Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was one of the pivotal leaders of the American civil rights movement. King was a Baptist minister, one of the few leadership roles available to black men at the time. He became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956) and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1957), serving as its first president. His efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Here he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history. In 19, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a national holiday in the United States in 1986. In 2004, King was posthumously awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.

马丁·路德·金

1929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1955年获神学博士学位后，到亚拉巴马州蒙哥马利市得克斯教浸礼会教堂作牧师。

1955年12月，蒙哥马利节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。

1968年4月4日，金被种族分子暗杀。 美国规定，从1986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。