By Chelsea Albers, JMI Intern and Florida State University Junior in International Affairs & Languages
July 4th, 1776 marked the day that our Founding Fathers declared their American Dream in a revolutionary document entitled The Declaration of Independence: that all men are created equal; that governments are instituted among men; and that we are born with certain unalienable rights which are endowed to us by our Creator.On August 28th, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of the same dream for America that our Founding Fathers had dreamed, and he peacefully advocated for this dream to become a reality:“[I] have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”Rather than focus on America’s history of oppression, Dr. King looked to the future and saw America’s potential. MLK did not wish to punish America, rather he advocated that America raise itself up and exemplify the ideals upon which it was created:“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’.”MLK longed that all Americans, regardless of race, would enjoy the freedoms printed in our Constitution and that we would stand united as a stronger nation:“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 a table of brotherhood.”Dr. King fought and ultimately lost his life out of a love for his country and the potential it possessed as the home of the free; he fought so that the American Dream could become a reality for every American and without a doubt, he was inspired by the Founding Principles upon which our country was built.”This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, ‘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’.”
2011
