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I Have A Dream

from Green Album by Ari Lesser

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A rhymed version of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have A Dream" speech given on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

lyrics

I Have A Dream

This event will go down as the greatest demonstration
For freedom in the history of our entire nation
Long ago Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation
And yet we still face segregation and discrimination

We have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check
Promised to us in the words of our republic’s architects
It was a promise that all men, black men as well as white
Would be guaranteed certain unalienable rights

Life, liberty, and happiness are the ideals that were exalted
But it is obvious today that America has defaulted
Instead of honoring this obligation as it should have done
We got a bad check that came back marked insufficient funds

The bank of justice is not bankrupt, I refuse to believe it
We’ll demand a check that gives us the riches of freedom until we achieve it
So when you return to the racist south, or the ghettos of the north
Know that somehow a better future will come forth

Let us not wallow in the valley of sorrow
Though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow
I still have a dream, to you my friends I say
Deeply rooted in America, I have a dream today

I have a dream that the truth will no longer be debated
It will be evident that equal is how all men are created
I have a dream that former enemies will not see themselves as others
And sons of slaves and slave-owners will sit together as brothers

I have a dream that Mississippi, sweltering in the heat of injustice
Will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice
I have a dream that in this nation my four little children
Will be judged by their character, not the color of their skin

I have a dream that in Alabama, that vicious racist land
Little black and white children will come together and join hands
I have a dream for every valley and mountain beneath the sun
That all the people of this earth will see the Lord as One

And I know that some day if I keep on dreaming
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!’

If America’s to be a great nation, this is required
Let freedom ring from Pennsylvania, New York, and New Hampshire
Let freedom ring from the slopes of Colorado and California
Let freedom ring from the mountains of Tennessee and Georgia

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi
Let freedom ring from every hamlet, village, state, and city
Let freedom ring from Jewish Synagogues and Catholic Mass
And then we’ll sing, ‘Thank God Almighty, we are free at last’

credits

from Green Album, track released July 30, 2008
Martin Luther King Jr.: Inspiration

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about

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Ari Lesser Cleveland

Ari Lesser is a singer, songwriter, rapper, and spoken word artist from Cleveland, Ohio. He has performed all over the world, and written hundreds of songs on a wide range of subjects. Ari’s repertoire is expansive, touching on everything from history, to animals, to Star Wars, but now his focus and passion is making music based on the Torah. ... more

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