2016-01-18

【Aiden in English】

        Throughout American history, racial differences plagued the nation’s events. Slavery set the tone at the founding of the United States, and nothing has really varied since. In general, the blacks never were equal to other cultural groups, and Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. determined to change it, which is why he has his own day of the year.

        MLK Jr. Day is full of services to him. His life held as much impact as the founding fathers of the countries themselves. His fight for human rights loosened the bonds of segregation. Today, the Philadelphia Orchestra hosted the 26^th Annual MLK Jr. Tribute Concert at Girard College. Being on the outskirts of Philadelphia, parking was hard and scarce, other than the sides of roads, and it’s legitimately scary being in the same van as a mom with her parallel parking skill behind the wheel. Luckily, we happened to find a free parking lot in the neighborhood …… that warned how any unauthorized vehicles would be towed. To be safe, mom used grandma’s disabled tag, signifying that there were no nearby places to park that was within a five-minute walking range while my grandma with her right knee replacement was on the ride.

        It was frigid cold. I wore a coat that was two layers, but the issue wasn’t there. The wind blew furiously, stunning my eyes and freezing any bit of bare skin. Feet and hands went numbing, and upon arrival at the school chapel under the astonishing pipe organs. I rather had frostbite kill the nerves and stop the cold. The music started about thirty minutes later, and still, both hands had yet to return to normal color.

        The music was great. That’s what you expect from the Philadelphia Orchestra, being one of the best in the nation. A few movements by Grieg, Beethoven, and Saint-Saens really set the beautiful tone. And soon, a thoroughly powerful narration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous speech “I Have a Dream”, accompanied by Barber’s Adagio for Strings, reminding what he wanted. He went so far for freedom, but it isn’t ideal yet. Still, poverty is strong against African Americans living in the country, especially Philadelphia. The nation is trying to change this statistic, but in the economy, the blacks are at the bottom after all. Occasional people such as Oprah Winfrey appear, or superstar sports players like Michael Jordan, make it to the top, achieving billionaire status.

        MLK Day reminds us of what the country is about. The Americans freed themselves from the British, and now African Americans have freed themselves from the Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. granted them freedom, and so an unbalanced scale has leveled a lot.

【红霞译文】

        纵观美国历史，种族差异一直困扰着国家政体，奴隶制起源于建国初期，这种意识根深蒂固，至今尚无本质上的变化。一般情况下，黑人总是比其他种族低人一等，马丁•路德•金博士决意要改变不公，这也是为什么每年的今天都专门来庆祝他的卓越贡献。

        马丁•路德•金纪念日充满缅怀之情。如同所有开国元勋，马丁•路德•金的一生对整个美国影响深远，他为人权而战，极大地削弱了种族隔离。今天，费城管弦乐团在吉拉德学院举行第廿六届纪念这位黑人领袖的专场音乐会。地处费城周边地区，车位稀少停车困难，凭借妈妈轮上车技，平行停靠路边简直比登天还难，但傻人有傻福，我们竟然就近撞上了一家免费停车场……场内标牌上明文告示任何未经许可停靠的车辆都将被拖走。为了安全起见，妈妈拿出外婆残疾人优先停车证明挂在车前，目的在于表明附近五分钟距离之内找不到任何停车地方，况且同行的还有右腿曾做过换膝手术的外婆无法长途跋涉。

        天气萧瑟，我身穿双面外套仍然难抵刺骨寒冷；朔风呼啸，吹得眼睛完全睁不开来，更把暴露在外的肌肤冻得冰凉发僵，即使坐进学校教堂别致新颖的管风琴天顶之下，我手脚照旧失去知觉，真想切断神经驱散透心凉的寒气。卅分钟过后音乐声起，我的双手依然没有恢复正常肤色。

        音乐具有无穷的魅力，尤其实地欣赏全美上乘的费城管弦乐团表演。音乐会先后以格里格、贝多芬和圣桑几首优美动听的乐章拉开了序幕，随着巴伯《弦乐柔板》奏起，马丁·路德·金著名演说“我有一个梦想”的配乐朗诵深深打动了到场观众，他所倡导的自由至今尚未实现，贫困依然是生活在这片土地上黑人大众所面临的棘手问题，而费城又名列前茅。整个国家始终想改变这种局面，但在经济方面，黑人从未摆脱过落后地位，当然像奥普拉·温弗瑞极端个例或者迈克尔·乔丹超级体育明星不是没有，他们鹤立鸡群，成为当之无愧的亿万富翁。

        马丁•路德•金纪念日无疑提醒大家牢记国家所遭遇的经历，美国人早年从英国牢笼里解脱出来，现在黑人已从白人手中获得自由，是马丁·路德·金为他们赢得了权益，反对种族歧视的呼声才越来越高。