I have a Dream
A wonderful speech, full of passion and truth. The mos significant speech ever made during the election month.
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 Kamza the sons of the Tosks and the sons of the Ghegs will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the city of Tirana, a city 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 chicken will one day live in a farm where they will not be judged by the color of their feathers but by the quality of their eggs.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Albania, with its vicious Blloku geeks, with the Governor of the Bank having his pants dripping with money; one day right there in Albania, little DP boys and girls will be able to join hands with little fresh SP boys and 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 Albania is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of Koder Kamza. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountain of Dajti. Let freedom ring from the heightening valleys of Tropoxha!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill. 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, Vlora men and Lushnja women, Jews and Gentiles, Moslems and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Tallawa song, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
