Martin Luther King Jr.

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Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on 15 January 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, the second child of Martin Luther King Sr., a minister, and Alberta Williams King, a former school teacher.

Along with his older sister Christine and younger brother Alfred Daniel Williams, he grew up in the Sweet Auburn neighbourhood of town, then home to some of the country's most influential and wealthy African Americans. [1]

Background

Although slavery ended in the U.S. in the 19th century, decades later, institutionalized racism continued. By the mid-20th century, blacks were also required to use segregated public services and schools from higher ones reserved for whites. They suffered routine discrimination in employment and housing, as well as abuse and lynching from some whites. Martin Luther King, Jr. joined the fight for civil rights for black Americans. [2]

Work and Contribution

Martin Luther King Jr., Baptist minister by training, worked to increase national awareness of injustice, to end racial inequality and apartheid in the United States. In spite of the fact that his objective was racial equlity, King completed various more modest objectives local grassroots movements for equal justice for African Americans. In 1955, King was dynamic in his first major civil rights movement in Montgomery, Alabama, where busses were racially segregated.

There was an African American woman named Rosa Parks, who declined to give her seat to a white man in a middle of a bus riding. She was arrested for her civil disobedience, a concerted technique designed to spark a grassroots uprising. Parks' detention was instrumental in catalyzing the boycott of the Montgomery bus. With Parks in prison as a victim of Montgomery's racism, King organized the African American community of Montgomery to boycott public transport in the region, demanding fair treatment for all people in public transport. After a year-long boycott, the U.S. District Court found in Browder v. Gayle that racial discrimination on all Montgomery school busses was forbidden. [3]

Supported by the success of Montgomery Bus Boycott, King and other civil rights activists—most of them fellow ministers—founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an organization dedicated to ensuring complete freedom for African Americans through nonviolent action.

The motto of the SCLC was "Not one hair of one head of one person should be harmed." King would sit at the forefront of this powerful group until his death.

In his capacity as president of the SCLC, Martin Luther King, Jr. travelled around the country and around the world, giving seminars on non-violent demonstrations and human rights, as well as meetings with religious figures, activists and government officials.

His most famous performance is his "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered in 1963, in which he spoke of his dream of the United States that is free from segregation and racism. King frequently promoted non-violent means of protest, and coordinated and staged numerous marches and boycotts. [4]

Reference

  1. History.com Editors. Martin Luther King, Jr.. Nov 9, 2009. history.com. Retrieved on Feb 2, 2021.
  2. Tolerance Project Contributor. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR: FIGHTING FOR EQUAL RIGHTS IN AMERICA. tolerance.tavaana.org. Retrieved on Feb 2, 2021.
  3. Tolerance Project Contributor. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR: FIGHTING FOR EQUAL RIGHTS IN AMERICA. tolerance.tavaana.org. Retrieved on Feb 2, 2021.
  4. Lewis, David L. Martin Luther King, Jr.. Jan 15, 2021. britannica.com. Retrieved on Feb 2, 2021.