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The Civil Rights Movement Essay

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The Civil Rights Movement “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” This was a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. Even one hundred years after slavery was banned, African Americans were still being treated unfairly. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most famous leaders of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s. The Civil Rights movement was a movement of African Americans who felt that they were not being treated equally. There were also many other famous leaders and inspirations during the Civil Rights Movement. This movement was very important to the freedom of African Americans. An influential leader …show more content…

He was born on January 15, 1929. He graduated 1948 with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College. He received a doctorate degree from Boston University in 1955. The King family had a history of pastors. His grandfather was a pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1931, Martin Luther King Sr. took over the pastor role. In 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. became co pastor and remained that until his death in 1968. Before that, in 1954, he became pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama. In December of 1955, Martin Luther King Jr. boycotted buses, along with many other African Americans. During these boycotts, his house was bombed, and he was arrested. On December 21, 1956, the Supreme Court declared that the segregation on buses was unconstitutional and blacks and whites traveled on the bus together for the first time. In 1957, he was elected the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. This was formed to provide new leadership for the Civil Rights movement. From this time, to the day he died in 1968, he wrote five books and read two thousand and five hundred speeches. He directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C. He delivered his “I had a dream” speech, where two hundred and fifty thousand people came to listen to him. In 1963, he was named the Man of the Year, by Time magazine. When he was thirty-five years old, he became the youngest person ever to

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