, under whatever guise.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's most read articles
Uhuru’s take on ODM unity
Minister targets Raila at city demo
We’ll ignore Government critics, says Kibaki
Russian mercenaries relocated, says Lang’ata MP
‘Standard’ raid: Apologise, Japan asks State
Woman, 26, gets donations for therapy
Michuki handled media like Mungiki
Murungaru wants Kacc stopped from demanding wealth declaration
IMF delays aid decision further due to corruption
Reinstate chiefs, LDP demands
W. MUGAMBI ARIMI
W Mugambi Arimi has distinguished himself even where there are giants. In the academic field he has proved many wrong. He is an international player who knows more than people realizes.He can never be hidden in a pack of academic giants.Can you see him in this pack?
Social Justice is a concept that has fascinated philosophers ever since Plato rebuked the young Sophist, Thrasymachus, for asserting that justice was whatever the strongest decided it would be. In The Republic, Plato formalized the argument that an ideal state would rest on four virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.
Social Justice is distinct from justice as applied in the law — state-administered systems which label behavior as unacceptable, enforce a formal mechanism of control, and may produce results that do not match the philosophical definitions of social justice — and from more informal concepts of justice embedded in systems of public policy and morality, which differ among cultures and therefore lack universality. Social justice is also used to refer to the overall fairness of a society in its divisions and distributions of rewards and burdens and, as such, the phrase has been adopted by political parties with a redistributive agenda.
Social Justice is distinct from justice as applied in the law — state-administered systems which label behavior as unacceptable, enforce a formal mechanism of control, and may produce results that do not match the philosophical definitions of social justice — and from more informal concepts of justice embedded in systems of public policy and morality, which differ among cultures and therefore lack universality. Social justice is also used to refer to the overall fairness of a society in its divisions and distributions of rewards and burdens and, as such, the phrase has been adopted by political parties with a redistributive agenda.
CHEPTERIT GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL
St. Josephs Girls High School, Chepterit stands as the oak tree among the dwarf shrubs. Academically, the school has done exempary well and has produced the best in all fields.
THE FEAR OF ONESELF IS THE BIGGEST ENEMY OF PROGRESS. MUGAMBI ARIMI NEVER SHYS FROM HIS ROOTS.
With his roots always in mind, and determined to discover what others have to offer, Mugambi Arimi has never shrunk from speaking his mind. His next destination is the Kenyan August house. He is and he has been a great advocate of social justice.What is social justice?
Social Justice is a concept that has fascinated philosophers ever since Plato rebuked the young Sophist, Thrasymachus, for asserting that justice was whatever the strongest decided it would be. In The Republic, Plato formalized the argument that an ideal state would rest on four virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.
Social Justice is distinct from justice as applied in the law — state-administered systems which label behavior as unacceptable, enforce a formal mechanism of control, and may produce results that do not match the philosophical definitions of social justice — and from more informal concepts of justice embedded in systems of public policy and morality, which differ among cultures and therefore lack universality. Social justice is also used to refer to the overall fairness of a society in its divisions and distributions of rewards and burdens and, as such, the phrase has been adopted by political parties with a redistributive agenda.
THIS SHOULD NEVER AND EVER BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN IN KENYA!
At the bay at Meru Prison, Francis Ndonga, a tuberculosis patient, heaves himself up to his feet, careful not to step on fellow patients jam-packed in the small room.
Inmates at the Meru Prison (above and below), which was built to accommodate 350 but now has more than 1,450 prisoners.
Beside him, inmates suffering from various diseases squeeze against each other on the bare floor. Some are half-naked, their withered bodies further weakened by sickness gleaming with sweat.
The air is intolerably humid. A sharp, rancid stench hangs within, a product of human waste, sweat and filth. Not even the open windows allow in enough fresh air, and the 76 patients are struggling for breath.
"You come to this place, you want to die," said Ndonga, pausing to allow a flurry of coughs from the prisoners to calm. "This is where they bring you when you are sick, but it is a place where you come to die."
Sweat droplets dot Ndonga’s aging face as well as those of other prisoners. They say that since last December, 10 inmates have died of what they suspected to be tuberculosis.
Better attention and medication
When the coughing dies down, a hushed silence engulfs the room. Scraggy-haired prisoners stare with sad, pleading eyes.
"Every week, you hear someone has died," says Esther Waikuru, one of three paralegal officers assisting inmates to have their pending court cases speeded up.
"This is suffering like you can never imagine."
The patients suffer from a catalogue of diseases: some have
TB and HIV, which causes Aids, while others suffer from typhoid, pneumonia, skin conditions and injuries.
The room should hold no more than 10 patients but sometimes, the number rises to as many as 90.
Although many patients defy death, none knows how much longer they can last.
"When we are crowded like this, we can’t get well. Instead, we catch more diseases," Ndonga said.
Ailing prisoners are taken to the sick bay ostensibly to get better attention and medication. But they are shocked to find only misery and vermin, huge gobs of disease.
At least 40 of the prisoners in the sickbay are TB and HIV patients, says the officer in charge of the prison, Henry Kisingu. But few are on treatment and have not been put on antiretroviral drugs, which prolong life for HIV patients.
Dehumanising conditions
Despite their weakened bodies, which require good food, their daily meal is ugali and beans, often not well cooked. Sometimes, the sick ones are given rice.
Although patients with infectious diseases should be isolated from others, this has not been the case.
The sick bay is just one of the wards where inmates, most of them in remand, live in dehumanising conditions in the Meru Prison. The congestion is mainly caused by delays in the hearing of their cases.
As a result, the jail, built in 1962 to hold about 350 prisoners, is congested with more than 1,450.
The jail is a hallmark of neglect and abuse. Child offenders mingle with suspected murderers, violent robbers and rapists. Hardcore convicts criminals share halls with remandees accused of misdemeanours.
In the women’s section, infants accompanying their mothers sleep in the same cells with mentally unsound murder suspects.
With their trials still pending, the remand inmates are presumed innocent until proven otherwise. But the appalling conditions they live in appear to have condemned them to death already.
Patients often get re-infection
Kisingu says conditions in the jail are no fault of his and is beyond what the administration can do. He blames it on neglect of Kenya’s prisons over the years and says only expansion could solve the problem.
"We would like to hold TB patients separately from the others, but we have no space for that. Those who are nearly healed often get re-infected because they continue to stay together with the sick ones," said Kisingu.
"Because of overcrowding, we’ve not been able to give them the care that they deserve. The environment does not help them to get healed, " he said.
The 76 patients share eight mattresses, which they spread on the floor because the sickbay lacks beds.
There is more horror in this room, and across the jail. At one corner in the sickbay, a patient, deeply asleep, snores loudly beside a plastic bucket full of human waste. Another prisoner sits beside the bucket, his eyes wide open as if in a trance.
Patients say they use the bucket at night and empty it in the morning for use during the day. The room is crawling with vermin.
"Most times, there is no water and when we get it, it is never enough," another patient, Christopher Maore, amid coughs and sneezes.
No room to stretch legs out
Several prisoners, having stayed here for many years awaiting the conclusion of their cases, are dressed in worn-out clothes.
In Ward Four, John Ndichu and 235 others spend most of the day and night squatting. This is because if they sit, they would have to stretch their legs and there is no space for that.
Ndichu, 20, has dry, cracked lips with blood caked on them. He is dressed only in shorts. What remains of his only shirt is in tatters and is wrapped around his head.
"I have lived like this since I came here five months ago," he said.
Too tired and deprived of sleep, several prisoners doze while standing against walls in the hall that is as congested as the sickbay. Some have swollen legs because of spending too much time on their feet.
In the ward, every inch of space is so valued that prisoners take turns to sleep in two toilets.
"In the evening, we choose who will sleep in the toilets and in the main hall," said Francis Ngunja, pointing at the wet and filthy toilets.
"This is where I slept last night," he said. The toilets were long blocked and do not flush.
Every evening, inmates dry up the floor of the toilets and spread blankets to sleep on. The toilets take about 10 people.
Not that the blankets are worth the name. They are torn and brown with dirt. During the day, they hang from a wire fastened on the window. In a cell next to the toilet, prisoners can hardly sleep because water leaks in through the wall.
Venting out frustration through graffiti
Waikuru, the paralegal officer with the Legal Resources Foundation, says brawls are common in the wards at night.
"Some sleep while standing and fall on their colleagues," said Waikuru. "When that happens, fighting erupts."
With no signs of help, some prisoners only hope for divine intervention. Graffiti on walls reveal their frustration and yearning for better conditions — not from prison authorities but from God.
"Nothing but prayer," reads graffiti on the wall. "Keep praying, my brother." Another graffiti captures the tragedy of prison: "Never die alone."
Indeed, when a prisoner dies, he never dies alone. Inside a tiny cell where five prisoners died last year after they were allegedly beaten by warders, the situation remains the same as the time they died.
Prison authorities say the inmates died from suffocation due to congestion. New prisoners have taken up the space left by their dead colleagues in the six by seven feet cell, now housing eight prisoners.
"We fear something bad will happen," says an inmate in the cell, Muriithi Nkarisia. He looks healthy, but two of his cellmates have contracted tuberculosis. He says it is only a matter of time before he too comes down with it.
His colleagues are unlikely to die alone.
Social Justice is a concept that has fascinated philosophers ever since Plato rebuked the young Sophist, Thrasymachus, for asserting that justice was whatever the strongest decided it would be. In The Republic, Plato formalized the argument that an ideal state would rest on four virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.
Social Justice is distinct from justice as applied in the law — state-administered systems which label behavior as unacceptable, enforce a formal mechanism of control, and may produce results that do not match the philosophical definitions of social justice — and from more informal concepts of justice embedded in systems of public policy and morality, which differ among cultures and therefore lack universality. Social justice is also used to refer to the overall fairness of a society in its divisions and distributions of rewards and burdens and, as such, the phrase has been adopted by political parties with a redistributive agenda.
Inmates at the Meru Prison (above and below), which was built to accommodate 350 but now has more than 1,450 prisoners.
Beside him, inmates suffering from various diseases squeeze against each other on the bare floor. Some are half-naked, their withered bodies further weakened by sickness gleaming with sweat.
The air is intolerably humid. A sharp, rancid stench hangs within, a product of human waste, sweat and filth. Not even the open windows allow in enough fresh air, and the 76 patients are struggling for breath.
"You come to this place, you want to die," said Ndonga, pausing to allow a flurry of coughs from the prisoners to calm. "This is where they bring you when you are sick, but it is a place where you come to die."
Sweat droplets dot Ndonga’s aging face as well as those of other prisoners. They say that since last December, 10 inmates have died of what they suspected to be tuberculosis.
Better attention and medication
When the coughing dies down, a hushed silence engulfs the room. Scraggy-haired prisoners stare with sad, pleading eyes.
"Every week, you hear someone has died," says Esther Waikuru, one of three paralegal officers assisting inmates to have their pending court cases speeded up.
"This is suffering like you can never imagine."
The patients suffer from a catalogue of diseases: some have
TB and HIV, which causes Aids, while others suffer from typhoid, pneumonia, skin conditions and injuries.
The room should hold no more than 10 patients but sometimes, the number rises to as many as 90.
Although many patients defy death, none knows how much longer they can last.
"When we are crowded like this, we can’t get well. Instead, we catch more diseases," Ndonga said.
Ailing prisoners are taken to the sick bay ostensibly to get better attention and medication. But they are shocked to find only misery and vermin, huge gobs of disease.
At least 40 of the prisoners in the sickbay are TB and HIV patients, says the officer in charge of the prison, Henry Kisingu. But few are on treatment and have not been put on antiretroviral drugs, which prolong life for HIV patients.
Dehumanising conditions
Despite their weakened bodies, which require good food, their daily meal is ugali and beans, often not well cooked. Sometimes, the sick ones are given rice.
Although patients with infectious diseases should be isolated from others, this has not been the case.
The sick bay is just one of the wards where inmates, most of them in remand, live in dehumanising conditions in the Meru Prison. The congestion is mainly caused by delays in the hearing of their cases.
As a result, the jail, built in 1962 to hold about 350 prisoners, is congested with more than 1,450.
The jail is a hallmark of neglect and abuse. Child offenders mingle with suspected murderers, violent robbers and rapists. Hardcore convicts criminals share halls with remandees accused of misdemeanours.
In the women’s section, infants accompanying their mothers sleep in the same cells with mentally unsound murder suspects.
With their trials still pending, the remand inmates are presumed innocent until proven otherwise. But the appalling conditions they live in appear to have condemned them to death already.
Patients often get re-infection
Kisingu says conditions in the jail are no fault of his and is beyond what the administration can do. He blames it on neglect of Kenya’s prisons over the years and says only expansion could solve the problem.
"We would like to hold TB patients separately from the others, but we have no space for that. Those who are nearly healed often get re-infected because they continue to stay together with the sick ones," said Kisingu.
"Because of overcrowding, we’ve not been able to give them the care that they deserve. The environment does not help them to get healed, " he said.
The 76 patients share eight mattresses, which they spread on the floor because the sickbay lacks beds.
There is more horror in this room, and across the jail. At one corner in the sickbay, a patient, deeply asleep, snores loudly beside a plastic bucket full of human waste. Another prisoner sits beside the bucket, his eyes wide open as if in a trance.
Patients say they use the bucket at night and empty it in the morning for use during the day. The room is crawling with vermin.
"Most times, there is no water and when we get it, it is never enough," another patient, Christopher Maore, amid coughs and sneezes.
No room to stretch legs out
Several prisoners, having stayed here for many years awaiting the conclusion of their cases, are dressed in worn-out clothes.
In Ward Four, John Ndichu and 235 others spend most of the day and night squatting. This is because if they sit, they would have to stretch their legs and there is no space for that.
Ndichu, 20, has dry, cracked lips with blood caked on them. He is dressed only in shorts. What remains of his only shirt is in tatters and is wrapped around his head.
"I have lived like this since I came here five months ago," he said.
Too tired and deprived of sleep, several prisoners doze while standing against walls in the hall that is as congested as the sickbay. Some have swollen legs because of spending too much time on their feet.
In the ward, every inch of space is so valued that prisoners take turns to sleep in two toilets.
"In the evening, we choose who will sleep in the toilets and in the main hall," said Francis Ngunja, pointing at the wet and filthy toilets.
"This is where I slept last night," he said. The toilets were long blocked and do not flush.
Every evening, inmates dry up the floor of the toilets and spread blankets to sleep on. The toilets take about 10 people.
Not that the blankets are worth the name. They are torn and brown with dirt. During the day, they hang from a wire fastened on the window. In a cell next to the toilet, prisoners can hardly sleep because water leaks in through the wall.
Venting out frustration through graffiti
Waikuru, the paralegal officer with the Legal Resources Foundation, says brawls are common in the wards at night.
"Some sleep while standing and fall on their colleagues," said Waikuru. "When that happens, fighting erupts."
With no signs of help, some prisoners only hope for divine intervention. Graffiti on walls reveal their frustration and yearning for better conditions — not from prison authorities but from God.
"Nothing but prayer," reads graffiti on the wall. "Keep praying, my brother." Another graffiti captures the tragedy of prison: "Never die alone."
Indeed, when a prisoner dies, he never dies alone. Inside a tiny cell where five prisoners died last year after they were allegedly beaten by warders, the situation remains the same as the time they died.
Prison authorities say the inmates died from suffocation due to congestion. New prisoners have taken up the space left by their dead colleagues in the six by seven feet cell, now housing eight prisoners.
"We fear something bad will happen," says an inmate in the cell, Muriithi Nkarisia. He looks healthy, but two of his cellmates have contracted tuberculosis. He says it is only a matter of time before he too comes down with it.
His colleagues are unlikely to die alone.
Social Justice is a concept that has fascinated philosophers ever since Plato rebuked the young Sophist, Thrasymachus, for asserting that justice was whatever the strongest decided it would be. In The Republic, Plato formalized the argument that an ideal state would rest on four virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.
Social Justice is distinct from justice as applied in the law — state-administered systems which label behavior as unacceptable, enforce a formal mechanism of control, and may produce results that do not match the philosophical definitions of social justice — and from more informal concepts of justice embedded in systems of public policy and morality, which differ among cultures and therefore lack universality. Social justice is also used to refer to the overall fairness of a society in its divisions and distributions of rewards and burdens and, as such, the phrase has been adopted by political parties with a redistributive agenda.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
All the log play a major role in enabling the fire to burn
The youth knows they have a leader who cares for them. See the box full of ball?
What a fellowship?
ANA BETU NIMWANKA BATHOME KITHOME KIA KINANDI NIUNTU KITHOMO NIKIO RUIGAI RWA MAA.
One Log does not kindle enough fire
MUGAMBI NI MUGAMBI WA MAA
The what makes a community to grow
Healing is a process that involves the mind, body, and soul. It is Mugambi's mission to heal the sacred body of God's children
IN TERMS OF EDUCATION, MUGAMBI HAS THE BEST AND FROM THE BEST INSTITUTIONS
MUGAMBI ENA KITHOMO KIA KUGANA
ASK THESE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS AND THEY WILL TELL YOU MUGAMBI MEANS WHAT HE SAYS.
St. Joseph's broke all the records during the time Mr Mugambi Arimi was the deputy Principal there. The achieved number 68 in the whole republic.
NO ROADS NO DEVELOPMENT
HAKUNA BARABARA HAKUNA MAENDELEO
ARIMI BA KAHAWA BAKARIWA MARII JA MAA
MUGAMBI ARIMI AND JOHN BUNGEI BEING FLAGED OFF BY THE DEO.
WHEN WE SHELF OUR SELFISHNESS WE CAN TRANSFORM ANY ENVIRONMENT
WHEN WE ARE READY TO BE MOLDED, GOD DOES HIS WORK IN A MYSTRIOUS WAY
DBS HAS PROVIDED THAT MOLDING FOR MUGAMBI
KAUWA KA KENYA POUD IMWE NDENE YA AMERICA NI $15. NIKI UNTU MURIMI ATIRIAGWA KINYA DOLLAR IMWE?
TIME HAS COME FOR SOMEBODY TO STAND ON THE HILL TOPS TO TELL THE WORLD ENOUGH!
TEA FARMERS SHOULD BE PAID THEIR DUES ON TIME AND THE RIGHT PRICE
WHY SHOULD HARD WORKING PEOPLE BE REDUCED INTO BEGGERS? BECAUSE CORRUPTION AND DON'T CARE ATTITUDE HAS PERMEATED EVERY FIBRE OF THOSE INCHARGE
CENTRAL IMENTI BANANAS
WATER FROM MT KENYA WILL BE THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF WATER CONTAMINATION AND SHORTAGE
THIS QUARRY MINER HAS A RIGHT TO HIS EFFORTS AND HARD WORK
AT TABATA QUARRY
WE DON'T NEED THIS
ROADS LIKE THIS ONE IS WHAT WE NEED
NI BARABARA ING'ANA CIINA RAMI?
ELECTRICITY WITHOUT UBAGUZI IS WHAT WE NEED
NIKI UNTU CITIMA CIIKAGIRWA NA KIMENYANO KANA UBAGUZI?
Our young people needs to assured that their futures matters like any other human being
WHY NOT THIS WAY MIGHTY PEOPLE OF CENTRAL IMENTI??
WE SHOULD RISE ABOVE THE LEBEL OF MEDIOCRITY WE HAVE BEEN SUBMERGED INTO ALL THESE YEARS
CORN/MAIZE FROM CENTRAL IMENTI
Mpempe nkunia imwe nandi ni sh1200.
WE NEED TO ANALYZE EACH OF THEM CAREFULLY
WHO IS WHO IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM? These are people who Kenyans have been looking at for leadership. How good have they been? Just check their history of lack of it.
MUGAMBI ARIMI PRESENTING MEDICAL SUPPLIES FROM AMERICA
WENDO BWA MUGAMBI BUTI MWANKA
ARIMI BA MAJANI CHAI BAITAGA NGUGI YA INYA INDI MARII TI JAMAA
FACTORY YA KAUWA YA NGARI
MUREGA GICHURU,KIBIU M'LAIBONI, NA JOHN MARION SORTING COFFEE BEANS
ABUNDI ANGARA MAIGENI BARIENDA BARABARA INJEGA CIAKIMIRIA MAIGA JA GWAKA NYOMBA CIETU NA TOWN CIETU
MUGAMBI KNOWS THE SOLUTION
ARIMI BA NGO'MBE CIA IRIA KINYA BOO BAKARIWA MARIII JAMEGA. Nandi iria kilo imwe ni sh22.
DAIRY FARMERS WILL NEVER BE PAID PEANUTS ANY MORE. IT IS THEIR RIGHT!
THE KENYAN CONSTITUENCIES
RUJI RWA KUNYUA MBERE YA MANTU JANGI JONTHE!!
WATER IS LIFE
OUR ROADS MUST BE GRADED IF NOT TARMACKED
Not country can progress with poor infrastructures. This has been the biggest stumbling block to the industrious and hard working people of Central Imenti. We have been given a raw deal all along because we are thought to sing to other people's tune. We have and can compose our tune by deciding to be self determining
About Me
- KENYA KENYANS HAVE ALWAYS NEEDED
- I LOVE PEOPLE IRRESPECTIVE OF THEIR SOCIAL BACKGROUND, CREED, RACE, NATIONALITY, GENDER AND CLASS
AT THE UNITED METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE IN NASHVILLE TENESSEEE
A good leader is always learning something new
Mugambi ni mugambi uti uguaa
