在美国，每年一月的第三个星期一是“马丁?路德?金日”，纪念黑人民权领袖马丁?路德?金。
美国1861年的内战，虽然解放了黑奴，但美国的种族隔离仍然持续，尤其在南部，黑人不能入读白人学校、不能在招待白人的餐厅进食、不能乘坐同一辆公共汽车、或必须让座给白人。北部情况较佳，但黑人的待遇仍然很差。
美国的黑人在19世幻50年代，开始展开争取民权的运动。因南部一名黑人女人拒绝让座给白人而被捕的事件，激起持续的抗议行动。当时在教会当传道人的马丁?路德?金（Martin Luther King），亦投入争取黑人民权运动的行列。
1963年8月28日， 25万人响应马丁?路德?金的号召，在美国首都华盛顿游行，争取立法保障黑人的权利。马丁?路德?金在林肯纪念馆前的石阶，对群众发表著名的“我有一个梦想”（I have a Dream）演说，希望白人和黑人有一天可平等地生活在一起。
马丁?路德?金曾访问印度，终身视印度圣雄甘地为偶像，认同甘地以和平抗争的手法争取民权，马丁?路德?金于1964年，获得诺贝尔和平奖。
1968年4月4日，马丁?路德?金被行刺，一颗子弹夺去了他仅39岁的生命。全国超过一百个城市爆发暴乱，不过马丁路德金的理念已深植美国人心底，无数群众，包括白人、黑人，扶老携幼，唱起 “we shall overcome”，和平地纪念他的逝世。
I Have a Dream
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of bad captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live up to the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color if their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day down in Alabama with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning.
My country’,this of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing: Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrims’ pride, From every mountainside, Let freedom ring.
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York!
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slops of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi!
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God almighty, we are free at last!”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners, will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character, I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists , with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right down in Alabama our little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low; the rough places will be made plain; and the crooked places will be made straight; and the glory of the lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope . With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day, when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning, “My country is of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing, Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims’pride, from every mountain side, let freedom ring.” And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
我有一个梦想
今天，我高兴地同大家一起，参加这次将成为我国历史上为了争取自由而举行的最伟大的示威集会。
一百年前，一位伟大的美国人签署了解放黑奴宣言，今天我们就是在他的雕像前集会。这一庄严宣言犹如灯塔的光芒，给千百万在那摧残生命的不义之火中受煎熬的黑奴带来了希望。它的到来犹如欢乐的黎明，结束了束缚黑人的漫漫长夜。
然而一百年后的今天，黑人还没有得到自由，一百年后的今天，在种族隔离的镣铐和种族歧视的枷锁下，黑人的生活备受压榨。一百年后的今天，黑人仍生活在物质充裕的海洋中一个贫困的孤岛上。一百年后的今天，黑人仍然萎缩在美国社会的角落里，并且意识到自己是故土家园中的流亡者。今天我们在这里集会，就是要把这种骇人听闻的情况公诸于众。
我并非没有注意到，参加今天集会的人中，有些受尽苦难和折磨，有些刚刚走出窄小的牢房，有些由于寻求自由，曾在居住地惨遭疯狂迫害的打击，并在警察暴行的旋风中摇摇欲坠。你们是人为痛苦的长期受难者。坚持下去吧，要坚决相信，忍受不应得的痛苦是一种赎罪。
让我们回到密西西比去，回到阿拉巴马去，回到南卡罗莱纳去，回到佐治亚去，回到路易斯安那去，回到我们北方城市中的贫民区和少数民族居住区去，要心中有数，这种状况是能够也必将改变的。我们不要陷入绝望而不能自拔。
朋友们，今天我对你们说，在此时此刻，我们虽然遭受种种困难和挫折，我仍然有一个梦想。这个梦是深深扎根于美国的梦想中的。
我梦想有一天，这个国家会站立起来，真正实现其信条的真谛：“我们认为这些真理是不言而喻的；人人生而平等。”
我梦想有一天，在佐治亚的红山上，昔日奴隶的儿子将能够和昔日奴隶主的儿子坐在一起，共叙兄弟情谊。
我梦想有一天，甚至连密西西比州这个正义匿迹，压迫成风，如同沙漠般的地方，也将变成自由和正义的绿洲。
我梦想有一天，我的四个孩子将在一个不是以他们的肤色，而是以他们的品格优劣来评判他们的国度里生活。
我今天有一个梦想。
我梦想有一天，阿拉巴马州能够有所转变，尽管该州州长现在仍然满口异议，反对联邦法令，但有朝一日，那里的黑人男孩和女孩将能够与白人男孩和女孩情同骨肉，携手并进。
我今天有一个梦想。
我梦想有一天，幽谷上升，高山下降，坎坷曲折之路成坦途，圣光披露，满照人间。
这就是我们的希望。我怀着这种信念回到南方。有了这个信念，我们将能从绝望之岭劈出一块希望之石。有了这个信念，我们将能把这个国家刺耳的争吵声，改变成为一支洋溢手足之情的优美交响曲。有了这个信念，我们将能一起工作，一起祈祷，一起斗争，一起坐牢，一起维护自由；因为我们知道，终有一天，我们是会自由的。
在自由到来的那一天，上帝的所有儿女们将以新的含义高唱这支歌：“我的祖国，美丽的自由之乡，我为您歌唱。您是父辈逝去的地方，您是最初移民的骄傲，让自由之声响彻每个山冈。”
如果美国要成为一个伟大的国家，这个梦想必须实现。让自由之声从新罕布什尔州的巍峨峰巅响起来！
让自由之声从纽约州的崇山峻岭响起来！
让自由之声从宾夕法尼亚州阿勒格尼山的顶峰响起！
让自由之声从科罗拉多州冰雪覆盖的落矶山响起来！
让自由之声从加利福尼亚州蜿蜒的群峰响起来！
不仅如此，还要让自由之声从佐治亚州的石岭响起来！让自由之声从田纳西州的了望山响起来！
让自由之声从密西西比州的每一座丘陵响起来！
让自由之声从每一片山坡响起来！
当我们让自由之声响起来，让自由之声从每一个大小村庄、每一个州和每一个城市响起来时，我们将能够加速这一天的到来，那时，上帝的所有儿女：黑人和白人，犹太人和非犹太人，新教徒和天主教徒，都将手携手，合唱一首古老的黑人灵歌：“终于自由啦！终于自由啦！感谢全能的上帝，我们终于自由啦！”
我梦想有一天，在佐治亚的红山上，昔日奴隶的儿子将能够和昔日奴隶主的儿子坐在一起，共叙兄弟情谊。我梦想有一天，甚至连密西西比州这个缺乏正义、压迫成风的地方，也将变成自由和正义的绿洲。
我梦想有一天，我的四个孩子将在一个不是以他们的肤色，而是以他们的品格优劣来评价他们的国度里生活。我今天有一个梦想。
我梦想有一天，恶性种施歧视行为泛滥的阿拉巴马州能够有所转变，尽管该州州长现在仍然满口异议，反对联邦法令，但有朝一日，那里的黑人男孩和女孩将能与白人男孩和女孩情同骨肉，携手并进。今天我有一个梦想。
我梦想有一天，所有谷地会升高，所有山陵将夷平，崎岖不平之地变为平原，所有险阻化为康庄大道，上帝的光辉显现，让所有人类一齐瞻仰。这就是我们的希望。这就是我带回南方的信念。怀着这个信念，我们能够把绝望的大山凿成希望的磐石。怀着这个信念，我们能够将我国种族不和的喧嚣变为一曲友爱的乐章。怀着这个信念，我们能够一同工作，一同祝祈祷，一同奋斗，一同入狱，一同为争取自由而斗争，因为我们知道我们终将得到自由。
在自由到来的那一天，上帝的所有儿女们将以新的含义高唱这支歌：“我的祖国，美丽的自由之乡，我为您歌唱。您是父辈逝去的地方，您是最初移民的骄傲，让自由之声从每一座山峦响起来。”如果美国是伟大的民族，这一天一定会到来。
