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Martin Luther King Birmingham Jail

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Martin Luther King Jr. was a hero to some and a villain, to others but no matter what way the people viewed him, he influenced US history forever. He was an African-American Baptist minister, a social activist from Georgia, a father of four children, and a loving husband. He stood for peace, equality, and justice, especially for African Americans and the socially disadvantaged. The pastor became a Civil Rights leader due to the tension in the south. Little did he know, he became the man that was considered to be the driving force behind the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. His first attempt to equalize whites and blacks was through boycotts that he organized in Alabama. It all started in 1955, with a woman by the name …show more content…

The purpose of this campaign was to raise awareness for the racial problem in Birmingham, Alabama. It was known to be one of the most racist, most segregated towns in the south. The African Americans nicknamed the town “Bombington” because there were so many unsolved cases of random bombings in Birmingham. They called the day they marched “D-day.” It was a silently planned protest. Kids were leaving school by the classroom, teachers were encouraging them to help the campaign. Kids from all over joined and parents were worried but proud. Organized by Martin Luther King, hundreds of African American children marched from the Baptist church to Birmingham. They were in groups of 50 and all 922 of them were all bussed to the jail, happily. The purpose of this non-violent protest was to show that the African American community was not afraid of the whites anymore. They all came together and would stand up for what is right because they technically weren't doing anything wrong to the whites. With the fame he was getting from the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King began to pick up a lot of new civil rights campaigners. With this, he also had lots of enemies, one of them being a guy by the name of James Earl Ray. James Earl grew up in Alton, Illinois and was always considered to be a racist. Ray was convicted on his 41st birthday after entering a guilty plea to forgo a jury trial. Had he been found guilty by jury trial, he would have been eligible for the death penalty. He was sentenced to life in prison (James,

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