Martin Luther King Jr. and his Influential Actions.

Martin Luther King Jr. was arguably the most important activist in the civil rights movement. He was the most adored yet most hated leader during his time and he was influenced by many iconic figures and influenced even more.

King was born January 15, 1929 to the name Micheal Luther King Jr. and later changed it to Martin. He grew up in Atlanta, Georgia where his family was a line of pastors going back to his grandfather preaching at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. From 1960 to his death in 1968, Martin was a co-pastor with his father. He went to several public segregated schools and then got his Bachelors at Morehouse College, and eventually received his Doctorate in 1958 from post-grad studies at Boston college. There he met and married Correta Scott and had two sons and two daughters.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement. King was the mind behind the event. The King family had been living in Montgomery for less than a year before the boycott. December 1st, 1951, Rosa Parks refused to get out of her seat on a bus for a white man. She was arrested for her actions, her arrest triggered the boycott and initiated the movement. The boycott consisted of multiple civil rights activists lead by Martin Luther King Jr. and lasting for more than a year. The result of the boycott made bus lines and downtown businesses suffer economic declines. By 1956, the United States government ruled segregated buses as unconstitutional and the boycott was a success. Martin entered the national spotlight and became a highly inspirational component to peaceful protests and in general the lives of everyone. He was now highly renowned by thousands however, targeted by the many white supremacists during his time. Due to the boycott’s success, MLK decided to take his goal even farther and founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, focusing on nonviolent actions and protests.

King was elected president of the SCLC and his role required him to travel across the country and the world to lecture about peaceful and nonviolent protests. He was given the chance to meet many family members and followers of Gandhi describing it in his autobiography as “the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change.”.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the foundation of the SCLC was just the beginning. King participated in and lead many more critical events such as the March on Washington, arguably the most important Civil Rights event. Once more King teamed up with other civil rights activists and religious leaders to execute the march. A near 200,000 to 300,000 people came together to take part in a peaceful political rally to shed light on the injustices against African Americans. The march was a widely uplifting event culminating the famous “I have a dream” speech which continues to inspire millions, more than 50 years after. By the end of the year he was named TIME magazine’s man of the year and was also the youngest person to be awarded the nobel peace prize.

More militant leaders such as Stokely Carmichael and Malcolm X (both inspired by King’s actions) came to power, King broadened his views of issues and addressed even more such as the Vietnam War and poverty. However, on the night of April 4th, 1968, King was shot dead on the balcony of his hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. The tragic event triggered a wave of riots and a day of mourning by president Johnson. In 1983, activists and his wife Correta, signed a document issued by President Reagan creating a federal holiday in King’s remembrance. MLK day was first celebrated in 1986.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a very inspirational figure in his time and in today’s world. He inspired millions of people with his actions and beliefs. The Civil Rights Movement was a strong time in history and it would have been far less affective without the ideas, marches, protests, and rally’s of Martin Luther King Jr.