Martin Luther King Jr.

many people still did not want to change. It took a strong leader, a person who believed in peace and justice for blacks, and Martin Luther King Jr. was that man.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and social activist, who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968.

Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most famous civil rights activists in the history of the United States. He gave several important speeches and promoted non-violent protests. His most famous speech was “I Have A Dream”, around a quarter of a million patrons, black and white, attended this empowering speech at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. The reason his speech was vastly successful in the movement against segregation and injustice was because of its repetitiveness.

Martin Luther King, Jr. paved the way for the civil rights movement as he was unrelenting in his strive to eliminate segregation and the social system that upheld it. He fought for justice, freedom, and the equality of opportunity. He is famous for his use of civil disobedience to fight without fighting back, to accept the consequences of his defiances, and to use the initiatives of fellow citizens to act in opposition against the laws discriminating against people of color. King was an activist, but first, he was a pastor. He received a letter through the newspaper from other clergymen trying to discourage his efforts. Responding from a jail cell, King wrote a fifty paragraph letter on scraps of paper, justifying his cause and refuting their claims. In paragraphs fifteen to twenty-two, he specifically explains the effectiveness and necessity of his efforts. Martin Luther King, Jr. successfully justifies civil disobedience by utilizing logos developed through skillful syntax, and ethos built by thoughtful selection of detail.

Many people turned to violence during this time, but Martin Luther King, Jr., a legendary front-runner of this movement, advocated for peace. In his “I Have a Dream” speech, one that is still quoted by American citizens today, he voiced his wish that “one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will he able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers” (King). Rather than using his position of power to communicate rage to the masses of people gathered before him, King relayed messages of optimism. As a result, the Civil Rights movement was one built on the notion that peaceful resistance was the key to equality. The Montgomery bus boycott, marches in Selma, Birmingham, and Washington, D.C. were all intentionally nonviolent. Protesters, calm in the face of brutal police retaliation in order to defend their rights, eventually achieved equality under the law (Simkins). Footage from the “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma, displaying passive African-American protesters being beaten down by police, was rapidly spread through the media, eventually reaching President Lyndon B. Johnson and motivating him to take action against racism, passing measures such as the 1965 Voting Rights Act (History.com) Though radical protesters did resort to violence during the movement, we remember it and teach it for its emphasis on

Dr. King was looking for support from members of society in order to create an effective change in society’s ethics. Moreover, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s large audience and public movement used nonviolent tactics, such as sit-ins, marches, and freedom rides to put the Civil Rights Movement in action. Before directly acting against the law, Dr. King had used other means to try to obtain justice for all; he used the four basic steps of a nonviolent campaign to decide how he would approach this cultural issue of racism: determination of whether injustices exist, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action (King 1). After the first three steps of his nonviolent campaign proved to be ineffective, he decided to seek direct action through a large demonstration of civil disobedience. Dr. King had a tremendous impact on the segregation issue in not just Birmingham, but the entire country, by leading the Civil Rights Movement, which eventually helped influence anti-segregation legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that affected a massive population of the entire country. Although Dr. King’s journey ended in his assassination, his relentless passion for equal rights was empowering to many and helped to create a more just society.

Dr. King believes and advocates non-violent protest as the best way to get the message across to the authorities on the issues of segregation, unequal treatment of African-American people, from the white people in the country. His argument states the reason very clearly in his statement that "Non-violent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue." King placates fellow civil rights leaders by explaining his actions, and why they were necessary for the overall good of the cause. King emphasizes the stubbornness of the local government, and their unwillingness to grant rights and liberties to African Americans despite the fact they are specifically enumerated in the Constitution. King writes, "We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights." He reasons that the non-violent way of protest was

One of the many influential people in American History was Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King was a pastor in the Baptist faith, but he also was a leader in the advancement of colored people. During Dr. King’s time, segregation was at an all time high throughout the nation. But Dr. King, didn’t believe in violent protest, instead he insisted non-violent protest was the way to go. Dr. King held multiple speeches in multiple states about civil rights in America, until he reached the national level. On August

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Huey P. Newton stood up and fought for justice, equality and freedom for our people in this country. Huey Percy Newton was born February 17, 1942 and died August 22, 1989. He was an African-American political and urban activist who, along with Bobby Seale, co-founded the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born January 15, 1929 and died April 4, 1968. He was an African-American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. There have been several questions about the methods and strategies of each of these protesters. Some questioned whether or not MLK worked for the government in an attempt to keep minorities at bay by preaching peaceful protests and boycotts. Some questioned whether or not Newton was radical and promoted violence instead of self-defense or if he was a terrorist who wanted black supremacy. This study will compare and contrast the methods of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Huey P. Newton.

To begin with, one must use non-violent means to find a peaceful solution in order to achieve true freedom and defend their civil rights. According to “Letter from Birmingham Jail” King expressed that “my friend and I must say to you that we have not made a civil right without determined legal non-violent pressure.” This shows how King wants to secure civil rights with using non-violence methods. Furthermore, King also stated, “to deny citizens the first amendment privilege of peace assembly and protest.” This reveals that when King protested he protested to secure his civil rights by using nonviolent methods.

Throughout history, we have seen many examples of civil disobedience that has positively affected our society. Of these examples, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was one of the most impactful cases known to the American people. While in the Birmingham Jail, he wrote a letter to the clergymen justifying his then recent endeavors. Words like peaceful, genuine good, and nonviolent all can be quoted from this letter. He stood for the African American people and their equality. He was ready to take the consequences for his actions and gracefully promoted his cause: segregation! We all know that through this, he got what he wanted accomplished. Now, every American citizen can live in equality and equilibrium.

In order to stay truthful with the US’s democratic principles, Dr. King believed society shouldn’t have an imaginary line to divide among it citizens that based on an individual skin color or ethnicity. Dr. King bear witness to minority and himself subjected to racial discrimination and social injustice. In Dr. King’s letter written to eight Alabama clergymen who asked Dr. King abide by the rule of the court that bans public demonstration without a permit. However, the peaceful protest that leads to social unrest, where the Anglo Saxons sanction hatred and acted violence toward the black demonstrators, and further impeaching the progression of the Civil Rights movement. In the letter, Dr. King said, "You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may well ask: ‘how can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?’" (218). The police have no justifiable causes or reasons to imprison Dr. King for a peaceful march that demand justice to be served and end racism without violent demonstration. The non-violent civil rights movements brought an end to segregation in United States. Dr.

August 28, 1963 (Eidenmuller) marked a very important day in history that had an impact not only on America, but the whole world. On this day, Martin Luther King Jr. presented his well known I Have a Dream speech that aimed to eliminate racism, inequality and discrimination. He strongly believed that one day people would put their differences aside and come together. So, what happened to that dream? Along with other equality initiative ideas, they rarely make it past the idea stages or end in the actual eradication result. It is clear to us that even after 51 years, our societies still struggle with accepting full equality. Within those 51 years we have made a mass amount of progress but, a common thought would be that after this long the issue should have been eradicated. Two essays that can be used as an example of proof that racial inequality still exists in our society are, Black Men in Public Spaces by Brent Staples and Who Shot Johnny? by Debra Dickerson. In these essays, both provide solid evidence to support their main goal with the use of different writing styles, tone, and rhetorical devices to display how African Americans are perceived and treated by society.

Not only were many laws changed and created, but even more were broken in an attempt to better our once unjust society. Martin Luther King Jr., arguably the most influential leader of this movement, was an avid supporter of civil disobedience during this era. He participated in countless sit-ins and protests, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1956, in which he and almost one hundred other activists were arrested for peacefully protesting discrimination in the Montgomery public transit system. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, written in 1963 after he was arrested for partaking in a nonviolent protest, King offers explanation as to why he practices civil disobedience and what he hopes to achieve in doing so. In this letter, King admits, “In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law…that would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty”. However, he also stated that in this fight, it is necessary to “[stand] up for what is best in the American…thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence”. In his words, civil disobedience is more than ignorance of law; it is just one of the necessary measures that must be taken to restore equality in a

For example, Martin Luther King Jr. was a leader in his community and believed that civil disobedience was the way to change the laws and feelings that were set against the colored people in America. King believed the only way to get his point across is by taking action, but he believed action should be taken in a form of non-violent protests and without the use of any physical force. King claims to justify acts of civil disobedience,