by Martin Luther King, Jr.
August 28, 1963
Iam 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.1
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 light 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 still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles 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 languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.2 And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
Key Words & Sentences
go down (v): đi vào (lịch sử)
demonstration (n): minh chứng,
sự chứng thực
freedom (n): tự do
score (n): hai mươi
→ five score years: 100 năm
symbolic (adj): tượng trưng, biểu tượng
shadow (n): bóng, hình bóng
emancipation Proclamation (n): tuyên ngôn giải phóng nô lệ (bản tuyên ngôn của Abraham Lincoln)
momentous (adj): quan trọng
decree (n): sắc lệnh
beacon light (n): đèn hiệu
negro (n, adj): người da đen
slave (n): nô lệ
sear (v): khô héo, héo hon
flame (n): ngọn lửa
withering (adj): rẻ mạt, bị khinh miệt
injustice (n): sự bất công
joyous (adj): vui mừng, hân hoan
daybreak (n): buổi bình minh
captivity (n): tình trạng bị giam cầm
cripple (v): tê liệt
manacles (n): sự trói buộc, sự kìm hãm
segregation (n): sự chia cách
discrimination (n): sự phân biệt đối xử
poverty (n): nghèo nàn, thiếu thốn
in the midst of: giữa
prosperity (n): sự thịnh vượng
languish (v): héo hon, mờ nhạt
exile (n): kẻ tha hương, lưu vong
dramatize (v): làm rõ hơn
shameful (adj): đáng hổ thẹn
1 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.
2 One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.
In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our 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.1 This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable 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 which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”2
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.3
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no 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 promises of democracy.
Key Words & Sentences
in a sense (n): xét trên khía cạnh nào đó
capital (n): thủ đô
architect (n): kiến trúc sư
republic (n): giới
magnificent (adj): tuyệt diệu
promissory note (n): giấy nợ, giấy hẹn trả tiền
fall heir to: thụ hưởng
A as well as B: A cũng như B
guarantee (v): bảo lãnh
unalienable (adj): không thể chuyển nhượng, không thể nhường lại được
liberty (n): quyền tự do
pursuit (n): sự theo đuổi, mưu cầu
obvious (adj): rõ ràng, hiển nhiên
default (v): không trả được nợ, không trả đúng kỳ hạn
insofar as…: đến mức
concerned (adj): lo âu
honor (v): trân trọng, đề cao
sacred (adj): thiêng liêng
obligation (n): nghĩa vụ
insufficient (adj): không đủ, thiếu
fund (n): quỹ
refuse to (v): từ chối
justice (n): công lý
bankrupt (adj): phá sản
vault (n): kho, hầm
security (n): sự bảo đảm
hallowed (n): thần thánh
spot (n): nơi, điểm
remind A of B (v): nhắc A nhớ về B
fierce (adj): khốc liệt
urgency (n): tình huống khẩn cấp
engage in (v): tiến hành
luxury (n): xa xỉ
cooling off (adj): sự làm dịu bớt
tranquilize (v): làm cho yên lòng
gradualism (n): phương pháp từ từ
make real (v): thực tế hóa
democracy (n): dân chủ
1 When the architects of our 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.
2 Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”
3 And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
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 for all of God’s children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.1 Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And 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.2 And 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 forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.3 Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
Key Words & Sentences
desolate (adj): đổ nát, bị bỏ rơi
racial (adj): sắc tộc
quicksand (n): vùng cát lầy, vùng cát lún
solid (adj): rắn chắc
brotherhood (n): tình anh em
fatal (adj): vỗ béo
overlook (v): không nhìn thấy, bỏ qua
sweltering (adj): ngột ngạt
legitimate (adj): chính đáng
discontent (adj): không hài lòng
invigorating (adj): tiếp thêm sức lực
equality (n): sự bình đẳng
blow off (v): thổi tắt
content (adj): sẵn lòng
have a rude awakening (v): đánh thức một cách bất lịch sự, phá vỡ
tranquility (n): sự yên bình
grant (v): ban cho
whirlwind (n): cơn lốc, cơn gió cuốn
revolt (n): cuộc nổi loạn
foundation (n): nền móng
emerge (v): xuất hiện, nổi lên
threshold (n): ngưỡng cửa
process (n): quy trình
be guilty of (adj): tội lỗi, phạm tội
deed (n): hành động
seek (v): tìm kiếm
thirst for (v): khát vọng
bitterness (n): sự cay đắng
hatred (adj): hận thù
conduct (v): tiến hành
struggle (n): cuộc đấu tranh
dignity (n): chân giá trị
protest (v): phản kháng
degenerate (v): thoái hóa, suy đồi
violence (n): bạo lực
majestic (adj): uy nghi, oai vệ, tráng lệ
1 This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.
2 And 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.
3 We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.
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.1 And 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.2 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 a sign stating: “For Whites Only.”3 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.”
WAITING ROOM
FOR WHITES ONLY
<====
Key Words & Sentences
marvelous (adj): phi thường, tuyệt diệu
militancy (n): tính chiến đấu
engulf (v): nhấn chìm
evidence (v): chứng tỏ
(thường ở thể bị động)
come (v): đến
destiny (n): định mệnh
tie up (v): ràng buộc, gắn bó
inextricably (adv): không thể tách rời
bind (v): ràng buộc
(bind – bound – bound)
pledge (n): lời thề, lời cam kết, đảm bảo
devotee (n): người sùng bái
civil rights (n): quyền công dân, dân quyền
as long as: miễn là
victim (n): nạn nhân
horror (n): sự kinh hoàng, sự sợ hãi
brutality (n): sự tàn bạo
fatigue (n): sự mệt mỏi, sự mệt nhọc
lodging (n): chỗ trọ, chỗ trú, nhà nghỉ
mobility (n): biến đổi, sự di chuyển
ghetto (n): khu nhà ổ chuột
strip A of B (v): tước mất B của A
selfhood (n): cá tính
rob A of B (v): cướp đoạt B của A
state (n): Nhà nước
vote (v): bỏ phiếu, bầu cử
roll down (v): chuyển động từ vị trí
cao xuống vị trí thấp
righteousness (n): sự công bằng
mighty (adj): hùng mạnh
1 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.
2 We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.
3 We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: “For Whites Only.”
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest – quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.1 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 northern 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. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”2
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 injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.3
Key Words & Sentences
unmindful (adj): quên
trial (n): sự thử thách, nỗi gian nan
tribulation (n): hoạn nạn
narrow (adj): chật, hẹp
cell (n): xà lim
quest for (n): đòi hỏi, yêu cầu
battered (v): méo mó
persecution (n): sự khủng bố, sự ngược đãi
stagger (v): loạng choạng
veteran (n): cựu chiến binh
suffering (n): sự đau đớn, sự đau khổ
faith (n): niềm tin
unearned (v): không xứng đáng, không tương xứng
redemptive (n): sự cứu vãn, sự cứu chuộc
slum (n): khu nhà ổ chuột
wallow (v): đắm mình
despair (n): sự tuyệt vọng
face v): đối mặt
root (v): ăn sâu, bén rễ
creed (n): tín ngưỡng
hold (v): nắm chặt
self-evident (adj): hiển nhiên
create (v): tạo nên
former (adj): trước, cựu, cũ
owner (n): người chủ
oppression (n): đàn áp
transform (v): biến đổi
1 And some of you have come from areas where your quest--quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.
2 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.”
3 I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, 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” – one day right there 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.1
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”2
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I 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 stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.3
Key Words
judge (v): phán xét, phân biệt
content (n): nội dung, phần hàm chứa bên trong
character (n): tính cách
vicious (adj): khắc nghiệt, dữ dội
racist (n): sự phân biệt chủng tộc
governor (n): người thống trị, nhà cầm quyền
drip with (v): ướt sũng, ướt đẫm
interposition (n): sự can thiệp
nullification (n): sự hủy bỏ
exalt (v): nâng cao
rough (n): thô ráp, gồ ghề
plain (v): bằng phẳng
crooked (adj): quanh co
reveal (v): công khai
flesh (n): máu thịt
hew (v): đào ra, bổ ra được một điều gì đó
jangle (v): kêu chói tai
discord (n): nốt nghịch tai (nốt nhạc)
symphony (n): bản giao hưởng
stand up for: đứng lên cho
Key Sentences
1 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” -- one day right there 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.
2 I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together”.
3 With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day – this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:1
My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. / Land where my fathers 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.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.2
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 Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:3
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
Key Words
‘tis = it is (từ viết tắt)
thee (pronoun): Ngài (Chúa), của các bạn (từ cổ)
pride (n): niềm tự hào
mountainside (n): sườn núi
prodigious (n): phi thường
heightening (n): sự nâng cao
snow-capped (adj): bị tuyết phủ
curvaceous (adj): thẳng
slope (n): con dốc
not only: không chỉ
molehill (n): đụn đất do chuột chũi đào lên
hamlet (n): thôn xóm
gentile (n): người theo đạo Cơ Đốc
spiritual (n): những gì thuộc vềtâm hồn, tinh thần
almighty (n): vạn năng, tối cao, vĩ đại
Key Sentences
1 And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:
2 And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
3 And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Understanding the Speech
What are the social and historicalbackground behind world-famous speeches? Knowing them will be helpful to understanding each speech.
Discrimination and Martin Luther King
To better understand the famous “I Have a Dream” speech, it’s important to realize where Martin Luther King spoke. He gave this speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. The speech began with the words: “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.” Of course, King was referring to Abraham Lincoln. At the Lincoln Memorial, there is a huge sculpture of Lincoln sitting in a great chair. Anyone who stands before this statue can feel the powerful influence it seems to have. This is what King means when he says they are standing in the “symbolic shadow” of this great American president.
Lincoln freed the slaves when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation. However, 100 years later, blacks were not truly free. After decades of injustice, blacks in the 1960’s were determined to establish their rights as truly equal citizens in American society. These efforts became known as the “Civil Rights Movement”. Some black leaders encouraged the use of violence. However, King became famous for his determination to use non-violent means. He encouraged blacks to go on peaceful marches, strikes, and mass demonstrations. Today, American society is one of the most racially tolerant societies in the world thanks to leaders like King.
refer to (v): ám chỉ đến, nói đến
sculpture (n): tác phẩm điêu khắc
influence (n): sự ảnh hưởng
determined (adj): kiên quyết, nhất định
civil rights movement (n): phong trào dân quyền
strike (n): cuộc đình công
tolerant (adj): khoan thứ, tôn trọng