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How Did Martin Luther King Influence The Civil Rights Movement

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A key individual in the struggle for black civil rights was Martin Luther King Jr. He was an inspiring young activist who possessed talent for public speaking and was a natural born leader. He had a deep determination to create equality among all races world wide. He helped to organise civil rights protests such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Birmingham Campaign and the March on Washington. His first act that caused him to become known as a key leader in the civil rights movement was the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Since many blacks lived in poverty the majority used the public buses to travel to and from work. The seating on these buses were highly segregated, blacks at the back, whites at the front. Blacks would also have to give up their seat at the request of a white …show more content…

Her back was sore from pressing pants all day at work." However when asked as to the real reason Rosa replied "I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day.... No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in." This brave act of defiance led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott which has come to be known as “a turning point in the struggle for civil rights in the twentieth century” . It was not that the bus boycott was a new idea it was the fact it lasted so long and was on such a large scale that it was so effective. It showed how important the black economy was for people’s businesses. This meant that lots of white bus drivers, shop keepers and businessmen lost a lot of income without the black revenue. It majorly affected their income and they could not afford to keep the buses segregated if it meant black people would no longer use their businesses. Rosa Parks triggered people coming together however King became leader and kept this going. Carson states that “if King had never lived” the boycott would still “have occurred, because King did not initiate it”

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