Martin Luther King Jr. was the most influential leader of the American Civil Rights Movement as he fought for the freedom of African Americans. King’s most influential speech is his “I Have a Dream” given on August 28, 1963.1 King himself was a man whom thousands of people admired. Martin Luther King Jr. uses an expressive tone in his speeches by using verbal powerful imagery toward his audience, reminding them of the challenges facing them and defeating racism. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired others to take action, lead by example, as shown in his speeches and promoted non-violence as a method for change. To begin with, Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929.2 His father, Martin Luther King Sr. who was a pastor, and his mother Alberta, who was a schoolteacher who raised both King and his two siblings.3 King was very religious because the three generations of men, starting with his great-grandfather, were all preachers. His younger brother and uncle were also preachers. Religion had a big influence on his life. King grew up in a neighborhood of average citizens. No great wealth or possessions, leaders, or anyone of great stature. His best friends were religious, attended Sunday school together and church which King was considered their second home. King entered Morehouse College at the age of 15 and graduated four years later. 4 He was the third generation to attend this academic institution. At first he planned to major in medicine or law, but by his senior year, he changed to theology.5 King himself was not one to follow in the footsteps of his father, grandfather or mother, and was influenced by Dr. Benjamin Mays, President of Morehouse College, to become an “advocate for racial ... ... middle of paper ... ...ivil rights in America, galvanized by the landmark Brown vs. Board of Educa2tion of Topeka decision of 1954.” The Montgomery bus boycott happened on “December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks... who refused to give up her sear to a white passenger on a bus” she was arrested. Later, the Supreme Court ruled “segregated seating on public buses unconstitutional in November 1956.” Works Cited History.com-History Made Every Day American & World History. http://www.history.com/topics/martin-luther-king-jr (accessed October 1, 2013). (Primary source) King, Martin Luther, and Clayborne Carson. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Intellectual Properties Management in association with Warner Books, 1998. Print. (Primary source) "1960s Timeline." About.com 20th Century History. N.P. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. http://history1900s.about.com/od/timeline (Secondary source)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born at noon on January 15, 1929 in Memphis, Tennessee to the Reverend Martin Luther King and Alberta Williams King. Martin Luther King Jr. spent the first twelve years in the Auburn Avenue home that his parents shared with his maternal grandparents, the Reverend Adam Daniel Williams and Jennie Celeste Williams. When Reverend Williams passed away in 1931, Martin Luther King Sr. became the new pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church and established himself as a major figure in both state and national Baptist groups. Martin Luther King Jr. later attended Atlanta’s Morehouse College from 1944 to 1948 during his undergraduate years. During this time, Morehouse College President Benjamin E. Mays had convinced Martin Luther King Jr. to accept his calling and to view Christianity as a “potential force for progressive social change. Martin Luther King Jr. was ordained during his last semester in Morehouse.” It was also around this time that Martin Luther King Jr. had begun his first steps towards political activism. In 1951, King Jr. began his doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University’s School of Theology. In 1953, Martin Luther King Jr. married Coretta Scott on June 18 in a ceremony that took place i...
Martin Luther King Jr was a activist that was known for his famous speech “I had a dream”, he changed the lives for many people and helped changed the future. The world renowned Baptist minister and social activist had a massive impact on the American civil rights movement from the mid 1950’s until his assassination in 1968. Martin Luther King Jr was born on the 15th of January, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, known as Michael Luther King Jr and was than assassinated on the 4th of April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, United States and has still left a footprint on many people
... the Bus Boycott Martin Luther King Jr. went on to become the leader of civil rights movement and the one who the most closely associated to the civil rights movement. Some many things have happened because of Martin Luther King Jr. and everything involved with the boycott. Just think, it all would have never happened if one person, Mrs. Rosa Parks, would have let that the bus driver trample over her and not stand up for what she know is right.
Events like 1954 Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which outlawed segregated education, and 1956’s, Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat, which stemmed the Montgomery Bus Boycott, was the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement.
Mr. King was a phenomenal man, even as a boy, he was very articulate and smart for his age. He was the second child of King Sr. who died in 1984 and was a pastor, his mother, Alberta Williams King worked as a former schoolteacher. King Jr. was the middle child of older sister Christine and younger brother Alfred. He grew up in the city’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood, where there most prosperous and prominent African Americans were to come. King Jr. had attended segregated public schools and had been admitted at the age 15 to Morehouse College where he studied medicine and law.
Repression was a common component to Kings early childhood. He attended a segregated grammar school, and had to work extremely hard to receive his degree at BU in a mainly white class. He received a degree in theology due to the strong Christian values he grew up with and it being the most important part of his entire life. King was born into an extremely religiou...
Success was a big part of the Civil Rights Movement. Starting with the year 1954, there were some major victories in favor of African Americans. In 1954, the landmark trial Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas ruled that segregation in public education was unfair. This unanimous Supreme Court decision overturned the prior Plessy vs. Ferguson case during which the “separate but equal” doctrine was created and abused. One year later, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. launched a bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama after Ms. Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat in the “colored section”. This boycott, which lasted more than a year, led to the desegregation of buses in 1956. Group efforts greatly contributed to the success of the movement. This is not only shown by the successful nature of the bus boycott, but it is shown through the success of Martin Luther King’s SCLC or Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The conference was notable for peacefully protesting, nonviolence, and civil disobedience. Thanks to the SCLC, sit-ins and boycotts became popular during this time, adding to the movement’s accomplishments. The effective nature of the sit-in was shown during 1960 when a group of four black college students sat down at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in hopes of being served. While they were not served the first time they commenced their sit-in, they were not forced to leave the establishment; their lack of response to the heckling...
Martin Luther King was born in January 15, 1925 in Atlanta. He lived in Atlanta until he graduate college. He then enrolled at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. From there he learned non-violent methods used by Muhatma Gandhi. He thought this non-violent method would be a great value to the civil right movement. After leaving Crozer, he went to Alabama and married ...
Dr. King was born the son of Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr, a devout Christian who would raise his son to be so as well. Dr. King skipped ninth and twelfth grade and went on to Morehouse College at the age of fifteen. He graduated in 1948 with a B. A. degree in Sociology. He then went on to attend Crozer Theological Seminary and received his B. Div. degree in 1951. In 1953, he married Coretta Scott and in 1955 he graduated Boston University with a Ph. D. in Systematic Theology. By this point in his life, he was also the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
Martin Luther King is recognized by millions of people as a great leader and he is an inspiring man in our history. Still in this day Martin Luther King is one of the most influential heroes in society. He helped African Americans obtain their rights and liberties. Martin Luther King Jr, was one of the greatest encouraging leaders in the history of our nation. Sometimes a death threat on the phone would limit his strength but he encourage his dreams to bring segregation to an end. He had courage and was determined to dedicate his life into bringing equality rights to blacks through peaceful marches. He brought an end to segregation by creating events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, March of Washington which he delivered his famous speech “I have a dream” and the Selma March which led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
His father, Earl Little, was an outspoken Baptist minister and avid supporter of Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. King attended segregated local public grammar schools in Georgia and graduated from high school at the age of fifteen after being skipped two grade levels. King then enrolled at Morehouse University in 1944 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. He furthered his education after Morehouse at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania and at Boston University, earning his doctorate. X attended reform school in Michigan after the death of his father.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the greatest civil rights leaders to ever live. Through his empowering speeches, he made a huge impact on the world for the equality of all races. Throughout King’s life, he showed everyone how he believed equality should be acquired. With his peaceful protests and amazing speeches, he influenced people both during his time and after he passed. Many believe that King’s work in the Civil Rights Movement was the final push that America needed to finally respect people no matter their skin color.
(3) Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955): After the supreme court decided to end segregation, African Americans started to speak out more about their racial opinions. In Montgomery, Alabama, a bus boycott ended with a victory for the African Americans. The Supreme Court ruled that the Alabama segregation laws were unconstitutional. During the boycott a young African American Baptist minister, Martin Luther King, Jr. became well known. Throughout the long contest he advised African Americans to avoid violence no matter had badly provoked by whites. Rosa Parks tired of sitting in the back of the bus, and giving up her seat to white men. One weary day she refused to move from the front of the bus, and she became one of history's heroes in the Civil Rights Act movement.
The famous speech, “ I Have a Dream”, was held in 1963 by a powerful leader of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. He was born January 15,1929 the son of an Atlanta Pastor. Martin Luther King Jr. always insisted on nonviolent resistance and always tried to persuade others with his nonviolent beliefs. In 1963, King spoke from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and almost 200,000 people attended his speech. All his listeners were Civil Rights supporters who rallied behind him and the people who watched his appearance on television. King traveled the country making speeches and inspiring people to become involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He organized non violent student sit-ins and fought for the rights of the black population.
During the Civil Rights movement of the 1950's and 60's, women played an undeniably significant role in forging the path against discrimination and oppression. Rosa Parks and Jo Ann Robinson were individual women whose efforts deserve recognition for instigating and coordinating the Montgomery Bus Boycotts of 1955 that would lay precedent for years to come that all people deserved equal treatment despite the color of their skin. The WPC, NAACP, and the Montgomery Churches provided the channels to organize the black public into a group that could not be ignored as well supported the black community throughout the difficult time of the boycott.