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Martin Luther King

Essay by   •  August 3, 2011  •  Essay  •  1,479 Words (6 Pages)  •  1,568 Views

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During the 1960's racial segregation was taking place all over the world. Martin Luther King a civil right leader was an independent man who was determined to change America, and change the way people discriminated against one another because of their race. He believed that the one way to actually stand up and make a change is to sacrifice himself and be punished for his own actions, through this his rebelliousness he made a positive impact on the world. He did everything he possibly could to make a change and provide the people of every nation with equality, no matter their race, or skin color. Martin Luther King Jr. rebelled for a greater good because he fought for the pursuit of happiness and the rights for African Americans. King joined different organizations to help put an end racism around the nation, he gave inspirational speeches, walked in marches and boycotted so no matter one's race or skin color men and women in every nation would have equal rights.

Martin Luther King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He began school at age five, prior to the legal age to begin education. King attended Yonge Street Elementary School in Atlanta however when his real age was exposed he was not allowed to continue his education and did not proceed with his schooling until he reached the age of six. Following Yonge School, he was enrolled in David T. Howard Elementary School. Having such soaring scores on the college entrance assessments his junior year of high school, he excelled to Morehouse College without official graduation from Booker T. Washington. With his intelligence, he skipped both ninth and twelfth grade and entered Morehouse at age fifteen. Attending many public schools in Georgia he experienced a great amount of segregation, he graduated in 1948 from Morehouse College with a B.A degree in Sociology. "He won the Peral Plafkner Award as the most outstanding student, and he received the J. Lewis Crozer Fellowship for graduate study at a university of his choice" (Source 2). King was an independent man with a great sense of intelligence that clearly stood up for what he believed in, with all of his intelligence he received many awards and continued to strive for the change he wanted to see in all the nations of the world.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement. Kings main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States. He is a key person in American History because he challenged racial segregation and although he was beaten and imprisoned he never gave up. He kept hoping and fighting for a better world. His main legacy was to secure development on the civil rights in the United States. Today he is known as a human rights American icon. King is recognized as a martyr by two Christian churches. A Baptist minister, and he became an activist very early in his career.

King led the 1955 Montgomery Boycott and was a helpful hand in finding the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, in which he served as its first president. King's hard work and effort led to the march of 1963 on Washington, where king himself, delivered his "I have a dream speech." "This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" (Source 5) With his speech, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history. Although many didn't care what king had to say himself he ignored then and continued his goal, trying to inspire others with his speeches and such. "He and ninety others were arrested and indicated under the provisions of a law making it illegal to conspire to obstruct the operation of a business. King and several others were found guilty, but appealed their case" (source 3). Even though King knew that he would be found guilty and be segregated against for what it was he was doing, he sacrificed himself, for a greater good, in order for African-Americans and the rest of America to distinguish the change that America needs to overcome.

Martin Luther king changed history for not only African American's but for all colored people, of every skin tone. It's not what Martin Luther

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