Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King was a great man. He was an activist, pastor, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Rights Movement. He made history with his I Have a Dream speech. He did great things in his time. He stood up for what he believed in and never gave up. He led a full life that was tragically ended in 1968 by assassination. I don’t think there are enough words to describe a man as great as Martin Luther King, but I will tell you a little about his life.

Born January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King began his career as a Baptist American Pastor and civil rights activist. Through his activism, he played a very important role in ending the legal segregation of African-Americans. He fought to eliminate social and economic differences between blacks and whites. He also created the Civil Rights Act of 1974 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He won many awards. Among those was the Nobel Peace Award. Martin Luther King withstood beatings, attacks on his family, but still had the courage to stand up for what he believed was right. He was a part of the bus boycott in 1955 when Rosa Parks was arrested for not letting a white man have her seat on a bus. In 1959 he visited Ghaindi’s birthplace and was so inspired he took an even deeper commitment to his movement. In 1960 students began a “sit-in” movement to end segregation in the lunch rooms. Martin Luther King encouraged them to continue with their nonviolent sit-ins and by the end of 1960 they were successful at ending lunch segregation in 27 southern countries. In 1968 Martin Luther King and his over 200,000 supporters took their historic march to Washington where he gave his famous I Have a Dream Speech. King struggled throughout the 1960’s until in April 1968, a sniper’s bullet killed him.

As you can see, all throughout Martin Luther King’s life he struggled. He ran protests, peace rallies, speeches and made history. Throughout all his hardships he never gave up, never stopped believing that one day all mem would be equal. Even though those very beliefs are what lead to his death, his words still live on today. There is so much more to be learned from his teachings and beliefs. Martin Luther King will forever be remembered as a fighter, a believer and a man who stood up for what was right.