A Hero of the Nation

Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the biggest civil rights leaders in our country. He would march on for days trying to earn equal rights for all people. One of his biggest philosophies is that you should fight, but not with your fists. He used speech to his advantage, spreading the message that he wanted all people, no matter what your skin color was, to get along. Today we are going to take a look into the amazing life of MLK. 

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”  -MLK

Dr.King has many sayings that all send a great message. That is just one of them. The civil rights movement has been in the King family for decades. MLK’s father was a baptist and preacher, he was also an early advocate for the civil rights movement. But, we aren’t here to talk about him. Like his father though, MLK was always trying to do the right thing. He would lead protests and rally’s to try and change the unfair laws against blacks. Once again discrimination was one of the biggest problems in the United States. One of his biggest and most memorable moments was the March on Washington. In this protest  he led over 250,000 people and they marched onto the Washington Monument and the leaders gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial. This is when MLK gave his famous I have a dream speech. Here are a couple lines from that speech, courtesy of kr.usembassy.gov,’” I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.” Just a tiny bit from that speech.

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

Let's talk about what was really going on at this time. In the 1950’s ever since the beginning of the U.S. African Americans had little rights. First, they were slaves. Then slavery was banned. Segregation, the discrimination towards certain people, was still a thing all the way up to the 50’s and 60’s. This is when the Civil Rights Movement started. The Civil Rights Movement was one of the biggest turning points in U.S. history. This is when African American leaders led marches and protests for their rights. MLK’s father was one of these early leaders. MLK followed in his footsteps and is one of the most well known Civil Rights leaders ever.

Now, a little bit about MLK’s life. He was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. Life was hard for people like the King’s, and that is what drived MLK to try and change the unfair laws against black people. Dr.King Sr. was a priest as I said earlier, so in tradition MLK also was for a few years. He led years of marches and protests, and he kept marching. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his good work in this movement. A few years later in 1968 he was assassinated by James Earl Ray. It was the fall of a titan.

MLK was one of the most recognized and powerful people in the country. He was influential and he changed the lives of millions people with his work to change the discrimination in the world.

Works Cited

https://kr.usembassy.gov/education-culture/infopedia-usa/living-documents-american-history-democracy/martin-luther-king-jr-dream-speech-1963/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.

Link to the picture.