Martin Luther King Jr Civil Rights Movement Essay

There is reason beyond doubt that Martin Luther King Jr. lost his life trying to restore lives of African-American people in the states. With the sculpture of Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest presidents, soaring behind him, King used the rhetorical talents he had picked up as a Baptist preacher to elaborate how a “Negro is still not free. This speech was a passionate expressive discourse, counterfeited out of the language and essence of democracy. He told of the struggle ahead, emphasizing the importance of persistent action and peaceful protest. He stated that;

For more than a year, the African-American community in Montgomery successfully boycotted the city bus company, Montgomery City Bus Lines, which resulted in the loss of much needed revenue to support the city expenses. The Bus Boycott was the impetus for many whites to act violently towards African Americans in Montgomery. Being an avid member of the NAACP, King became much involved in the boycott. King's non-violent approach towards the boycott obviously drew a lot of attention. King's home in Montgomery was firebombed by openly racist members of the Ku Klux Klan [KKK] (Norrell 1). Seeing that the bus

There were many people throughout the history of the United States that helped to get equality for African Americans; however, one man's voice moved an entire race. That one man is Martin Luther King, Jr. He has a way of making you listen when he speaks and of making you understand his ideas. Many people did listen and he motivated a whole race of people to strive with him on his quest for equality. The events in his life from early life, civil rights, and later life led him to be one of the most powerful people in the movement towards civil rights.

African American people have come a long way from the illiterate slaves, who were once picking cotton in fields, to powerful political leaders. A prime example would be President Barack Obama, the first African American president of the United States of America. But first we must ask ourselves, how did this occur? Who lead African Americans to better living standards? Civil rights leaders, such as Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks, just to name a few. However, among these great names in history, there is one that stands out, and that man is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King gave hope to those in need with his awe inspiring sermons he performed at the church his grandfather founded. He changed foes to

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. King, both a Baptist minister and civil-rights activist, had an astronomical impact on race relations in the United States in the mid-1950s to the late 1960s. Through his activism, he played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of African American citizens in the South and other areas of the United States. He also, played an important role in the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. MLK believed in the concept of nonviolent resistance and its necessity in combatting social injustice. In the end, one could say his improvements dealing with segregation were monumentally important for the future of America. Sadly, King was

Washington High School. He was such a prestigious student, that he skipped ninth and eleventh grades, and started attending Morehouse College in Atlanta at the tender age of 15 in 1944. Martin was a well liked student, popular amongst his peers and female classmates. He earned his sociology degree from Morehouse College; he was honored as valedictorian in 1951. Martin Luther King Jr. soon met his lovely wife, Coretta Scott King. They were married in 1954 and he became a pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church of Montgomery Alabama. A year later, at the age of 25 years old, he had already earned his PhD in 1955. March 2, 1955 was the beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott. A very young girl at the age of 15, refused to give up her seat on the bus. It was a violation of local law to refuse to give up your seat to a Caucasian. On December 1, 1955 a 42 year old woman by name of Rosa Parks was exhausted from a long day of work. She decided to just take a seat in the front of the bus, instead of going to the back where it was labeled for ‘Colors only’. She was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a Caucasian man. It became local wide news and Martin Luther King Jr., NAACP along with civil rights leaders, planned a citywide bus boycott. Martin was elected lead for the boycott; he gave his first speech to the Black community as the group’s president. “We have no alternative but to

Civil Rights are those rights that guarantee to all individuals by the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments of the U.S Constitution, as the right to vote and the right to equal treatment under the law (Agnes 121). The Civil Rights Era (1954-1973) was a time of racism, discrimination, protests for equality, and gained momentum to overcome horrific obstacles. This time period was inspired by African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and any other citizen that was against what forms of discrimination there was at the time (Appleby 820). The teaching of Civil Rights to students is imperative, especially to African-American Students.

"Our problem today is that we have allowed the internal to become lost in the external"

A civil rights leader by the name of Reverend (PBS, 2016) Martin Luther King Jr. changed the world he occupied and changed the future course of the United States of America by advocating for desegregation. Martin Luther King Junior was on a mission to end the segregation of the African American community. Segregation was the post result of slavery throughout the United States of America which enslaved Africans. He challenged the status quo of the time. Protesting peacefully and advocating for social change is what he proposed. The United States and the south in particular had feelings of prejudice, racism and hatred towards people of color that resulted in the Jim Crow Laws (PBS, 2016). Martin Luther King Jr. gave the “I have a dream” speech and explained how he saw the world through the eyes of an African American in 1963 that still echoes through the modern era. He was trying to persuade us to believe that a change of oppression towards blacks is achievable through nonviolence. A gunshot will challenge the peaceful speech for many followers. (Kagan, 1996)This rhetorical analysis will be covering the Kairos of Martin Luther King’s speech. Thesis: Despite Martin Luther King Jr.’s risk to life and arrests, he was willing to state “I have a Dream”, for all to hear because his main purpose was to create a peaceful unity between black and white Americans. The south would continue to subjective African Americans in the United States by enacting the “separate but equal” status

The Civil Rights Movement, also known as the American Civil Rights, was a mass movement during the 1950s and 1960s. It was one of the most intricate social movements of mankind. The Civil Rights Movement was a period where African Americans did not have the same equal rights or treatment as the whites. Instead, African Americans were segregated from whites by not going to school together, having to sit in the back of the bus, not being able to move freely, or not having the right to vote. Over the past few decades, the Civil Rights Movement has evolved to restructure the equality amongst all races across the world.

King was successful early in his life as an activist by organizing and being a key player in the Montgomery Bus Boycott that lasted 381 days from 1955 and 1956. Following his involvement with this, he moved on to become the president, and founder, of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference from 1957 to 1968 and

History is one of the topics in education, which teaches us important events of the past and helps us to understand the events of the present. Many people can be remembered in history for their past in shaping the world and the lives of some people. Looking back critically at history. One might be tempted to conclude that events in history have always evolved around human rights race relationships and power. In this paper, I will focus on the themes of racism, human rights, and power and how history makers such as Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Mahatma Gandhi (just to name these few) helped to redress them to an extent and how theirs efforts shape contemporary events.

The Civil Rights Movement and Dr. Martin Luther King The Civil Rights movement is still identified by people across the world with Dr Martin Luther King. His day of birth is remarked with a national holiday in the United States and there are many historic sites dedicated to MLK across the nation. His funeral in Atlanta on 9th April 1968 was attended by political leaders from around the world and later in 1977 King was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom which stated that MLK was “the conscience on his generation” who…”saw the power of love could bring down segregation”.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” (Famous civil-rights…) As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, the “measure” of a man comes not when things are going well, but when things are times are challenging. In the time of the Civil Rights movement, lots of African American people were measured by how they managed difficult situations. The Civil rights movement had many influential leaders and events. The overall importance of the movement was the profound impact it had on American life.

Martin Luther King Jr. changed segregation laws in Montgomery, Alabama, while also changing the rest of America. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a department store seamstress and the secretary of the Montgomery division of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), got on a segregated bus after work one day, exhausted. When the white section of the bus filled up, Rosa was asked to get out of her seat for a white passenger. She refused and was arrested on the spot. The next day, King met with other proponents of civil rights, including fellow pastor Ralph Abernathy, to organize a bus boycott in Montgomery originally meant for one day. Fortunately, the strike was so effective that it continued for 381 days. King and others formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) to prolong