Martin Luther King as a Role Model

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Martin Luther King as a Role Model Everyone has someone that they look up to. It may be a hero or a role model. Martin Luther King serves as a role model for many African Americans because of his contributions and fight towards civil rights. King became very popular and touched the lives of many. According to Robert A. Divine and other authors of America Past and Present, the arrest of Rosa Parks sparked a massive protest movement that witnessed the emergence of Martin Luther King, Jr., as an eloquent new spokesman for African Americans. King led a prominent bus boycott in honor of Mrs. Parks. The boycott successfully ended a year later when the Supreme Court ruled the Alabama segregated law unconstitutional. As a result, King became well known around the world with his belief of passive resistance. He visited Third World leaders in Africa and in Asia and paid homage to Ghandi. He led a victorious Prayer Pilgrimage to Washington in 1957 on the third anniversary of the Brown decision. He held many vigils and led many protests to end segregation. King founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to promote others to fight against segregation a year after the bus boycott. Then, in April 1960, he found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). These newly formed coalitions led to "dramatic success for the movement, but also ushered in a period of heightened tension and social turmoil in the 1960s. By 1968, he was winning the hearts and minds of more and more Americans on both sides of the color line. His efforts successfully merged the a... ... middle of paper ... ... Select Committee also concluded that "James Ray fired one shot at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; the shot killed King." After the House Select Committee released its final Report in 1979, Committee Chairman Louis Stokes (D-Ohio) and Chief Counsel G. Blakey ordered that all of the committee's backup. Credits Branch, Taylor. Parting the Waters : America in the King Years, 1954-63. Simon & Schuster, 1988. Divine, Robert, et al. America: Past and Present. 5th edition; volume II, Addison Wesley, New York: 1999. Garrow, David J. bearing the cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Confrence. Morrow, 1986. Jakoubek, Robert E. Martin Luther King, Jr. Chelsea Hse., 1989 For younger readers. Lewis, David L. King: A Biography. 2nd ed. Univ. of Illinois Pr., 1978.

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