英语名人堂：马丁路德金

马丁·路德·金(Martin Luther King, Jr.，1929年1月15日-1968年4月4日)，著名的美国民权运动领袖。1948年大学毕业。1948年至1951年期间，在美国东海岸的费城继续深造。1963年，马丁·路德·金觐见了肯尼迪总统，要求通过新的民权法，给黑人以平等的权利。1963年8月28日，在林肯纪念堂前，发表了《我有一个梦想》的演说。1964年度诺贝尔和平奖的获得者。1968年4月，马丁·路德·金前往孟菲斯市，领导工人罢工后，被人刺杀，年仅39岁。从1986年起，美国政府将每年1月的第3个星期一，定为马丁路德金全国纪念日。马丁·路德·金被美国的权威期刊《大西洋月刊》评为影响美国的100位人物第8名。

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the most important leader of the American civil rights movement. He helped unite a nation with his powerful speeches and use of non-violent protests. His 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech is one of the greatest in human history. King’s efforts to end racial discrimination earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

King was born in 1929 in Atlanta. His father was a reverend and so King had a religious upbringing. He graduated from college with a degree and a Ph.D. in religious studies. King went to India to visit Gandhi’s family. He was inspired by Mohandas Gandhi's success with non-violent resistance and saw it as a “potent weapon” in America’s struggle for civil rights.

King was instrumental in achieving many successes in ending segregation laws. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott which ended racial segregation on public buses in Montgomery. He realized that non-violent protest would attract extensive media coverage of the struggle for racial equality. His campaigns soon elevated the Civil Rights Movement to be the most important issue in American politics.

King helped organize the famous March for Jobs and Freedom on Washington in 1963, where hespoke to the nation appealing for racial harmony. His non-violent protests met with success as Congress passed civil rights laws (1964) and voting rights laws (1965). King’s friendship with President John F. Kennedy also helped his cause. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Stevie Wonder pays tribute to King with his song "Happy Birthday".