Barack Obama，the President of the United States
The National Mall，October 16th，2011
This is a country where ordinary people find in their hearts the courage to do extraordinary things；the courage to stand up in the face of the fiercest resistance and despair and say this is wrong，and this is right；we will not settle for what the cynics tell us we have to accept and we will reach again and again，no matter the odds，for what we know is possible.
在这个国家中，普通人能够靠心中的勇气做非凡之举；有勇气面对最顽固的阻力和绝望，明辨是非，坚持正义；我们不会接受那些旁观者做出的裁判，我们会突破艰难险阻，为我们
所知并有可能成就的事业坚持努力，永不放弃。
Barack Obama
背景故事
马丁·路德·金，是著名的民权领袖，他推动了美国的民权运动，他的非暴力理念呼吁结束种族隔离。近半个世纪之后，数千名群众聚集在华盛顿的国家大草坪对他的新落成的纪念园致意。美国历史上第一位黑人总统奥巴马参加这个耗资1.2亿美元的马丁·路德·金雕像和纪念公园的落成典礼，纪念这位被杀害的民权运动领袖。马丁·路德·金为他和美国的其他许多人铺平了道路。
“因为那充满希望的视野，因为金博士的道德想象，障碍开始瓦解，偏执开始消失。崭新的机会大门为整整一代人展开。是的，法律改变了，但是人们的心和思想也改变了。”奥巴马站在10米高的金博士前说道。他提醒世界，马丁·路德·金曾为公平而奋斗。他的最终信念、伟大梦想是能够实现的。
名人简介
贝拉克·奥巴马（Barack Obama）1961年8月4日出生在美国夏威夷州檀香山市，中学毕业后，他进入加利福尼亚州西方文理学院学习，2年后转入哥伦比亚大学学习，1983年毕业，获国际关系专业学士学位。1985年，他来到芝加哥，从事社区工作。1988年，他进入哈佛大学法学院学习。1991年在获得哈佛大学法学博士学位后，他曾在芝加哥一家律师事务所工作，后在芝加哥大学法学院教授宪法。2007年2月，奥巴马正式宣布竞选总统。
挪威诺贝尔委员会将2009年诺贝尔和平奖授予奥巴马，以表彰他在促进国际外交和各国人民合作所作出的非凡努力。对于奥巴马获诺贝尔和平奖，多数观点持肯定态度，认为他作为世界上最强大军事力量的领导者以及他所倡导的无核化理念，是全球和平的希望，还指出他是唯一一位向穆斯林国家表示友善的美国总统。
演讲赏析
Faith
Barack Obama，the President of the United States
The National Mall，October 16th，2011
Thank you very much.（Applause.）Thank you.（Applause.）Please be seated.
An earthquake and a hurricane may have delayed this day，but this is a day that would not be denied.
For this day，we celebrate Dr.Martin Luther King，Jr.’s return to the National Mall.In this place，he will stand for all time，among monuments to those who fathered this nation and those who defended it；a black preacher with no official rank or title who somehow gave voice to our deepest dreams and our most lasting ideals，a man who stirred our conscience and thereby helped make our union more perfect.
And Dr.King would be the first to remind us that this memorial is not for him alone.The movement of which he was a part depended on an entire generation of leaders.Many are here today，and for their service and their sacrifice，we owe them our everlasting gratitude.This is a monument to your collective achievement.（Applause.）
Some giants of the civil rights movement-like Rosa Parks and Dorothy Height，Benjamin Hooks，Reverend Fred Shuttles Worth-they‘ve been taken from us these past few years.This monument attests to their strength and their courage，and while we miss them dearly，we know they rest in a better place.
And finally，there are the multitudes of men and women whose names never appear in the history books——those who marched and those who sang，those who sat in and those who stood firm，those who organized and those who mobilized-all those men and women who through countless acts of quiet heroism helped bring about changes，few thought were even possible.“By the thousands，”said Dr.King，“faceless，anonymous，relentless young people，black and white……have taken our whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in the formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.”To those men and women，to those foot soldiers for justice，know that this monument is yours，as well.
Nearly half a century has passed since that historic March on Washington，a day when thousands upon thousands gathered for jobs and for freedom.That is what our schoolchildren remember best when they think of Dr.King-his booming voice across this Mall，calling on America to make freedom a reality for all of God’s children，prophesying of a day when the jangling discord of our nation would be transformed into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
It is right that we honor that march，that we lift up Dr.King‘s“I Have a Dream”speech——for without that shining moment，without Dr.King’s glorious words，we might not have had the courage to come as far as we have.Because of that hopeful vision，because of Dr.King‘s moral imagination，barricades began to fall and bigotry began to fade.New doors of opportunity swung open for an entire generation.Yes，laws changed，but hearts and minds changed as well.
Look at the faces here around you，and you see an America that is more fair and more free and more just than the one Dr.King addressed that day.We are right to savor that slow but certain progress-progress that’s expressed itself in a million ways，large and small，across this nation every single day，as people of all colors and creeds live together，and work together，and fight alongside one another，and learn together，and build together，and love one another.
So it is right for us to celebrate today Dr.King‘s dream and his vision of unity.And yet it is also important on this day to remind ourselves that such progress did not come easily；that Dr.King’s faith was hard-won；that it sprung out of a harsh reality and some bitter disappointments.
It is right for us to celebrate Dr.King‘s marvelous oratory，but it is worth remembering that progress did not come from words alone.Progress was hard.Progress was purchased through enduring the smack of Billy clubs and the blast of fire hoses.It was bought with days in jail cells and nights of bomb threats.For every victory during the height of the civil rights movement，there were setbacks and there were defeats.