Martin Luther King, Jr. has stood the test of time and proved to be one of the most influential humanitarians in history. As a leading Civil Rights activist of the twentieth century, King has seen man's inhumanity to man with his own eyes; in fact, he himself has been subjected to it. King lived during a time where people were sent to jail for not giving up their seat on the bus, and little boys were physically tortured and mutilated for flirting with another person. In all of this, Martin Luther King was conscious. He lived during a time where oppression was so alive that it was not only expected, it was enforced. In all of this, King did not senselessly fight fire with fire. With a spiritual grounding and a fiery heart, King reached the root of the problem in the most astounding, peaceful manner. He did not allow anger to rise within him, which was an amazing strength given the social turmoil he witnessed with his own eyes. He was a trailblazer, leading the civil rights movement towards victory. One of King's greatest accomplishments stems from the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In response to Rosa Parks' conviction, King rallied the African American community to
He is a spiritual man, who has allowed his religious beliefs to guide his pursuit of justice. Overall, King held a “respond to injury without revenge” mentality. His grounding philosophy was to love, and to love your neighbor regardless of what ills they have forced upon you. For example, even after white attackers firebombed his house, King responded to his supporters by saying, “we must love our white brothers” (Cardoza and Hume, p.486). In this sense, King was a revolutionary man. He did not wage violent wars, nor did he set off riots. He used his compelling words and progressive forms of non-violence to cause change from a disabling system
It is no secret that Martin Luther King Jr. did great things. We have learned in school that he was a leader in the movement to desegregate the South. He has served as a role model for people across the globe. But even though Martin did change the world for the better, it was not without hardships. We gathered new information on Dr. King in the essay, “Heeding the Call” by Diana Childress. From his childhood to his last days, Martin faced massive opposition. Still, all of these challenges brought Martin the wisdom and idealism he used throughout his life.
Martin Luther King, Jr., born on January 15, 1929, was well known for his nonviolent movement to bring justice and to an end to the segregation of the people in the United States back in the 1950s. With King being the leader of a peaceful protest, it failed to bring equally to the colored people. Martin Luther King, Jr. was labeled as an “outsider” who was “hatred and violence” and that his actions were “unwise and untimely” from the Public Statement by Eight Alabama Clergymen (clergymen). In response, on the day of April 16, 1963, he wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail to declare and defense his movement was not “unwise and untimely” at all. To analyze his points, King used the powerful literary devices of pathos- use of an emotional appeal.ethos-
Many students generally only learn of Dr. King’s success, and rarely ever of his failures, but Colaiaco shows of the failures of Dr. King once he started moving farther North. In the book, Colaiaco presents the successes that Dr. King has achieved throughout his work for Civil Rights. The beginning of Dr. King’s nonviolent civil rights movement started in Montgomery, Alabama, when Rosa Parks refused to move for a white person, violating the city’s transportation rules. After Parks was convicted, Dr. King, who was 26 at the time, was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). “For 381 days, thousands of blacks walked to work, some as many as 12 miles a day, rather than continue to submit to segregated public transportation” (18).
...n, and this may be due to his use of media coverage but was not the most successful. Some argued that he was a glory seeker, who used the civil rights movement to gain publicity. He was a vital part of the civil rights movement and this is shown through his death, as after which the civil right movement fizzled out. King was led several successful campaigns such as the March on Washington, which brought many civil rights organisations together. The emotional impact of the March on Washington is thought to have helped the passage of civil rights legislation. Overall, Although King and the SCLC made some contribution it was no more than others, such as the NAACP who received less publicity but were equally if not more effective. For example, the NAACP won a unanimous victory with Brown V Board Of Education, in which segregated education was said to be unconstitutional.
After Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger, king wanted to end the humiliating treatment of blacks on city bus liners. He decided to start the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted 382 days. Eventually, the U.S. Supreme Court declared Montgomery bus segregation laws illegal. King showed great inspiration despite receiving several threatening phone calls, being arrested and having his house being bombed, he still firmly believed in nonviolence. The boycott was the first step to end segregation, king displayed great leadership and educated the whole nation that nonviolence was the best possible was to end a problem, even if it took a while for people to notice your protest.
Dr. King is a man who is over flowed of nothing but creditability. Not once he pointed his finger as a child would and blame the Caucasian men for forcing the African-American to attempt to survive a horrific ordeal of history. He encouraged his brother and sisters of color not to protests with bitter and physical violence but to engage hands and peacefully demand to be treated equally. He encouraged his colored brothers and sisters to go back to where they are from with not despair in their hearts, but hope that one day there will be freedom within reach.
King wielded the power of Rhetoric in a way very few people could even hope to immolate, let alone create such an affect in American history. Even the people that disagreed with King could not help but be moved to change their ways because of the logical proof behind his words. Utilizing ethos, pathos, and logos, King directly caused the success of the Civil Rights movement and defined the future of the United States in 17 short minutes.
Perhaps one of his most sustained acts was his ability to represent the plight of African American rights while simultaneously portraying a palatable character to White America. In addition to leading various civil disobedience campaigns, he served as the movement’s main “strategist, theorist, and symbol maker” while also becoming the “movement’s chief interpreter to white Americans.” Stewart Burns actually goes so far as to suggest King, early on, realized his destiny was to be both a black Moses, delivering his brothers from the injustice of Jim Crow, as well as a Christ-like figure, offering equal measures of love, compassion, and forgiveness. This of course caused him to be disliked and criticized amongst some of the more nationalist and militant black leaders of the time, but inversely, allowed many Americans to sympathize with the movement’s main goals.
Christianity was the root of King’s life, as most of his activism was derived from his religious beliefs. Christianity, to King, is “a spirit of brotherhood made manifest in social ethics.” (Safi) The bible says seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ( Matthew 6:33) The bible also states, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” ( Matthew 22:37) King was committed to the Lord and to these bible verses through his work as a reverend preaching to others. In 1954 King became a pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. ( Nobel Media) As a reverend, King had become a great speaker while sharing his testimony. King preached his words very powerfully and wisely. This helped King with his strong speeches and talking in front of a large crowds. For example, his “I Have a Dream” speech proclaimed to 250,000 people, was one of the most dominant speeches given of all time. (James Melvin Washington) Clearly, Martin Luther King Jr was a man who was heavil...
Over the course of his life, Dr. King would lead and participate in multiple non-violent protests against segregation. On the first of December, 1955, the arrest of Rosa Parks in Montgomery, Alabama would trigger the first of many protests led by King. The Montgomery bus boycott would last for 385 days and was so tense that King’s house was bombed. He was later arrested and released after the United States District Courts ruled that segregation on all Montgomery public buses was illegal. This paved the way for King to lead many more protests in his life and becoming a major leader in the desegregation movement.
Martin Luther King, Jr. is known to be a civil rights activist, humanitarian, a father, and a clergyman. He is well known for fighting for the equal rights of colored people and ending discrimination. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is an important part of history that showed King’s opinion of a letter that he happened to read in the newspaper written by a group of clergyman. In this letter, the group of clergyman report that colored people, also known as black people, are being violent towards Birmingham City. Also, the clergymen believed the time that will allow segregation to be diminished was not happening anytime soon because it is not convenient. King refuted the clergymen’s argument in a variety of ways using tactics of argumentation and persuasion like appeal to emotion through real life examples, appeal to logic, and even articulating certain phrases through metaphors and word choice. Many of these different tactics of argumentation and persuasion made his letter very effective and is now seen as a great piece that is looked upon highly today.
Martin Luther King Jr was one of the most beloved and one of the most hated men of his time. The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. is embodied in these two simple words: equality and nonviolence. He believed that Gandhi’s method of nonviolent resistance was the key to overcoming evil (The Archive, 1968). King was involved in many nonviolent protests including the Montgomery bus boycott, The Albany movement, and the Birmingham campaign. He also wrote many speeches and writings that changed the way people thought about others. In one of his most famous speeches, I Have A Dream, King says, “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” He is basically saying that anger and revenge will actually do the opposite of setting you free. The hatred in your heart will never satisfy
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.
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. In his speech, he proclaimed a free and better nation of equality and that both races, the blacks and the whites, should join together to achieve common ground and to support each other instead of fighting against one another. King’s vision is that all people should be judged by their “personality and character and not by their color of skin”(‘I Have a Dream”). All the points he made in his speech were so strong that lots of people were interested in his thoughts. He dreamed of a land where the blacks could vote and have a reason to vote and where every citizen would be treated the same and with the same justice.
When Martin Luther King, Jr. spearheaded the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955, he began a long tenancy as the representative for nonviolent demonstration during the time of the Civil Rights Movement. As a Baptist minister, he was a moral leader to the community. He was one the Black community looked up to for encouragement and strength in a tie where they were oppressed and unequally treated. Dr. King was known for being approachable; compelling and being able to move a crowd with the powerful and provoking words he spoke. He had a vision of how he wanted the world to look when the racism and discrimination would be no longer and all the children of all different ethnicities and backgrounds could play openly and cohabitate peacefully together. Because of all the hard work and dedication he put into his community and the Civil rights...