19xx年1月15日，小马丁·路德·金出生在美国亚特兰大市奥本街501号，一幢维多利亚式的小楼里。他的父亲是牧师，母亲是教师。他从母亲那里学会了怎样去爱、同情和理解他人；从父亲那里学到了果敢、坚强、率直和坦诚。但他在黑人区生活，也感受到人格的尊严和作为黑人的痛苦。15岁时，聪颖好学的金以优异成绩进入摩尔豪斯学院攻读社会学，后获得文学学士学位。
尽管美国战后经济发展很快，强大的政治、军事力量使它登上了“自由世界”盟主的交椅。可国内黑人却在经济和政治上受到歧视与压迫。面对丑恶的现实，金立志为争取社会平等与正义作一名牧师。他先后就读于克拉泽神学院和波士顿大学，于19xx年获神学博士学位后，到亚拉巴马州蒙哥马利市得克斯基督教浸礼会教堂作牧师。
19xx年12月，蒙哥马利节警察当局以违反公共汽车座位隔离条令为由，逮捕了黑人妇女罗莎·帕克斯。金遂同几位黑人积极分子组织起“蒙哥马利市政改进协会”，号召全市近5万名黑人对公共法与公司进行长达1年的抵制，迫使法院判决取消地方运输工具上的座位隔离。这是美国南部黑人第一次以自己的力量取得斗争胜利，从而揭开了持续10余年的民权运动的序幕，也使金博士锻炼成民权运动的领袖。
19xx年4月4日，金被种族分子暗杀。
美国政府规定，从19xx年起，每年1月的第3个星期一为小马丁·路德·金全国纪念日。
关于非暴力主张
伴随着种族主义长大的马丁·路德·金，深受种族主义的伤害，所以他积极参加反对种族隔离制度的斗争。但他主张的却是非暴力的斗争，而这种斗争方式的确是有思想原因的。他受甘地主义和基督教教义影响很深，是一位典型的和平主义者。他强调在争取黑人自由平等权利的斗争中，不应干违法的事，不能让“创造性的抗议堕落成为暴力行为”，必须要有“用精神力量对付武力”的崇高境界。这里的精神力量在他看来，就是要以基督教宣传的“博爱”、“仁慈”来感化黑人的敌人并使之放下屠刀。
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金之所以有这种思想与其青年时的学习有直接关系的。他在宾夕法尼亚的克罗泽学院学习时，利用业余时间，阅读了著名的神学著作——人们写的关于信仰的书，还有哲学著作——关于生活方式的书。这些书的思想给其留下了深刻的印象，并最终用于实践。但使马丁·路德·金最为激动的则是圣雄甘地的思想。甘地的非暴力，或称精神力量的哲学是印度人民对抗英帝国主义政治、军事力量的精神支柱。印度人民不断举行示威游行，反对外国政治的统治，无论这样统治是否出于善意。也无论是否正确，他们要自己来做出决定。
甘地说虽然他们必须准备好为取得独立而牺牲自己的生命，他们也决不可为此而进行杀戮——不管受到多么粗暴的对待。
马丁开始相信在印度能取得胜利，在美国也可以。他用自己的行动领导了一场声势浩大的以非暴力为原则的民权运动。
本次演讲背景
50年代的美国南部，好像一座对付“解放了的”黑人的监狱。而阿拉巴马州又是种族歧视最为猖獗的一个州，在这里，黑人的选举权力受到野蛮剥夺和限制，骇人听闻的迫害黑人的私刑暴行不断发生，种族隔离制度使黑人不能与白人同校，不能在同一个教堂做礼拜，不准进入为白人开设的旅馆、客栈、饭馆和娱乐场所，连公共汽车站上也树立了栅栏，规定白人黑人分别上车。
年轻的伴随着种族主义歧视长大的黑人牧师马丁·路德·金到任不久，便参加并领导了19xx年蒙哥马利市黑人抵制乘坐公共汽车的反种族歧视运动，最终迫使美国最高法院作出取消这种制度的决定。19xx年他组织的伯明翰黑人争取自由平等权利的大规模游行示威，把黑人运动从南方推向北方。8月28日，斗争达到高潮。25万人聚集首都华盛顿，以和平集会方式举行“自由进军”的示威，就在林肯纪念堂前，马丁·路德·金向示威群众发表了这篇激动人心的演说。在演讲中，表达了他的非暴力主义思想以及他对自由平等公正的追求与憧憬。
马丁路德金演讲稿 I have a dream
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. 今天，我高兴地同大家一起，参加这次将成为我国历史上为了争取自由而举行的最伟大的示威集会。
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. 2
100年前，一位伟大的美国人——今天我们就站在他象征性的身影下——签署了《解放宣言》。这项重要法令的颁布，对于千百万灼烤于非正义残焰中的黑奴，犹如带来希望之光的硕大灯塔，恰似结束漫漫长夜禁锢的欢畅黎明。
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 languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
然而，100年后，黑人依然没有获得自由。100年后，黑人依然悲惨地蹒跚于种族隔离和种族歧视的枷锁之下。100年后，黑人依然生活在物质繁荣翰海的贫困孤岛上。100年后，黑人依然在美国社会中间向隅而泣，依然感到自己在国土家园中流离漂泊。所以，我们今天来到这里，要把这骇人听闻的情况公诸于众。
In a sense we've 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."
从某种意义上说，我们来到国家的首都是为了兑现一张支票。我们共和国的缔造者在拟写宪法和独立宣言的辉煌篇章时，就签署了一张每一个美国人都能继承的期票。这张期票向所有人承诺——不论白人还是黑人——都享有不可让渡的生存权、自由权和追求幸福权。然而，今天美国显然对她的有色公民拖欠着这张期票。美国没有承兑这笔神圣的债务，而是开始给黑人一张空头支票——一张盖着“资金不足”的印戳被退回的支票。
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. And so, we've come to cash this check, a 3
check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
但是，我们决不相信正义的银行会破产。我们决不相信这个国家巨大的机会宝库会资金不足。因此，我们来兑现这张支票。这张支票将给我们以宝贵的自由和正义的保障。
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 quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
我们来到这块圣地还为了提醒美国：现在正是万分紧急的时刻。现在不是从容不迫悠然行事或服用渐进主义镇静剂的时候。现在是实现民主诺言的时候。现在是走出幽暗荒凉的种族隔离深谷，踏上种族平等的阳关大道的时候。现在是使我们国家走出种族不平等的流沙，踏上充满手足之情的磐石的时候。现在是使上帝所有孩子真正享有公正的时候。
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. And 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. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.
忽视这一时刻的紧迫性，对于国家将会是致命的。自由平等的朗朗秋日不到来，黑人顺情合理哀怨的酷暑就不会过去。19xx年不是一个结束，而是一个开端。 如果国家依然我行我素，那些希望黑人只需出出气就会心满意足的人将大失所望。在黑人得到公民权之前，美国既不会安宁，也不会平静。
The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
反抗的旋风将继续震撼我们国家的基石，直至光辉灿烂的正义之日来临。
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 4
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.
但是，对于站在通向正义之宫艰险门槛上的人们，有一些话我必须要说。在我们争取合法地位的过程中，切不要错误行事导致犯罪。我们切不要吞饮仇恨辛酸的苦酒，来解除对于自由的饮渴。我们应该永远得体地、纪律严明地进行斗争。我们不能容许我们富有创造性的抗议沦为暴力行动。我们应该不断升华到用灵魂力量对付肉体力量的崇高境界。
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. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
席卷黑人社会的新的奇迹般的战斗精神，不应导致我们对所有白人的不信任——因为许多白人兄弟已经认识到：他们的命运同我们的命运紧密相连，他们的自由同我们的自由休戚相关。他们今天来到这里参加集会就是明证。
We cannot walk alone.
我们不能单独行动。
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
当我们行动时，我们必须保证勇往直前。
We cannot turn back.
我们不能后退。
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 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."
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有人问热心民权运动的人：“你们什么时候会感到满意？”只要黑人依然是不堪形容的警察暴行恐怖的牺牲品，我们就决不会满意。只要我们在旅途劳顿后，却被公路旁汽车游客旅社和城市旅馆拒之门外，我们就决不会满意。只要黑人的基本活动范围只限于从狭小的黑人居住区到较大的黑人居住区，我们就决不会满意。只要我们的孩子被“仅供白人”的牌子剥夺个性，损毁尊严，我们就决不会满意。只要密西西比州的黑人不能参加选举，纽约州的黑人认为他们与选举毫不相干，我们就决不会满意。不，不，我们不会满意，直至公正似水奔流，正义如泉喷涌。
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. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- 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.
我并非没有注意到你们有些人历尽艰难困苦来到这里。你们有些人刚刚走出狭小的牢房。有些人来自因追求自由而遭受迫害风暴袭击和警察暴虐狂飙摧残的地区。你们饱经风霜，历尽苦难。继续努力吧，要相信：无辜受苦终得拯救。回到密西西比去吧；回到亚拉巴马去吧；回到南卡罗来纳去吧；回到佐治亚去吧；回到路易斯安那去吧；回到我们北方城市中的贫民窟和黑人居住区去吧。要知道，这种情况能够而且将会改变。
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And 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.
我们切不要在绝望的深渊里沉沦。朋友们，今天我要对你们说，尽管眼下困难重重，但我依然怀有一个梦。这个梦深深植根于美国梦之中。
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."
我梦想有一天，这个国家将会奋起，实现其立国信条的真谛：“我们认为这些真理不言而喻：人人生而平等。”
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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.
我梦想有一天，在佐治亚州的红色山岗上，昔日奴隶的儿子能够同昔日奴隶主的儿子同席而坐，亲如手足。
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. 我梦想有一天，甚至连密西西比州——一个非正义和压迫的热浪逼人的荒漠之州，也会改造成为自由和公正的青青绿洲。
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.
我梦想有一天，我的四个小女儿将生活在一个不是以皮肤的颜色，而是以品格的优劣作为评判标准的国家里。
I have a dream today!
我今天怀有一个梦。
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.
我梦想有一天，亚拉巴马州会有所改变——尽管该州州长现在仍滔滔不绝地说什么要对联邦法令提出异议和拒绝执行——在那里，黑人儿童能够和白人儿童兄弟姐妹般地携手并行。
I have a dream today!
我今天怀有一个梦。
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and 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."? 我梦想有一天，深谷弥合，高山夷平，歧路化坦途，曲径成通衢，上帝的光华再现，普天下生灵共谒。
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This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
这是我们的希望。这是我将带回南方去的信念。
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.
有了这个信念，我们就能从绝望之山开采出希望之石。有了这个信念，我们就能把这个国家的嘈杂刺耳的争吵声，变为充满手足之情的悦耳交响曲。有了这个信念，我们就能一同工作，一同祈祷，一同斗争，一同入狱，一同维护自由，因为我们知道，我们终有一天会获得自由。
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
到了这一天，上帝的所有孩子都能以新的含义高唱这首歌：
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. 我的祖国，可爱的自由之邦，我为您歌唱。
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, 这是我祖先终老的地方，这是早期移民自豪的地方，
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
让自由之声，响彻每一座山岗。
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. 如果美国要成为伟大的国家，这一点必须实现。
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
因此，让自由之声响彻新罕布什尔州的巍峨高峰！
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. 让自由之声响彻纽约州的崇山峻岭！
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania.
让自由之声响彻宾夕法尼亚州的阿勒格尼高峰！
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. 让自由之声响彻科罗拉多州冰雪皑皑的洛基山！
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. 让自由之声响彻加利福尼亚州的婀娜群峰！
But not only that:
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不，不仅如此；
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
让自由之声响彻佐治亚州的石山！
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. 让自由之声响彻田纳西州的望山！
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. 让自由之声响彻密西西比州的一座座山峰，一个个土丘！
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
让自由之声响彻每一个山岗！
And when this happens, when we allow freedom 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:
当我们让自由之声轰响，当我们让自由之声响彻每一个大村小庄，每一个州府城镇，我们就能加速这一天的到来。那时，上帝的所有孩子，黑人和白人，犹太教徒和非犹太教徒，耶稣教徒和天主教徒，将能携手同唱那首古老的黑人灵歌： Free at last! free at last!
“终于自由了！终于自由了！
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
感谢全能的上帝，我们终于自由了！”
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