アメリカは明日、MLK( Martin Luther King Jr.)の誕生日を記念する祝日です。私のところも含めて会社関連は通常業務のところも少なくありませんが、学校などは休みのところが多いようです。
今日はIowa Caucasusに向けた民主党の最後の党大会の話題で持ちきりでしたが、同時にMLKについても多くのメディアが取り上げています。
CNNのWebでは次の記事がありましたが、彼の話は心に響きます。写真もCNNからです。
Looking for Martin Luther King's 'Dream'
このCNNの記事の中で、彼のスピーチ音声を聞くことの出来るサイトへのリンクがありました。アメリカで歴史的な100のスピーチを扱ったサイトのようで、いろいろと重宝しそうです。
ちょっと長くなりましたが、彼のスピーチの一部とサイトを紹介します。
http://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
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 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.
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.
いろいろな意味で噛みしめたいスピーチです。