名人轶事:Reverend Martin Luther King Junior(2)

（单词翻译）

By William Rogers

Broadcast: January 23, 2005

ANNCR:

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

(Theme)

Today, Shep O'Neal and Warren Scheer finish the story of civil right's

leader, Reverend Martin Luther King, Junior.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

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

began his university studies when he was fifteen years old, and received a

doctorate¹ degree in religion. He became a preacher at a church in Montgomery,

Alabama.

In nineteen fifty-five, a black woman in Montgomery was arrested for sitting

in the white part of a city bus. Doctor King became the leader of a protest²

against the city bus system. It was the first time that black southerners had

united against the laws of racial separation.

VOICE TWO:

At first, the white citizens of Montgomery did not believe that the protest

would work. They thought most blacks would be afraid to fight against racial

separation. But the buses remained empty.

Some whites used tricks to try to end the protest.

They spread false stories about Martin Luther King and other protest leaders.

One story accused Martin of stealing money from the civil rights movement.

Another story charged that protest leaders rode in cars while other

protesters had to walk. But the tricks did not work, and the protest

continued.

VOICE ONE:

Doctor King's wife Coretta described how she and her husband felt during the

protest. She said:"We never knew what was going to happen next. We felt like

actors in a play whose ending we did not know. Yet we felt a part of history.

And we believed we were instruments of the will of God".

The white citizens blamed Doctor King for starting the protest. They thought

it would end if he was in prison or dead. Doctor King was arrested twice on

false charges. His arrests made national news and he was released³. But the

threats against his life continued.
VOICE TWO:

The Montgomery bus boycott⁴ lasted three hundred eighty-two days. Finally, the

United States Supreme⁵ Court ruled that racial separation was illegal in the

Montgomery bus system. Martin Luther King and his followers⁶ had won their

struggle. The many months of meetings and protest marches had made victory

possible.

They also gave blacks a new feeling of pride and unity⁷. They saw that

peaceful protest, Mahatma Gandhi's idea of non-violence, could be used as a

tool to win their legal rights.

VOICE ONE:

Life did not return to normal for Doctor King after the protest was over. He

had become well-known all over the country and throughout the world. He often

was asked to speak about his ideas on non-violence. Both black and white

Americans soon began to follow his teachings⁸. Groups were formed throughout

the south to protest peacefully against racial separation.

The civil rights movement spread so fast that a group of black churchmen

formed an organization to guide it. The organization was called the Southern

Christian⁹ Leadership Conference. Martin Luther King became its president.

In his job, Doctor King helped organize many protests¹⁰ in the southern part of

the United States. Blacks demanded to be served in areas where only whites

were permitted to eat. And they rode in trains and buses formerly¹¹ for whites

only. These protests became known as "freedom rides." Many of the freedom

rides turned violent. Black activists¹² were beaten and arrested. Some were

even killed. #p#副标题#e#

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen sixty-three, the black citizens of Birmingham refused to buy

goods from the stores in the city. They demanded more jobs for blacks. And

they demanded to send their children to white schools. The white citizens

were angry and afraid, but they refused to meet the blacks' demands. The

situation became tense. Many protestors were beaten and arrested. Even Doctor

King was arrested. But he was not in prison for long.

The Birmingham demonstrations¹³ made international news. Whites soon saw that

it was easier to meet the demands of the protestors than to fight them.

Martin Luther King and his followers had won an important victory in

Birmingham. It marked a turning point for the civil rights movement.

Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights Activist 

Martin Luther King recognized the importance of Birmingham. It did not mean

that racial separation had ended. Some still remains¹⁴ today. But he felt that

the battle was almost won. And he wanted to call on the nation for its

support. So doctor king organized a March on Washington, D. C.

The March on Washington took place in August, nineteen sixty-three. About two

hundred fifty thousand persons gathered there. They came to demand more jobs

and freedom for black Americans. There were to be many other marches in

Washington during the nineteen sixties and early seventies. But this was the

biggest up to that time.

VOICE ONE:

It was in Washington that Martin Luther King gave one of his most famous

speeches. The speech is known as the "I Have a Dream Speech. " It expressed

his ideas for the future. Doctor king said:

(I have a dream)

VOICE TWO:

Martin Luther King received the Nobel Peace Prize in nineteen sixty-four. But

he did not live to see the final results of his life's work. He was shot to

death in Memphis, Tennessee, in nineteen sixty-eight.

Doctor King always felt he would die a violent death. His life had been

threatened wherever he went. And he often spoke¹⁵ to his wife about his fears.

But he never believed that his life was more important than the civil rights

movement. The night before he died he spoke to his supporters. He said:

(Speech to supporters)

(We Shall Overcome)

(THEME)

ANNCR:

You have been listening to the story of civil rights leader Martin Luther

King, Junior. This Special English program was written by William Rodgers.

Your narrators were Shep O'Neal and Warren Scheer. I'm Doug Johnson. Listen

again next week at this time for another People in America program on the

Voice of America.