Martin Luther King Jr.: A Life Dedicated to Civil Rights
Early Life and Influences
Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929 into a comfortable home in the southern United States. His grandfather and father were both preachers, and religion played a significant role in his upbringing. At the age of 15, he decided to become a preacher. He went to the North to study and graduated as Dr. Martin Luther King in 1955.
Return to the South and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Despite the temptation to stay in the North, King returned to the segregationist South in 1955 to help the poor black people there. He became president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), a black organization that fought segregation. In 1955, the Montgomery bus boycott began after Rosa Parks, an African-American, refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. King and the MIA led the boycott, which became nationally famous and resulted in the desegregation of buses in Montgomery.
Non-Violent Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement
King became a prominent leader of the Civil Rights Movement, advocating for non-violent resistance. He traveled across the country, giving speeches and organizing protests against segregation. He was influenced by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau, who believed that sometimes laws are unjust and must be broken.
The March on Washington and the Nobel Peace Prize
In 1963, King delivered his famous”I Have a Drea” speech at the March on Washington. The speech inspired millions of Americans and helped to raise awareness of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1964, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.
Voting Rights and the Selma Campaign
King continued to fight for voting rights for African-Americans. In 1965, he led a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to protest the denial of voting rights to black people. The march was met with violence, but it ultimately led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Later Years and Assassination
As the Civil Rights Movement progressed, King faced increasing opposition from both white and black radicals. Some African-Americans became frustrated with the pace of change and advocated for more militant tactics. In 1968, King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
Legacy
Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered as one of the most influential leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. His message of non-violence and equality continues to inspire people around the world. Today, African-Americans have equal political and voting rights thanks to the work of King and other civil rights leaders.
Themes
Dedication to a Cause
: This biography shows that Martin Luther King, Jr. dedicated his life to his cause,
and although he had a wife and four children, his time was not his own. The cause of civil rights for African- Americans
was so big and his campaigns made it so active, that he could never rest. He lived a very public life in front of the worlds press. His heart, mind and actions were ruled by his religious and political beliefs; he was driven.
Other protest leaders who have given up their lives to their cause include Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma, who has left her family and children in England to fight for democracy in her country.
Non-violence: The central theme of Kings campaign for civil rights was non-violence. It worked better for King in the US than it did for Gandhi in India, where independence was accompanied by terrible fighting
between Muslims and Hindus. There are lots of examples in Kings campaign of non-violent protest working. His campaign brought huge publicity and because King taught blacks to meet the whites with love, not hate, it made
the whites look silly and evil in the eyes of the world. For example, when students organized lunchtime protests see page 18), the world saw white men arresting peaceful blacks because they sat in the wrong seats in a lunch bar
in Woolworths. When children marched in Birmingham, Alabama (see page 24), police used water cannons and dogs against them, arrested them and put them in jail.
Publicity: Another important weapon in Kings fight against injustice was publicity. For many poor blacks, life was simply a struggle to feed their families and keep a place to live. King needed to reach all those people
and show them that their lives could be better. He made speeches all over America. He held meetings. When he was arrested, it made world news.. Black African- Americans became radicalized and wanted to fight. Some
went further than King intended, and used violence, as in the 1965 Watts riots in Los Angeles. But he taught them that they could change things. Publicity then included posters, newspapers, meetings, word of mouth, marches,
demonstrations, radio, and early television.
Racism: The central wrongdoing of this story is racism. The belief by one race that they are better than another or that they can rule another is behind much human conflict. The early slave traders treated black people as animals.
It has taken centuries for most whites to stop believing they are superior to blacks. Many whites today still believe they are superior to blacks, in many parts of the world, Racism exists in more or less extreme forms in most cultures,
and is one of the most pressing issues in world politics today.