名人轶事:Reverend Martin Luther King Junior(1)

（单词翻译）

By William Rogers

Broadcast: January 16, 2005

ANNCR:

People in America - a program in Special English on the Voice of America.

Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights Activist 

(Theme)

Today, Warren Scheer and Shep O'Neal begin the story of civil rights leader,

Martin Luther King, Junior.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

It all started on a bus. A black woman was returning home from work after a

long hard day. She sat near the front of the bus because she was tired and

her legs hurt. But the bus belonged to the city of Montgomery in the southern

state of Alabama. And the year was nineteen fifty-five.

In those days, black people could sit only in the back of the bus. So the

driver ordered the woman to give up her seat. But the woman refused, and she

was arrested.

Incidents like this had happened before. But no one had ever spoken out

against such treatment of blacks. This time, however, a young black preacher

organized a protest³. He called on all black citizens to stop riding the buses

in Montgomery until the laws were changed. The name of the young preacher was

Martin Luther King.He led the protest movement to end injustice⁴ in the

Montgomery city bus system. The protest became known as the Montgomery bus

boycott⁵. The protest marked the beginning of the civil rights movement in the

United States.

This is the story of Martin Luther King, and his part in the early days of

the civil rights movement.

VOICE TWO:

Martin Luther King was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in nineteen twenty-nine. He

was born into a religious family. Martin's father was a preacher at a Baptist

church. And his mother came from a family with strong ties to the Baptist

religion.

In nineteen twenty-nine, Atlanta was one of the wealthiest cities in the

southern part of the United States. Many black families came to the city in

search of a better life. There was less racial tension⁶ between blacks and

whites in Atlanta than in other southern cities. But Atlanta still had laws

designed to keep black people separate from whites.

The laws of racial separation existed all over the southern part of the

United States. They forced blacks to attend separate schools and live in

separate areas of a city. Blacks did not have the same rights as white

people, and were often poorer and less educated.

VOICE ONE:

Martin Luther King did not know about racial separation when he was young.

But as he grew older, he soon saw that blacks were not treated equally.

One day Martin and his father went out to buy shoes. They entered a shoe

store owned by a white businessman.

The businessman sold shoes to all people. But he had a rule that blacks could

not buy shoes in the front part of the store. He ordered Martin's father to

obey the rule. Martin never forgot his father's angry answer:

"If you do not sell shoes to black people at the front of the store, you will

not sell shoes to us at all. "

Such incidents, however, were rare during Martin's early life. Instead, he

led the life of a normal boy. Martin liked to learn, and he passed through

school very quickly. He was only fifteen when he was ready to enter the

university. The university, called Morehouse College, was in Atlanta.

Morehouse College was one of the few universities in the South where black

students could study. #p#副标题#e#

VOICE TWO:

It was at the university that Martin decided⁷ to become a preacher. At the

same time, he also discovered he had a gift for public speaking.

At a June 5, 1961, press conference in New York.

He soon was able to test his gifts. One Sunday, Martin's father asked him to

preach² at his church. When Martin arrived, the church members were surprised

to see such a young man getting ready to speak to them. But they were more

surprised to find themselves deeply moved by the words of young Martin Luther

King.

A church member once described him: "The boy seemed much older than his

years. He understood life and its problems. "
VOICE ONE:

Martin seemed wise to others because of his studies at the university. He

carefully read the works⁸ of Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian leader and thinker.

Martin also studied the books of the American philosopher⁹, Henry David

Thoreau. Both men wrote about ways to fight injustice. Gandhi had led his

people to freedom by peacefully refusing to obey unjust¹⁰ laws. He taught his

followers¹¹ never to use violence. Thoreau also urged people to disobey laws

that were not just, and to be willing to go to prison for their beliefs.

As he studied, Martin thought he had found the answer for his people. The

ideas of Gandhi and Thoreau -- non-violence and civil disobedience -- could

be used together to win equal rights for black Americans. Martin knew, then,

that his decision to become a preacher was right. He believed that as a

preacher he could spread the ideas of Gandhi and Thoreau. Years later he

said:

"My university studies gave me the basic truths I now believe. I discovered

the idea of humanity's oneness and the dignity and value of all human

character. "

VOICE TWO:

Martin continued his studies in religion for almost ten years. When he was

twenty-two, he moved north to study in Boston.

It was in Boston that Martin met Coretta Scott, the woman who later became

his wife.

Martin always had been very popular with the girls in his hometown. His

brother once said that Martin "never had one girlfriend for more than a

year".

VOICE ONE:

But Martin felt Coretta Scott was different. The first time he saw her Martin

said: "You have everything I have ever wanted in a wife. "

Coretta was surprised at his words. But she felt that Martin was serious and

honest. A short time later, they were married. Martin soon finished his

studies in Boston, and received a doctorate¹² degree in religion. The young

preacher then was offered a job at a church in Montgomery, Alabama.

VOICE TWO:

Martin Luther King and his wife were happy in Montgomery. Their first child

was born. Martin's work at the church was going well. He became involved in a

number of activities to help the poor. And the members of his church spoke¹

highly¹³ of their new preacher. Coretta remembered their life as simple and

without worries.

Then, a black woman, Rosa Parks, was arrested for sitting in the white part

of a Montgomery city bus. And Martin Luther King organized a protest against

the Montgomery bus system.

Martin believed it was very important for the bus boycott to succeed -- more

important even than his own life. But he worried about his ability to lead

such an important campaign. He was only twenty-six years old. He prayed to

God for help and believed that God answered his prayers.

VOICE ONE:

Martin knew that his actions and his speeches would be important for the

civil rights movement. But he was faced with a serious problem. He asked:

"How can I make my people militant¹⁴ enough to win our goals, while keeping

peace within the movement. "

The answer came to him from the teachings¹⁵ of Gandhi and Thoreau. In his first

speech as a leader, Martin said:

"We must seek to show we are right through peaceful, not violent means. Love

must be the ideal¹⁶ guiding our actions. If we protest bravely, and yet with

pride and Christian¹⁷ love, then future historians¹⁸ will say: "There lived a

great people, a black people, who gave new hope to civilization. "

With these words, a new movement was born. It was non-violent and peaceful.

But victory was far from sure, and many difficult days of struggle lay ahead.

(THEME)

ANNCR:

you have been listening to the VOA Special English program, People in

America. Your narrators were Warren Scheer and Shep O'Neal. Our program was

written by William Rodgers. Listen again next week at this time, when we will

complete the story of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Junior.