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The
reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one
of the most influential and inspirational Civil
Rights leaders in American history. Born in
1929, King graduated from Morehouse College
in 1948 and then from the Crozer Theological
Seminary with a Bachelor's in Divinity in 1951.
He received a Ph.D in Systematic theology in
1955 from Boston University.
In
1954, King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue
Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama where
he led the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama
after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to
give up her seat on a public bus. The boycott
lasted 381 days and resulted in King being arrested.
Despite his arrest, the boycott ultimately resulted
in the Supreme Court outlawing discrimination
on intrastate buses.
After
the boycott, King helped in the founding of
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC) which advocated the peaceful protest
of Black churches concerning Civil Rights (especially
in the American south). Primarily inspired by
the non-violent protests conducted by Mahatma
Gandhi in India, King was instrumental in helping
his cause gain national attention through the
media. Because of his efforts, civil rights
became the top political issue of the early
1960's.
In
1963, King delivered the immortal speech "I
have a Dream" in front of the Lincoln
Memorial during the March on Washington. Over
250,000 people gathered around the National
Mall in support. King's speech electrified
the crowd and is considered one of the greatest
speeches in American history. King later led
protests and gave speeches for the African
American right to vote, desegregation, and
fair hiring. In 1964, King's hopes were realized
when congress passed the Civil Rights Act of
1964 and then, the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
On October 14, 1964, King was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize for his leadership in non-violent
protest.
King
became a prominent political figure and expressed
his opposition of American involvement in
the Vietnam War. In 1967, King called America "the
greatest purveyor of violence in the world today."
Although King was always hated by southern
white segregationists, his speech against America
turned many in mainstream media against him.
In 1968, while he was organizing a march to
protest the working conditions of black sanitation
workers in Memphis, Tennessee, he was assassinated
by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Hotel. Because
he was under FBI surveillance at the time,
many believe the agency was involved in the
assassination (although there is no proof).
Furthermore, some reports have suggested that
the FBI, and its chief officer J. Edgar Hoover,
threatened to reveal evidence of extra-marital
affairs King engaged in if he refused to curtail
his Civil Rights efforts.
300,000
people attended King's funeral. President Lyndon
B. Johnson declared a national day of mourning.
Today, numerous schools, buildings, and highways
are named for Martin Luther King Jr. In 1986,
a U.S. national holiday was established in honor
of Martin Luther King Jr., which is called Martin
Luther King Day. It is observed on the third
Monday of January each year, around the time
of King's birthday. On January 18, 1993, for
the first time, Martin Luther King Day was officially
observed in all 50 U.S. states. Below is an
excerpt from King's famous I have a Dream
speech.
I
have a dream that one day this nation
will rise up and live out the true meaning
of its creed:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident:
that all men are created equal." I have
a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia
the sons of former slaves and the sons of former
slaveowners will be able to sit down together
at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that
one day even the state of Mississippi, a state
sweltering with the heat of injustice, a state
sweltering with the heat of oppression, will
be transformed into an oasis of freedom and
justice. I have a dream that my four children
will one day live in a nation where they will
not be judged by the color of their skin but
by the content of their character. I have a
dream today.
I
have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with
its vicious racists, with its governor, having
his lips dripping with the words of interposition
and nullification, one day right there in Alabama
little black boys and black girls will be able
to join hands with little white boys and white
girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream
today. I have a dream that one day every valley
shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall
be made low, the rough places will be made plain,
and the crooked places will be made straight,
and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together. This is
our hope. This is the faith that I go back to
the South with. With this faith we will be able
to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone
of hope. With this faith we will be able to
transform the jangling discords of our nation
into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With
this faith we will be able to work together,
to pray together, to struggle together, to go
to jail together, to stand up for freedom together,
knowing that we will be free one day.
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