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“’The ultimate tragedy of segregation [is that] it not only harms one physically, but injures one spiritually’” (David 123). The civil rights movement occurred primarily in the American south in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Its forefront leader was the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist preacher originally from Atlanta, Georgia and residing in Montgomery, Alabama. King’s actions would ultimately result in the in the achievement of equal right for colored people and the end of the segregation that ran rampant though the Deep South. Dr. King’s leadership, challenging of laws, and nonviolence were a catalyst in the civil rights movement in the 1950’s.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was by far the most affluent black leader during the civil rights movement, and he used this influence to set change in motion. King was chosen to head the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), and as a part of that he organized the thirteen-month boycott of public transportation in the city (“Montgomery Bus Boycott”). This effort inspired black citizens across the South to take charge, even if it was not easy. King empowered people by showing them that they could do things to make their lives better. In addition to the MIA, Martin Luther King was elected head of the Southern Christian Leadership conference (SCLC), in 1957 (Wilson 390). Traveling hundreds of thousands of miles giving speeches, King shot into national fame. His leadership reached a much broader audience. He told thousands if not millions of citizens how to make a difference in their world. It was through his wisdom as a leader that Martin Luther King, Jr. helped to kick-start the American civil rights movement.

Due to his public influence and unwillingness to stand down, Dr. King ch...

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...acts of violence. It was instances like these that drove him to instill rational and loving behavior in his followers, so as to make a more diplomatic, lasting impact. Dr. King’s devotion to such nonviolence was what caused the civil rights movement to be so successful.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s leadership, lack of fear of arrest, and pacifism all had a powerful positive impact on civil rights. His involvement with the MIA and SCLC reached a huge audience, and though it put his personal wellbeing at stake, his encouragement of nonviolent protest eventually led to the abolishment of racial discrimination in the US. His work continued through the 1960’s until his tragic assassination in 1968. Though his life was short, Dr. King has a far-reaching effect. He assisted in ending what was in his mind one of the greatest tragedies our country has ever known: segregation.