Martin Luther King, Jr was a famous American activist, humanitarian, pastor and for many, leader of the African-American civil rights movement, he was born on January 15th 1929 and died April 4th 1968. During King's time, there were many social injustice in the American society, many looked down on African-American and treated them unequally to whites, many African-Americans were also subject to police brutality and inequality, thus King was a very passionate man of the idea of peace, equality and the freedom of African-Americans, he organized or helped organize many non-violent means of protest such as the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in his lifetime and fought equally hard for the freedom and equal treatment of African-Americans in the American society. For his efforts and persistence, his protest movements gain national news coverage.
Martin Luther King, Jr was most famous for the March on Washington D.C. in 1963, where he delivered the famous freedom speech 'I have a dream', his 16 minute speech touch many people, it also established his reputation as a effective orator and master communicator. The next year in 1964, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in combating racial inequality through non-violent means. He later focused on the problem of poverty and the Vietnam War, King delivered another speech in 1967 named 'Beyond Vietnam' as a anti-Vietnam protest, this in turn lost him a few allies as many at the time were for the war. Martin Luther King, Jr was assassinated on April 4th 1968, he death sparked many riots over many U.S. cities. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal for his lifetime efforts, many cities established Martin Luther King, Jr as a holiday in 1971 and it was established as a official federal U.S. holiday in 1986.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a very passionate man on the ideals of freedom and he died a martyr. After his death, King became a national symbol of freedom and thus cemented his legacy of a freedom fighter.
- Leo Lieu (LILED1303/ISYS100)
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| Martin Luther King, Jr. |
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| 1963 March on Washington D.C. |
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