On Monday, January 16, Americans will pay tribute to the legacy of slain civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in the annual national holiday that celebrates his birthday (January 15). More than 50 years ago, King campaigned across the United States, leading non-violent marches and demonstrations for equal rights for African Americans.
1月15日是被刺身亡的美国黑人民权领袖马.路德.金的生日。而马丁.路德.金生日之后的星期一则是法定的马丁.路德.金纪念日 - 美国的一个全国性节日。50多年前，马丁.路德.金走遍美国各地，领导非洲裔美国人通过非暴力游行示威来争取平等权利，这场运动对美国产生了深远的影响。
Martin Luther King Jr.'s rise as a civil rights leader began in 1955 when he spearheaded the drive to desegregate public buses in Montgomery, Alabama.
1955年，马丁.路德.金在美国南部阿拉巴马州蒙哥马利市率先发起了一场争取废除公共汽车上种族歧视规定的运动。从那时起，马丁.路德.金逐步跃升为一位民权领袖。
By August 1963, Reverend King's push for equal rights had become a national movement. That month, more than 250,000 people took part in the March on Washington. Led by King, it was designed to pressure lawmakers to pass a civil rights bill that would end racial discrimination. Former civil rights activist Roger Wilkins was there on the day marchers gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
1963年8月，马丁.路德.金推动平等权利的努力扩展成为一场全国范围的运动。当时，超过25万人参加了在首都华盛顿进行的游行。在马丁.路德.金的领导下，这场游行向国会议员施压，要求通过民权法案，结束种族歧视。前民权活动家罗杰.威尔金斯当时就在林肯纪念堂外聆听马丁.路德.金的讲话。
"It was a glorious warm summer day in which people were rejuvenated," Wilkins recalled. "There was just a good feeling of a country coming together. You really felt, I did for the first time in my life, the weight of America's conscience."
威尔金斯说：“那是一个温和而美好夏日，令人精神焕发，有一种全国团结一致的美好感觉。我第一次感到，美国人良心的重量。”
"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."
马丁.路德.金说：“我有一个梦，有一天，我的四个孩子将生活在这样一个国家，这个国家不用肤色，而是按照品格来衡量我的孩子。”
It was these non-violent protests and his speeches that drove the civil rights movement forward, and kept the nation focused on the issue of equality.
正是这些非暴力的抗议活动和马丁.路德.金的讲话推动民权运动向前发展，并让全国都关注平等问题。
King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, and that same year President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act and the following year the Voting Rights Act. The measures outlawed racial segregation in public places and discriminatory practices that prevented blacks from voting.
Martin Luther King's final campaign was in Memphis, Tennessee in March and April of 1968. He led a march in support of striking sanitation workers. But the protest turned violent when young militants began looting stores. King was distraught and vowed to return to Memphis to lead a peaceful march. On the night of April 4, 1968 at the Lorraine Motel, King was assassinated.
马丁.路德.金最后一次活动地点是1968年三四月的田纳西州孟菲斯。他带领游行队伍支持环卫工人的罢工。但抗议活动演变成暴力冲突，年轻的激进分子开始抢劫商店。马丁.路德.金悲痛欲绝，发誓要返回孟菲斯发起一场和平游行。1968年4月4日马丁.路德.金在洛林汽车旅馆被人暗杀。
Forty years later, King's life is celebrated with many of his dreams realized, including the election of Barack Obama as the nation's first African American president.
40年后，马丁.路德.金的许多梦想都得以实现，包括奥巴马成为美国第一位黑人总统。 |