R字头的花茶馆

在孟菲斯最后一天的行程，被安排在了在美国人民心目中最具有美利坚民族意义的景点--孟菲斯民权博物馆。真没想到，"红色旅游"不光在中国盛行，在美国也盛行。

说到这家民权博物馆，来头就大了。它本来只不过是一家是一家名叫Lorraine的motel，之所以变成了美国人民的"革命圣地"，是源于曾经住在这里并且在这里被暗杀的一位著名的黑人民权运动领袖，Dr. Martin Luther King。

这位获得过1964年诺贝尔和平奖，被誉为近百年来八大最具说服力的演说家之一的民权斗士，一生致力于为贫苦大众争取平等的社会待遇，为黑人争取平等的权利，并为此曾三次被捕，三次被行刺。可惜命运的女神不会一直眷顾着同一个人，无论他他多么的伟大。终于，在1968年马丁路德被种族主义分子枪杀。而他被枪杀的地点，正是这所汽车旅馆。

阳台上挂着花圈的地方，就是当年马丁遇刺的地方。当他在工作之余走出房间，到阳台上休息的时候，从街对面建筑物里射来的子弹穿透了他的胸膛。美国人民为了纪念这位伟大的民权运动领袖，把这所旅馆改建成了Civil Rights Museum，其意义不仅在于纪念马丁路德，更在于时刻警示着人们："天赋人权，得来何其不易！"而IP也是捐资建馆者之一，这令我觉得光荣。

花圈下的纪念碑上写着：

MARTIN LUTHER KING. JR

JAN. 15, 1929 -- APR. 4, 1968

" THEY SAID ONE TO ANOTHER.

BEHOLD ERE COMETH THE DREAMER...

LETUS SLAY HIM...

AND WE SHALL SEE WHAT WILL BECOME OF HIS DREAMS"

街的对面，经过一条长长的通道，可以到往当年杀手实施狙击的建筑物，就是那座红色的砖筑小楼，现在这座建筑物也被改造成了民权博物馆的一部分。长长的通道的门口镂空雕刻着一段话：

I MAY NOT GET THERE WITH YOU,

BUT I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT

WE

AS A PEOPLE

WILL GET TO THE PROMISED LAND.

马丁的车还停在旅馆门口，仿佛他不曾离开过这个世界，仍然在为了他的事业不屑奋斗着。马丁生前最著名的一次演讲《我有一个梦想》，多少年来深深的启迪着世界人民的民权觉悟。如今，40多年过去了，40多年间，多少人为了那梦想前赴后继，可这梦想还远没有实现，追求自由平等之理想依旧任重而道远。这也恰恰是人们建造这座博物馆的最重要的含义。

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 their 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. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to
lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro
is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be
satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

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. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- 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.

And 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 and live out 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 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 there 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, and 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, and 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.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And 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 snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes 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.

And when this happens, when we allow 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!

今天我们各自将要去往的地点和mill的mentor都来到Memphis了，准备接我们回去。怎么感觉像是被人领养呢？其实也差不多啦。几位mentor中只有我的是中国人，确切的说是台湾人，Sophia。我被一个人派去Georgetown mill，却摊到一位中国人做mentor，福兮？祸兮？扯平吧。晚饭选择墨西哥菜，说真的，Raymond为我们在Memphis第一周的行程真的煞费苦心，单拿晚餐举例，他就带我们尝遍了美国主流的几种菜式，每天饭店都不重样。其实整个3个月的海外培训他都花了很大心思，真的很感谢他。

今天的这家Cozymel's restaurant其实离公司总部非常非常的近，就在3座tower后面，想必是公司里面同事们常来关顾的地方。其实公司的那三座建筑物并不十分高，可是为什么叫tower呢？费解……

室内装潢倒是颇有加勒比味道，褐色的墙纸，昏黄的吊灯，木顶木梁木柱木桌椅木酒桶，就差一个戴头巾和眼罩，肩上坐只鹦鹉，一只手是钩子的bartender了。

饭毕，大浆糊非要拉人家waitress一起照合影，这个色魔，不过谁让人家长得帅呢，小姑娘欣然接受，咱们也不好说什么了。

往前走，在与大道相交的路口处，我又被另一家pub吸引住了，就是图中右手边这家。这是家半开方式的酒吧，靠窗坐着一名抱着吉他的长发男子，身边是一位看上去年纪很轻的女孩子在敲鼓。这个组合太单薄了，以至于这家pub里冷冷清清，客人稀疏，但是我老远就听到了那个男子所唱的正是我最喜欢的Bon Jovi的歌曲，于是我直奔过去，站在窗外出神的听。他先唱了一首"Wanted dead or alive"，接下去"Never say goodbye"，唱到动情处，我跟着一起合唱，他向我微微点头，然后那位女鼓手也加入进来。我们就这样，在异国的街头，素不相识，三个人因为喜爱着同一支乐队而共唱一曲，那其中的乐趣和开心只有我们自己知道。也许他们两个在整条街上都数不上号，瞧他们的听众人数也瞧得出来，毕竟在Hiphop充斥全球的今天，还有几个人愿意听hair metal呢？但我为遇见了两个知己而雀跃不已，我猜他们俩也一定为遇见我这个来自遥远东方的同样爱着Bon Jovi的知音而快慰。不知道他俩是不是也同我一样，我可是到现在想起来都喜滋滋的。

周星星说过："欢乐的时光总是过的特别快，又是时间讲拜拜啦。"大部队过来拉我离开，我刚刚请两位知音唱一首我最最珍爱的Always，却来不及一同合唱，留下的是一地厚厚的依依不舍。

知道我身后的建筑物是什么么？就是孟菲斯灰熊队的主场，联邦快递体育馆（FedEx Forum）。灰熊队上个赛季虽然打进了季后赛，却在第一轮就被淘汰，于是乎我们也便没有机会亲身观赏NBA的比赛，这不啻为此次美国之行的最大遗憾（之一？），谁让我们来的不是时候呢？

灰熊队的英文叫做Memphis Grizzlies，起初我们都不知道的，跟老外交流起来好不费劲。老外讲Grizzlies我们不知所云，我们一边笔画一边说bear，老外也不怎么明白，语言真是个硕大的障碍啊。

整条Bill street的人行道的地面上都嵌着这样铜制的蝌蚪音符，上面镌刻着许许多多死去的或者活着的音乐人们。因为是在脚下，很少有人会注意到。可是敏锐的我还是发现了这块转，上面赫然写着猫王的大名，以及"The king of rock'n'roll"两行字，恰恰是这两行字，代表了一切，那是最高的荣誉了。猫王最后终老在孟菲斯，所以我想这块砖一定是这条街上无数基石中尤其有意义的一块。

长路终于走到尽头，今天的活动也该到尾声了。街尽头我们看见这辆漂亮的南瓜车，想必童话里接送灰姑娘的那辆车子就是这个样子。可惜，我们不是灰姑娘，这辆车子也不是来接我们的。我们还是回到那辆小巴上，回hillton去继续我们的普普通通的生活吧。

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Bill street是一条名气很大的街，以什么出名呢，两样，音乐酒吧和摩托车，整条街的音乐酒吧和整条街的摩托车。不过这里的音乐以布鲁斯为正宗，摩托车以哈雷为多数。所以说孟菲斯是布鲁斯的家乡，暴走族的天堂。其实这条街也不宽，两边的建筑物至多不过三层，各色霓虹灯与满满当当的摩托车，啤酒杯相互碰撞的声音以及哈雷那引以为傲的马达轰鸣声，还有酒馆里传出来的各色音乐，种种种种混杂在一起，仿佛一夜之间让我回到了纵马扬鞭的牛仔时代。眼前一望无际的哈雷海便不再是哈雷海，那就是一头头膘骑；两边提着酒瓶子闲聊的路人也不是路人了，在我眼里都是身怀绝技的牛仔，因为实在是太有气氛了。

其实暴走族们都是以当代的牛仔自居的，所以我的形容也不为过啊。到这里来的人，除了像我这样的游客，有几个是真正冲着音乐和啤酒来的呢，都是来秀的，男人秀摩托，女人秀风骚，这样才搭调嘛。您瞅这位，就算一典型，在警察面前都敢牛，从上到下穿的跟防化服似的，大摩托哼哼的直响，硬是堵在马路中间招摇，谁让人家坐骑拉风呢？

其实刚到这条街上的时候还蛮怕的，一来没见过这么多Harley davidson，被阵势吓住了，二来那些牛仔们各个虎背熊腰，身着镶钉皮夹克，脚穿高腰大头鞋，头裹斑斓四方巾，加之我们一群中国年青人观光一样在东张西望，难免引得人家侧目，心里还真是惴惴的。从Harley尾管冒出来的声音那是相当的大，绝对震人心魄，配着打手形状的牛仔们，怎能让人不规规矩矩的呢！

孟菲斯孕育了一大批布鲁斯音乐的泰斗，其中就有有着"布鲁斯之子"，"现代布鲁斯之王"美誉的B.B.King。如今他老人家年事已高，已经很少出来现场演唱，可是他开的pub依然生意爆棚，成为整条街上最红火的一家。既然来了，就算见不上B.B.King本人，进去坐坐也是值得的。这家pub的门票是这样卖的：当你付了10美金以后，服务生会在你的手背上盖上一个戳，图案是一只半满的高脚鸡尾酒杯，那让我忽然想起了以前看过的科幻故事，说外星人如何在人的身上植入条形码以区分不同的人，呵呵，我想远了。

你知道么，音乐就是有那种力量，虽然我听不懂大部分的歌词，虽然我羞于走进中心的舞台扭动肢腰，可我还是无法不被台上全情投入的歌者与乐队所感染，音乐里满溢出来的澎湃的对生命的热情，总能让我情不自禁热血沸腾。虽然B.B.King本人不在，他的pub里的乐手和歌手仍然保持了很高的水准，再次让我坚信自己不虚此行。如今过去很久，我仍然能记得那位黑人欧巴桑激情洋溢的最后一首歌，Just hold on！yeah~~ Everybody one more time!

B.B.King club里面有一位非常美的中国籍女子出现，迅速吸引了我们这一众华裔男子的注意。不久这为美丽的小姐和自己的朋友告别，离开了pub，大家也尾随而出，然后她迅速消失在这块写着大大的PIG的招牌下面，怎么也找不见了，于是一群失落的男人在这块招牌下面留影纪念，寄托哀思。

吃完饭，我们要横贯孟菲斯的市中心去往Bill street，途径一座Mall。一层是一家灯光灰暗的餐馆，而这家餐馆有名之处是每天下午5点多种会有一队鸭子乘电梯下来，到大堂中间的花坛绕坛一周。老外似乎是把鸭子做为一种很吉利的动物看待的，家里面都喜欢摆个鸭子状的瓷器。这家以Duck show出名的餐厅自然也不能免俗，立柱旁的橱柜内陈列着无数的瓷鸭子，傻嘟嘟的。See？the lucky duck!

很可惜我们从Charcoal ribs出来已经很晚了，错过了duck show，超级遗憾的。身后那座大大的花坛就是鸭子们走秀的地点，留个影，聊做安慰吧。

既然是mall，就不会只有餐厅，往前走便看到很多古董店，里面满满当当都是来自中国作坊里出来的所谓"工艺品"，一瞅价钱，吆！那真叫一个天价！鬼子们脑袋都被枪打过的。

本来我们今晚也要去看棒球赛的，就在这家球馆。可是我们吃到太晚，赶不上了，至少据说是这样的。反正也不是什么顶级联赛，不看也罢。

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