名人小故事 政界精英10：Martin Luther King 马丁·路德·金

Martin Luther King

马丁·路德·金

Martin Luther King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was the minister of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, as was his father before him "M.L," as he was called, lived with his parents, his sister and brother in Atlanta, Ga. Their home was not far from the church his father preached and father taught their children what would become an important part of M. L.'s life-to treat all people with respect.

马丁·路德·金1929年1月15日出生于佐治亚州的亚特兰大。其父是埃比尼亚泽洗礼堂的牧师，和他父亲一样，他也被叫做“马丁·路德”，他与父母，兄妹同住在亚特兰大。他们家离父亲布道的教堂不远，同时父亲也教给了马丁·路德·金人生中重要的信条:尊重所有的人。

Martin’s father worked hard to break down the barriers between the races. His father believed African- Americans should register their complaints by voting. As M.L. grew up he found that not everyone followed his parents’principles. He noticed that "black" people and white people were treated differently. He saw that he and his white friends could not drink from the same water fountains and could not use the same restrooms.

马丁的父亲致力于消除种族隔阂。他相信美国黑人应该通过选举来表达他们的不满。当马丁长大后发现并非每个人都遵从父母的信条。他注意到“黑皮肤的”人和白人所受的对待是不同的。他看到他和他的白人朋友们不能在同一个水坛饮水并且不能共用一个厕所。

When M.L.was ready for college he decided to follow his father and become a minister. While attending the Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania he became familiar with Mahatma Gandhi, who had struggled to free the people of India from British rule by "peaceful revolution".

当马丁要上大学时，他决定像他父亲一样当一名牧师。在宾夕法尼亚克隆泽神学院上学时，他知道了圣雄甘地，了解到甘地通过“非暴力革命”的斗争将印度人民从英国统治中解放出来。

Martin Luther King's involvement with the civil rights movement began with the arrest of Mrs. Rosa Parks, was arrested for not giving a white bus rider her seat,  Mrs. Parks was not the first African-American to be arrested for this "crime"，but she was well known in the Montgomery African-American community.

马丁·路德·金参与民权运动是从1955年12月1日开始的，其原因是罗莎·帕克斯夫人的被捕。帕克斯夫人是由于未给一名白人乘车者让座而被捕。帕克斯夫人已不是第一个因为这种“罪”而被捕的美国黑人了，而她在蒙哥马利的美国黑人社区中颇有名气。

Martin and the other African-American community leaders felt a protest was needed. The African-American residents of the city were asked to boycott the bus company by walking and driving instead. The United States Supreme Court would end the boycott, which lasted 381 days, by declaring that Alabama's state and local laws requiring segregation on buses were illegal. The boycott was a success and Martin had showed that peaceful mass action could bring about change.

马丁和其他美国黑人社区的领袖们感觉进行抗议势在必行。他们要求该市的美国黑人居民步行和自己驾车来抵制汽车公司。美国最高法院宣布阿拉巴马州和地方法令规定的公共汽车上的种族隔离是违法的，从而结束了这次持续了381天的抵制。马丁通过这次成功的抵制行动表明，非暴力的群众斗争能够改变现状。