B22
美华商报
英语专版
2014 年 12 月 12 日
（星期五）
Thousands Mour‘Mayor for Life' Marian Barry
数千人沉痛悼唁前 DC 市长 Marian Barry
By The Associated Press Sam Ford
WASHn INGTON (AP/
WJLA) - Local and national
political leaders, prominent
clergy and ordinary Washing⁃
tonians who got their first
jobs as a result of Marion
Barry's
programs
were
among the thousands who
gathered Saturday to say
goodbye to the man dubbed
"Mayor for Life."
Barry died Nov. 23 at
age 78. He served four
terms as mayor and leaves
a legacy as the most fa⁃
mous, the most beloved and
the most divisive local lead⁃
er in four decades of Dis⁃
trict of Columbia self-rule.
He was credited with
expanding economic opportu⁃
nity for the city's black ma⁃
jority, and helping to revital⁃
ize downtown Washington.
He also had well-document⁃
ed personal struggles, culmi⁃
nating in a 1990 arrest for
smoking crack cocaine. He
served six months in prison
but was later elected to his
fourth term for a remarkable
comeback.
"Marion Barry was an
icon. He was the consum⁃
mate politician. He was an
elder statesman. He was a
fierce fighter for the dispos⁃
sessed," said the Rev. Wil⁃
lie Wilson, a southeast Wash⁃
ington pastor and one of sev⁃
eral clergy who ministered
to Barry over the years.
More than two dozen
people spoke at the 4
½-hour service at the Wash⁃
ington Convention Center.
The convention hall had seat⁃
ing for roughly 15,000 peo⁃
ple, but it never appeared
more than half full. A buri⁃
al service at Congressional
Cemetery was private.
Mayor Vincent Gray, a
longtime friend and ally,
said Barry stood up for peo⁃
ple with intellectual disabili⁃
ties long before it was politi⁃
cally popular to do so.
Gray, who directed an organi⁃
zation for the intellectually
disabled, recalled how Barry
dealt with a wealthy resi⁃
dent who didn't want a
group home in his neighbor⁃
hood. "Mayor Barry said,
and I quote, 'You really
don't want any answers, do
you? If you want to talk
about how we will make
this work, I will stay with
you all night. Otherwise, I
have nothing else to say to
you.' That was vintage Barry,
" Gray said.
The Rev. Louis Farra⁃
khan, the head of the Na⁃
tion of Islam who was in
Washington to support Barry
during his trial on drug
charges, said he was asked
by a reporter at the time
what he thought of a man
who broke his marital vows
and used drugs. "I said,
'Who are you talking about,
John Fitzgerald Kennedy?'
That ended the press confer⁃
ence," Farrakhan said to a
raucous ovation.
Farrakhan credited Bar⁃
ry with the success of the
Million Man March on the
National Mall, which he orga⁃
nized and led in 1995.
"The Million Man March
could never have happened
in any other city at any oth⁃
er time than in Washington,
D.C. at the time of Marion
Barry," Farrakhan said.
Barry's only son, Chris⁃
topher Barry, thanked his fa⁃
ther for teaching him life les⁃
sons, including a formative
trip to Barry's native Missis⁃
sippi when he was 13. He
said Barry wasn't a conven⁃
tional father, but he always
felt the love Barry had for
his constituents. "I didn't al⁃
ways feel like he had the
time to spend with me as a
father," Christopher Barry
said. "It was other people
that embraced me. I never
felt his absence because I al⁃
ways felt his love through
others."
Billionaire real estate
developer R. Donahue Pee⁃
bles said he owes all his
success to Barry, who ap⁃
pointed him to a city board
at 24 and helped him start
his business. "Marion Barry
taught me to dream big. Mar⁃
ion Barry gave me the oppor⁃
tunity to make those dreams
come true," Peebles said.
"Marion Barry made Wash⁃
ington, D.C., the mecca of
African-American
entrepre⁃
neurship. Marion Barry creat⁃
ed the black middle class
in Washington, D.C."
Charles
Wilson,
54,
President Obama talks about the nation's
rising racial tensions
Obama 总统谈论持续升温的种族矛盾
was one of many wearing a
T-shirt printed with Barry
photos. A native Washingto⁃
nian, Wilson got his first
job at 13 with the city's
parks and recreation depart⁃
ment through Barry's sum⁃
mer youth employment pro⁃
gram. "He was our father.
He gave us jobs. He's done
a lot for the city. Whatever
I have belongs to him - my
house, my car, my job with
D.C. government," Wilson
said.
A casket bearing the re⁃
mains of Marion Barry was
driven around the city in a
lengthy processional Friday.
Most of the route was
east of the Anacostia River
in southeast Washington, the
Ward 8 section of the Dis⁃
trict where Barry lived. Bar⁃
ry also represented that por⁃
tion of the city on the D.C.
Council.
The processional lasted
more than three hours. It
was followed by a five-hour
public viewing at Temple of
Praise Church.
On Friday evening, the
Rev. Al Sharpton delivered
a eulogy for Barry at a com⁃
munity service hosted by
the church.
White House Christmas
decorations
USA Today
President Obama talks about the nation's
rising racial tensions in an interview , asking
a young, African-American audience to be
both persistent and patient.
"This isn't going to be solved overnight,"
Obama tells BET News in an interview to be
aired Monday. "This is something that is deep⁃
ly rooted in our society, it's deeply rooted in
our history."
Speaking in the wake of nationwide pro⁃
tests over grand jury refusals to indict police
officers for deaths of black men in Missouri
and New York, Obama said he would ask all
young people to remember two things.
One, he says, understand that "we have
made progress" in the last 50 years, even as
the nation still has a way to go.
Second: "We have to be persistent,"
Obama says in a brief clip provided by the
BET Networks. "Because, typically, progress is
in steps -- it's in increments."
Speaking specifically to young Afri⁃
can-Americans, Obama said "if you talk to
your parents, grandparents, uncles, they'll tell
you that things are better -- not good, in
some cases, but better."
Obama added: "