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3d

Voices of our American Principles

Many influential people have spoken or written about how diverse Americans have put our principles into practice.

Talk with your family and friends about the character of the person speaking, the American principles they exemplify and how those American principles are still relevant to our lives today.

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, live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

… 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 the 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.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Minister and Civil Rights Leader, Nobel Peace Prize Recipient
(1929-1968)

[A student once] said, ‘What do you mean about the American Dream? There’s no such thing as the American Dream.’

I said, ‘Yes, there is. I am a product of the American Dream. You just have to fight hard. You have to fight, you have to study and make sure that whatever you want, there’s nothing that can stop you.’

Sylvia Mendez
Civil Rights Leader, National Medal of Freedom Recipient
(born 1936)