Non-Violent Non-Cooperation Peaceful Protests: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

First and for most, King devoted himself to the idea of “non-violent non-cooperation,” peaceful protest and no violence toward law enforcement or any one. The most influential act that one single civil rights activist preformed was the famous march on Washington for jobs. The march took place on August 28, 1963. It claimed the title of the largest civil rights convention/rally in history. It attracted upwards of 200,000 people, and needed nearly 300,000 police to control the passionate crowed. It was here that King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech upon the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Among other things, the speech promoted peace and love between all races and religions, as well as economic rights for minorities, African Americans in particular. The positivity and the extreme desire for equal treatment is an appeal to logos for most of the population. This initial act serves as the first major advancement of civil rights simply due to the sheer size of participants it attracted, as well as the mass amounts of media attention it received. With these peaceful interactions taking place, Kings ideologies become more and more universally accepted by the general public. It was estimated that nearly 80 percent of the attendees were of African American decent. This is was crucial because this was the first time the Black community had been united since the end of the civil war. This unionization of the Black community continued to snow ball as King took his campaign for peace to the south.

Another major event that forced the eyes of the entire nation on to the problem of social injustice was the three marches from Selma, Alabama to the state capital of Montgomery. The marches took place first and for most to voice the want for...

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...rning, Teaching, And Research 7.(2011): 62-71. ERIC. Web. 4 May 2014.
Curwen discusses the problem of how to adequately address the growing number of children who a ill informed with regards to social justice and civil rights. Student’s perceptions of these topics were discovered when they gave their respective opinions via interviews.

Mach, Andrew. "Martin Luther King Jr.: 8 Peaceful Protests That Bolstered Civil Rights." The Christian Monitor. N.p., n.d. Web. Apr.-May 2014.
This online article is very insightful. It contains a significant amount of information with regards to Kings major achievements for social justice. Some of which include rallies he attended, famous speeches he gave, or even protests he took part in. Knowing what he organized and achieved, is the first step in being able to understand what it was specifically that drove civil rights forward.