DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING NA HOTUBA YAKE ''I HAVE A DREAM''

Utangulizi

Dr. Martin Luther King

Dr. Martin Luther King aliuawa kwa kupigwa risasi tarehe 4 April 1968 akiwa na umri wa miaka 39 na alizikwa siku kama ya leo tarehe 9 April 1968. Mwaka wa 1968 mimi nilikuwa kidato cha pili. Palifanyika mashindano ya shule za Dar es Salaam yakiitwa ''English Elocution,'' ambako wanafunzi walikuwa wanakariri kitu chochote kwa Kiingereza na kusoma mbele ya watu ghibu, yaani bila ya kusoma mahali. Mwalimu wangu wa Kiingereza mama mmoja wa Kiingereza aliyekuwa akitufunza lugha ya Kiingereza kwa msaada wa British Council Mrs. Grant alinichagua kuwa mmoja wa washindani mchujo ukiianza shule kabla ya kwenda kwenye mashindano. Mimi nilichagua hotuba ya Martin Luther King, '' I have a Dream.'' Bahati mbaya sikupita ule mchujo ingawa niliweza kuikariri hotuba yote kwa kichwa. Mrs. Grant alinambia nimeshindwa kwa ajili ya matamshi yangu. Nadhani lafidh yangu ya Kiingereza haikuwa na mvuto. Shule yangu St. Joseph's Convent ilikuwa shule siku hizi ingeitwa ''English Medium,'' na nilishindana na wanafunzi ambao walisoma Kiingereza toka chekechea. Wakasoma shule za kutajika kama Salvatorian, St. Xavier, Aga Khan shule ambazo lugha ya kufundishia ilikuwa Kiingereza. Mimi natokea Kinondoni Primary School sikuweza kupambana na zile ''English accent,'' zao ambazo ukiwasikia wakizungumza Kiingereza unafurahi. Kiingereza changu na lafidhi ya Kariakoo sikufua dafu ingawa huko nilikotoka nikiogopewa na wenzangu kwa Kiingereza lakini katika mji wa vipofu, chongo ni mfalme. Kiingereza nilichosomeshwa Kinondoni Primary School na Peace Corp Mwalimu Mmarekani Romenesko hakikufua dafu. Leo asubuhi wakati nasoma Mwananchi na kukuta kuwa siku kama ya leo ndiyo alizikwa Martin Luther King mkasa wa mashindano yale ukanijia na ndiyo sababu ya kuandika maneno haya. Lakini kubwa ni kuwa nilifika Washington Lincoln Memorial ambako Martin Luther King alitoa hii hotuba mashuhuri duniani na nikapiga picha pale aliposimama kuhutubia.

Mwandishi akiwa Lincoln Memorial Washington DCmahali
Dr. Martin Luther King alipotoa hotuba yake maarufu
''I Have a Dream'' mwaka wa 1963
Picha imepigwa na Dr. Harith Ghassany

Excerpt from Martin Luther King's “I Have a Dream” Speech

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered this speech on August 28, 1963, on the steps of the Washington, D.C., Lincoln Memorial during the march on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. For the full text, see the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers project at Stanford University, www.stanford.edu/group/king .

''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 a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four 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.''