Pakistan supports the Afghan leadership in the process of national reconciliation

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Pakistan will continue to support the reconciliation process led and directed by Afghans, for their benefit and negligible at the same time, instability in Pakistan. He stressed that peace in Afghanistan is very important for peace and security in Pakistan.

This came during an interview Gilani to the Senate delegation was received by the Afghan official residence in Islamabad this afternoon.

The Prime Minister said that Pakistan and Afghanistan, the victims of terrorism and that they should unite to fight the common enemy, pointing out that Pakistan has suffered because of terrorism that killed more than thirty thousand civilians and more than five thousand soldiers and security personnel.

And on Pakistan's decision not to attend the Bonn conference, the prime minister said that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has tried to persuade him to participate, but told him of his part that there is a lot of resentment in Pakistan, warning that he's fighting a war against terrorism can not fight a war or won, if not the people with him.

Gilani said that Secretary of State Hannah Rabbani Khar will visit Afghanistan tomorrow and meet with Afghan President, will also be invited to the Afghan President to visit Pakistan at the time of the joint session of Parliament so that He could also meet with political leadership
Of the country.

Gilani stressed the importance of exchange of parliamentary delegations to strengthen the fraternal relations between the two countries and their people .. and said that exchange of visits between parliamentarians is necessary to strengthen the bilateral relations and added that Pakistan has always made unremitting efforts and sincere to improve relations with Afghanistan.

He pointed out that Pakistan extended full cooperation with the Afghan team, who visited Islamabad to investigate the assassination of Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani, the Afghan peace envoy .. The Gilani said Pakistan is committed to completing construction of a road Torkham - Jalalabad.

Afghan Parliamentary delegation was composed of 12 members, led by virtue of the Pacific Muslimar, President of the Senate of Afghanistan "(Meshrano Jirga), arrived in Islamabad on Monday to meet the special invitation of the President of the Senate Farooq Naúq.

Pakistan supports the Afghan leadership in the process of national reconciliation

Pakistan Foreign Minister begins visit to Afghan capital

Pakistan Foreign Minister

Started and Foreign Minister of Pakistan Hannah Rabbani Khar on Wednesday visit to the Afghan capital of Kabul for talks with the Afghan leadership on the overall bilateral relations.



The radio said the Pakistani official Rabbani and arrived Tuesday morning on a visit to Kabul to hold talks with Afghan officials about the status of regional security and reconciliation process.



It was anticipated visit to Kabul in Khar to pave the way for the resumption of the peace efforts between the two countries, an effort that stopped after the assassination of the Afghan peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani in September / September.



For his part, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday that his country will continue to support the reconciliation process led and directed by Afghans, for their benefit and do not cause the same time, instability in Pakistan.



Gilani stressed that peace in Afghanistan is very important for peace and security in Pakistan.



The Prime Minister said that Pakistan and Afghanistan, the victims of terrorism, so they cooperate to fight this common enemy, pointing out that Pakistan has suffered because of terrorism that killed more than thirty thousand civilians from their children, as well as the number of more than five thousand soldiers and security personnel.



Gilani said that Pakistan's Foreign Minister Hanna Rabbani Khar is scheduled to be invited to the Afghan President to visit Pakistan at the time of the joint session of Parliament so that He could also meet the political leadership of the country.



The Gilani said Pakistan has always made great efforts to improve relations with Afghanistan, pointing to his country's cooperation with the Afghan team, who visited Islamabad to investigate the assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani, the Afghan peace envoy.



Gilani renewed emphasis on Pakistan's commitment to complete the construction of a road Torkham - Jalalabad.

Pakistan Foreign Minister begins visit to Afghan capital

Obama admits using spy planes in Pakistan and Iraq

President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama that he is waging strikes by drones against al Qaeda in Pakistan, now that Washington refrain yet officially confirmed the raids. During the question and answer session with the pioneers of the Internet on my Google and YouTube, Obama defended these operations, and said: «Of course, many of these strikes targeting the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan». And that «is keen that people understand that the drones do not cause the fall of a large number of civilian victims».
Obama said: «There is a belief that we fight a lot of strikes randomly. It targets specific actions, directed against the persons included on the list of terrorists and seeking exposure to the U.S. », saying« it is important that everyone understands that it be supervised very closely ».
In response to the words of U.S. President, Pakistan stressed that the raids carried out by drone illegal and counterproductive, and therefore is unacceptable, and that Islamabad would take a firm stand them.

Some flights in Iraq
In this context, the U.S. president said on the report of the New York Times under the title «U.S. aircraft without a pilot in the skies of Iraq raises resentment Iraqis»: The «truth of the matter we do not carry out air strikes from unmanned aircraft in Iraq». The «There are some acts of espionage to ensure the protection of our embassy compound». He added that the United States respects the sovereignty of all countries, even used the drones on the borders of countries.
For its part, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Victoria Nuland: It may be in the ministry program of drones used by «but very small and unarmed and unable to arms and is designed to provide assistance through the provision of images to us on our facilities to help protect them». The newspaper Al-Sabah said that the government and the House of Representatives rejected a U.S. plan to deploy reconnaissance aircraft under the pretext of protecting its diplomats, and saw the flight of any aircraft in Iraqi airspace without official permission, a violation and a violation of international conventions, and the terms of the security agreement signed between Baghdad and Washington.

Obama admits using spy planes in Pakistan and Iraq

India requests the extradition from Pakistan in Mumbai attacks

Mumbai attacks

New Delhi: India seeks the extradition of Hafiz Saeed, the master plan for the Mumbai attacks, two Pakistani intelligence officers as well as customers group "Lashkar" from Pakistan during the visit of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan scheduled for Mumbai Friday.


The newspaper "Aichiyan Egg" today that the National Investigation has decided not to wait to try those accused in the Mumbai attacks and start in pursuit of receipt of the defendants in the case pointed out that the anti-terrorism court Pakistani prosecute seven suspects, including the commander of the group "Lashkar" Zaki Rahman, accused of plotting and the financing of the attacks that occurred in 2008, killing 166 people.


She added that the Indian government will shortly written request to the United States to receive the American customer Pakistani origin David Coleman Headley and his colleague Tahor Rana, who conducted their trial in the United States, noting that the visit of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan for the Mumbai target recording the testimony of witnesses and investigators in the Mumbai attacks to help in the investigations conducted by the Pakistan on the subject.


The newspaper quoted sources in the National Investigative Service, the Ministry of the Interior Indian concerned about the slow trial in Pakistan and that the Commission will not wait for the completion of the trial and will request from Pakistan hand over seven co-defendants, asserting that the request for extradition will be made through diplomatic channels.

India requests the extradition from Pakistan in Mumbai attacks

Pakistan looking for reconciliation with Afghanistan

Pakistani Foreign Minister Hanna Rabbani Khar

The visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Hanna Rabbani Khar, Afghanistan, Wednesday to discuss the reconciliation efforts between the two countries, according to a press report.

The Pakistani newspaper The News that Hanna will head a small delegation on a trip one day to the Afghan capital Kabul in the first of February.

The Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani asked earlier this month, from Hana to go to Kabul before a summit on the future of Afghanistan.

Pakistan and boycotted last month's international conference on Afghanistan, Germany, aimed at the development of programs for the development of this country, after the government full responsibility for the security and development following the withdrawal of NATO forces him starting in 2014.

He criticized Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Pakistan's province of the Conference, and accused her of refusing to stand by the Afghan government in its efforts to find a political settlement with the Taliban.

The United States believes that Pakistan has a vital role in efforts to end the war in neighboring Afghanistan, where fighting NATO forces (NATO) led by the American Taliban.

Said Hanna told Reuters on January 19, said that relations
Pakistan with the United States is still outstanding after the air attack by NATO-border raid that killed Pakistani soldiers, and that Washington should not push her to pursue the armed groups or to work on their involvement in the Afghan peace process.

And accuses the United States, Afghanistan, Pakistan supported the Taliban.

Pakistan looking for reconciliation with Afghanistan

Afghan peace negotiations .. And the role of Pakistan

Afghan peace negotiations

Identical, said yesterday that the negotiations will be held between the Afghan government and the "Taliban" in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which supported the United States and Pakistan.
The source said an Afghan diplomat, "will attend a delegation from the Afghan government and the last of the" Taliban "to the Kingdom (Saudi Arabia) in an unspecified time for negotiations," explaining that he did not specify the place, too.
And on the presence of a third party negotiations, the source said, "Until now, there is no third party attended."
As I mentioned several sources that Pakistan and Afghanistan are trying to start negotiations with the "Taliban" in Saudi Arabia, which supported the United States.
A member of the leadership of the "Taliban" in the city of Quetta, western Pakistan: "The Afghan and Pakistani governments are pushing the idea that the" Taliban "to have a liaison office in Saudi Arabia because they believe they ruled out" from the forthcoming talks in Qatar between the rebel movement and the United States.
He added that "Pakistan is trying to divide the" Taliban "into two categories, one in Qatar in talks without involving Pakistan and other (insurgents) in favor of Pakistan are considered to have been marginalized, and they want another office in Saudi Arabia."
For his part, said an Afghan official source to the possibility of holding negotiations in Saudi Arabia or in Turkey, two countries which were proposed in the beginning to host the office for ¯ "Taliban."
Also plans to put pressure on Pakistan, Afghanistan to contact the leaders of the "Taliban" during a visit by Foreign Minister Hanna Rabbani Khar, Pakistan to Kabul and one-day, where Afghan officials hope to ease tension across the border and to pave the way for peace negotiations with the militants.
A spokesman for the Afghan Foreign Ministry Jinan G. Moses, "We hope to be launched (visit) a new phase in the relationship between the two countries."
Security sources said an Afghan high level: The Afghan officials Sistaanon visit Khar, to press for the connection Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the founders of the "Taliban" and was arrested in Pakistan in 2010, as well as other members of the Council of the "Taliban" which is known as the "Quetta Shura" the proportion of to the Pakistani city of Quetta, which is said to be the leaders of the movement where they live.
A security source said an Afghan high-level "when it comes to the Pakistani delegation here (Kabul), we will ask directly or contact the collective leadership of Quetta Mullah Baradar is being held by Pakistan as a gesture of goodwill."
The source, who requested anonymity: "We want truthful cooperation from Pakistan with regard to the peace talks."
He said an Afghan official in Riyadh said the peace talks between the "Taliban" and the Afghan government will be held in Saudi Arabia this year, but no date has been fixed.
These developments come after the announcement of a former official in the "Taliban" that the negotiators representing the movement in Qatar began preliminary talks with U.S. officials aimed at ending the war has continued for ten years in Afghanistan.
Molloy said Registry of religion who was the leader of the religious police during the reign of the "Taliban" (1996-2001) "has not yet started the actual peace talks, but they began the process of building confidence and will take some time."XX

Afghan peace negotiations .. And the role of Pakistan

Obama acknowledges the strikes of drones in Pakistan

Obama

Approved by U.S. President Barack Obama that the U.S. drone aircraft raids on a regular basis on sites believed to be strongholds of gunmen suspected of belonging to al-Qaeda in Pakistan.

Obama said that the raids "surgical strikes and intense against those listed on the terrorism list."
This is the first time that Washington has recognized publicly raids on sites tribe in Pakistan.

At the same time played down reports of Obama, who spoke about the United States use this type of aircraft in Iraq, saying that the drones are used to protect the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

He said the goal of limited use to "make the Iraqi embassy buildings are protected."

Obama made the remarks in a meeting took an hour on Google Plus Obama answered questions on the participants and the number fell to 130 thousand questions.

And about six people were invited to conduct the intervention with President Obama during the meeting and ask him questions directly.

This comes within the meetings and interventions by the U.S. administration officials, including Vice President Joe Biden on social networking sites continued for about a week.

In response to a question about raids drone extensively since taking office, Obama said the occurrence of these raids, noting that it "lies heavily on tribal sites in Pakistan."

He explained that "these raids targeting al-Qaeda members sheltering in the sites of the nature of the geographical and along the rugged border between Pakistan and Afghanistan."

Obama stressed that "it is important that everyone understands that this strikes a careful monitoring."

Little is known about the details of the raids secret supervised by the Central Intelligence Agency CIA and military target al-Qaeda and the Taliban in the mountainous areas in Pakistan.

According to a survey conducted by the French news agency, U.S. planes 64 raid in the area in 2011 after the numbering to 101 raid in 2010.

This raises the raids outrage in Pakistan as it strikes indiscriminately kill a large number of innocent civilians.

And increased feelings of anger toward the United States in Pakistan since the establishment of a special forces unit killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a secret operation last year.

Obama acknowledges the strikes of drones in Pakistan

America recognize: the doctor who Arshad Bin Laden was an agent of U.S. intelligence

Osama Bin Laden

The United States acknowledged publicly for the first time, that the Pakistani doctor who suspected a long time to collect vital evidence as a prelude to the assassination of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, was in fact acting for the benefit of U.S. intelligence.

He said U.S. Secretary of Defense to weigh Panetta, in a TV interview, "The doctor Shaquille Afridi has submitted evidence that the compound in Abbottabad, which has been tracking special courier to bin Laden, is already the leader of Al Qaeda hiding place." Have helped to information provided by the physician of President Barack Obama on the attack speed of the decision in May / May last to be killed bin Laden. To the Pakistan, which took place in great embarrassment, Afridi doctor arrested on charges of collaborating with foreign bodies, to be put in prison since then. Panetta said he was "very concerned" about the doctor. Panetta did not give any other details, but the records of the previous briefing, both in the United States or Pakistan has provided details of U.S. officials verify that the tall, bearded man who was spotted walking inside the compound was in fact bin Laden. Could not image a long-term to confirm the identity of the man, but the Americans were strongly suspected of having found their goal.
Recruitment has been Afridi doctor, medic, responsible for health in the Khyber, by the intelligence agency to collect evidence from the DNA of the children inside the compound to make sure they are the sons of bin Laden, who rarely went anywhere for a long time without them. The plan was to visit the compound to give children the hepatitis B vaccine as do local health program, with the use of nurse giving the vaccine in the collection of genetic samples, either through effects on blood samples from syringes, needles or through an electronic device with his campaign. Have been obtained the necessary evidence to make sure it is the right place.
Have embarrassed the process of Pakistan on several levels, first to the fact that the United States capable of launching such an operation on its territory, and secondly because they are not informed Pakistan what would be even finished the process, and thirdly by suggesting that the participation of Pakistan in the hunt for al Qaeda leader was not serious. He said Panetta that he should not forget the briefing the compound wall of a huge rise 18 feet surrounding the most complex in the region, which makes it necessary to ask for how not to cause it in any doubt of the Pakistani security services, stressing his conviction that there are members of the Pakistani government "knew the existence of an important person within the complex, "but not sure they knew that this person is bin Laden or not.
And on the charge of treason to the doctor Afridi, Panetta said that there was no treason in it, Pakistan and the United States have a common cause against terrorism, and Islamabad to take such action against a man who helped prosecute terrorism is "a real mistake." The news agency "Associated Press," Saturday, said Pakistan hopes to resolve the matter quietly, perhaps through the delivery of Afridi for the detention of the United States, according to two Pakistani officials, a request for anonymity, because of the continuing investigations.

America recognize: the doctor who Arshad Bin Laden was an agent of U.S. intelligence

US Holiday

US Holiday

Wheat prices in major western European markets edged higher on Monday as export-boosting weakness in the euro offset pressure from pre-weekend losses in Chicago, but a holiday closure in U.S. markets kept activity light.
* The euro stayed under pressure near a 17-month low against the dollar on Friday's downgrading of nine euro-zone countries, including France, by credit rating agency Standard & Poor's, and on stalled talks over Greece's debt.
* A softening euro helped European wheat stay in positive territory on Friday even as Chicago crop futures fell sharply on a corresponding rise in the dollar plus improving crop weather in Argentina.
* March milling wheat was up 0.25 percent or 0.13 percent at 197.25 euros a tonne by 1239 GMT. It continued to face resistance around 200 euros, with a key level seen at 203.50 euros, the peak of a rally at the turn of the year.
* "Prices are a touch higher with the help of the exchange rate," a French futures dealer said. "It's allowing us to be competitive in exports."
* French wheat scored its third straight tender sale to Egypt on Friday and was also seen as in contention to claim part of a major purchase by Algeria last week.
* In other export news, Tunisia issued an international tender to buy 125,000 tonnes of durum wheat.
* Colder weather in France since the end of last week was not seen as threatening crops because temperatures were not severe enough, with the cold rather seen as potentially beneficial to strengthen plants after very mild conditions since the autumn.
* In oilseeds, rapeseed futures were also slightly higher, with February up 0.75 euros or 0.17 percent at 451.25 euros a tonne.
* The weak euro and tight supply in Europe helped rapeseed hold up better last week than their lead market, U.S. soybeans, which were hit by bearish U.S. government estimates and the return of rain to drought-hit Argentina.

GERMANY
* Germany's market was little changed on late Friday levels, with support coming from a stable Paris market, export-boosting weakness in the euro and firm feed wheat demand.
* Standard bread-quality milling wheat for January delivery in Hamburg was offered for sale unchanged at 202 euros a tonne with buyers at around 200 euros.
* "The weaker euro will make the export outlook more positive at a time when competition from rivals like Argentina is flagging," one trader said. "But the lack of a lead from U.S. markets today means some people are restrained in trading."
* Short covering by animal feed makers was keeping German feed wheat prices at the same level or even higher than milling wheat, continuing a pattern seen last week.
* Feed wheat for delivery up to June in the South Oldenburg market near the Netherlands was offered for sale at 203 euros a tonne with buyers around 201 euros.
* "The new year holiday season in the Black Sea region has kept sales offers of feed wheat low which seems to be keeping spot demand for feed wheat high," another trader said.

US Holiday

Memogate

Memogate

Pakistani American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, at the heart of the Memogate scandal, asked the court to give him time till January 25 to come to Pakistan, reported Express News on Monday.
Ijaz’s lawyer Akram Sheikh read out his written statement during the proceedings of the Memogate scandal in the Islamabad High Court. A three-member bench, headed by Balochistan High Court (BHC) Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, heard the case.
Sheikh said that Ijaz was ready to come to Pakistan but he and his family have been receiving threats since the last proceeding of the case. Shaikh also told the court that Ijaz has applied for a visa at the Pakistani embassy in Switzerland and his appointment at the embassy is due at 3pm (PST) today.
Justice Isa responded by saying that the commission has limited time to conclude the case and it would be better if Ijaz comes to Pakistan as soon as possible.
The proceedings have been adjourned till January 24.
Speaking to the media outside the court, Sheikh said that the government should stop harassing Ijaz and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders should stop thinking about filing a case against him.
He said Ijaz had not come to Pakistan because the government was in his way. Sheikh alleged that the government did not want Ijaz to come to Pakistan to reveal everything.
A perturbed Sheikh also informed media persons that the court had been informed when Ijaz would be arriving but a schedule would not be revealed to the media.
According to recent reports, legal experts in the country expressed that Ijaz can be charged with ‘high-treason’ on his return to Pakistan, despite his American nationality.
Some reports had also suggested that Ijaz might appear before the court today (Monday) and arrangements were also finalised for his chartered flight.
Former Ambassador to US Husain Haqqani’s lawyer Zahid Bukhari, while talking to the media, said that he had always predicted Ijaz will not come to Pakistan. He added that Ijaz is making baseless excuses of worsening political situation and clash of institutions in the country for not coming, but the commission can’t wait for the situation to improve for Ijaz to arrive.
He added that, as per the commission’s orders, Haqqani’s BlackBerry was searched for, but the phone was not found.  “No one remembers their pin numbers. We have provided the commission with everything we have,” he added.
Bukhari also said that he advised the commission to not let Ijaz come to Pakistan as he had defied the orders twice by not coming to the country on the suggested dates. “I am not sure if the commission will take up my request.”
Later, during another media talk, Bukhari clarified that he had requested the commission to ask Ijaz to stay in the country till the proceedings of the case end; however, the case has rejected his request.
The commission said that Ijaz can leave whenever he wants to and he will be summoned again if need be, Bukhari added.

Memogate

I Have A Dream Speech

I Have A Dream Speech

Martin Luther King Jr. is celebrated today, Jan. 16, 2012. It's a great day to revisit the "I Have A Dream" speech he delivered in 1963 in Washington, D.C.
The full text is here, and can also watch MLK Jr. deliver the speech himself, via the YouTube video above.
Full text to the "I Have A Dream" speech:
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 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 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 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 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." 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 the security of justice. 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. 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 quick sands 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. 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 forever 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.
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 Whites 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 great 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 the storms of persecution 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 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, 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."
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, 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.
This is our hope. 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.
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."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious 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 snowcapped 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, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

I Have A Dream Speech

MLK

MLK

IN AUGUST OF 1963, as he stepped up to the lectern of history to deliver his monumental “I Have a Dream” speech on the National Mall, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was introduced as “the moral leader of our nation.”
Today, nearly 50 years later, the moral courage and conviction of Dr. King’s words seem to ring out as resonant as ever from every exalted valley, from hill and mountaintop — and from the modern prominent perch that is Google’s search homepage.
Google celebrates today’s Martin Luther King “Day of Service” holiday with a logo that features the preaching civil-rights leader — and that’s ringed with the inspiring words of that 1963 speech. Speaking with the Lincoln Memorial as resonant backdrop, King sonorously intoned: “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.”
One of those “four little chidren” — Martin Luther King III — is now president of the King Center, which today is making 200,000 of the Nobel Prize winner’s documents available for the first time online, at TheKingCenter.org (the project includes notes from that March of Washington speech).
Today’s “Google Doodle” was created by the Harlem-born artist and author Faith Ringgold , a professor emeritus at UCSD and “story quilter” whose first book, “Tar Beach,” received the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration.
Ringgold’s children’s books include “My Dream of Martin Luther King,” and her Doodle fittingly depicts several young faces.
The Doodle also includes the words “We shall overcome someday.” Not only did King deliver those words in speeches, of course, but the protest song “We Shall Overcome” became an anthem of the civil-rights movement — sung even by folk singer Joan Baez during that 200,000-strong “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.”
The Google Doodle’s figures are also joined by the red, white and blue ribboning of unity — a visual symbol that speaks to King’s calls for brotherhood and equality.
Dr. King’s March on Washington speech invokes the word “dream” nearly a dozen times, like a call-to-action echo. “For the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., dreaming was not optional,” Post columnist Gene Robinson wrote last week. “It was a requirement of citizenship to envision a fairer, more prosperous nation no longer shackled by racism and poverty. It was a duty to imagine a world no longer ravaged by senseless wars.
“His famous speech was less an invitation to share his epic dream than a commandment.”
Dr. King was born in Atlanta on Jan. 15, 1929, but his holiday is observed on third Monday of January. Martin Luther King Jr. Day began in 1976 — 18 years after his death by an assassin’s bullet in Memphis — but has only been celebrated in all 50 states since 2000.
As a Baptist minister who valued the teachings of Gandhi, King preached nonviolence as he helped lead the Montgomery (Ala.) bus boycott in 1955 and became president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. (In 2010, a Google Doodle honored civil-right figure Rosa Parks, whose refusal to surrender her seat spurred the boycott.)
In 1964, King became the youngest person ever to be honored with the Nobel Peace Prize, which he received for his work to end racial discrimination and segregation.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Jr. memorial in Washington opened to the public last fall. Last week, responding to a Post editorial and the subsequent fallout, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar gave the National Park Service 30 days to decide on a new version of a truncated quote that reportedly was shortened to fit on the memorial (a change said to be supported by Martin Luther King III). The line, in an over-aggrandizing fashion, currently misreads: “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.”
The holiday weekend is marked by countless tributes. On Sunday, wreaths were placed at the memorial and onlookers reportedly sang “Happy birthday.” On the eve of the holiday, the first family paid tribute as they attended Washington’s Zion Baptist.
Because the King holiday is also a national Day of Service, there are volunteer efforts across the country. Some of them may be found at All for Good and The Post’s site The Root DC.
Dr. King did not reach the mountaintop that he envisioned, but as Faith Ringgold depicts on Google today, the preached with a dream traveled many miles to illuminate the rest of the way.

MLK

Martin Luther King jr.

Martin Luther King jr.

It’s that time of year again, and we don’t mean the NFL postseason. Yes, Martin Luther King Day is upon us.
As many Americans know, the King commemoration is an unusual holiday in a number of respects. It’s one of only three federally authorized celebrations of individuals, the others being Washington’s Birthday and Columbus Day. It’s the newest US holiday, created in 1983. It’s been bolstered for 2012 by the opening of the new King memorial on the National Mall in Washington.
But here’s something many citizens may not know: It is really two holidays in one.
There’s the overall King Day, set in ’83 when President Reagan signed a bill putting it in federal law. And there’s the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, established when President Clinton signed the King Holiday and Service Act of 1994. King Service Day is meant to be a day of personal action in Dr. King’s memory on or near his holiday – as its boosters say, a day on, not a day off. It’s promoted by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that also runs AmeriCorps and similar initiatives.
Last year in Philadelphia, for instance, computer professionals got together to donate used PCs to city families who lacked Internet access. In Washington, President Obama and his kids helped paint a middle school. In Des Moines, Iowa, members of Habitat for Humanity built 25 sheds for needy homeowners.
Many cities have organized King Service Day efforts. Philadelphia may be the most notable example: This year organizers expect to attract 85,000 volunteers to some 1,300 projects.
But if your city isn’t doing that, or if you don’t live in a city, you can go to the official King Service Day website (mlkday.gov), enter your Zip Code, and find projects that are asking for volunteers.
Or organize your own. Plant trees in your neighborhood. Organize a book drive. Write letters to troops (the King website has tips on what to say and where to send them).
As King himself said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ ”

Martin Luther King jr.