Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and civil rights leader who led the struggle against racial segregation in the United States. He advocated nonviolent resistance and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

Early Life and Ministry

King was born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, the son and grandson of Baptist ministers. He studied at Morehouse College and at Crozer Theological Seminary.

He took a doctorate in systematic theology at Boston University, where he studied the thought of Mahatma Gandhi and of the American social gospel movement.

He became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1954.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott

The arrest of Rosa Parks in December 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a bus led to a boycott of the Montgomery bus system. King was elected to lead the Montgomery Improvement Association.

The boycott lasted more than a year and ended with a Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. The campaign made King a national figure.

He founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957 to coordinate the struggle for civil rights. The organisation adopted the methods of nonviolent direct action.

Birmingham and the March on Washington

The campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963 brought national attention to the brutality of segregation. King was arrested, and his Letter from Birmingham Jail became a classic statement of the case for civil disobedience.

He helped to organise the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August 1963, where he delivered his I Have a Dream speech. The speech is among the most famous in American history.

The pressure of the campaign contributed to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Later Campaigns and Death

King turned his attention to poverty and to the war in Vietnam. He opposed the war and was criticised for it by many of his former allies.

He launched the Poor People's Campaign to address economic injustice. He was in Memphis, Tennessee, to support a strike by sanitation workers when he was assassinated in April 1968.

His death provoked riots in many cities and led to a national day of mourning. His legacy has been commemorated by a national holiday since 1986.

Legacy

King is regarded as the most important leader of the American civil rights movement. His philosophy of nonviolence influenced movements for justice throughout the world.

His writings and speeches are central texts of American political thought. The I Have a Dream speech is studied for its rhetoric and its moral force.

He is remembered as a martyr for the cause of racial equality. His birthday is observed as a federal holiday in the United States.

The Birmingham Campaign

The campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963 was designed to confront segregation in one of the most segregated cities in the South. The campaign used sit-ins, marches, and boycotts.

King was arrested and wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail in response to a statement by local clergymen. The letter defended the strategy of nonviolent direct action and the obligation to disobey unjust laws.

The police response, including the use of dogs and fire hoses against demonstrators, was broadcast around the world. The images contributed to the pressure for federal legislation.

The March on Washington

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was held in August 1963. More than two hundred thousand people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial.

King delivered the I Have a Dream speech, which called for racial equality and for the fulfilment of the promise of the Declaration of Independence. The speech is regarded as one of the greatest in American history.

The march was organised by a coalition of civil rights, labour, and religious groups. It helped to secure the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Voting Rights Campaign

The campaign in Selma, Alabama, in 1965 focused on the right to vote. The march from Selma to Montgomery was met with violence at the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

The events led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibited discrimination in voting. The act transformed the political life of the South.

King continued to work on voting rights and on economic justice. He also spoke out against the war in Vietnam, breaking with many of his allies.

The Assassination

King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in April 1968, where he had gone to support a strike by sanitation workers. The assassination provoked riots in more than a hundred cities.

James Earl Jones was convicted of the crime, and the case has been the subject of conspiracy theories. The King family questioned the official account.

His death was followed by a national day of mourning. His birthday became a federal holiday in 1986.

Legacy

King's legacy includes the legal and political gains of the civil rights movement. His method of nonviolent resistance influenced movements throughout the world.

His writings and speeches are central to American political thought. The Letter from Birmingham Jail and the I Have a Dream speech are widely studied.

He is remembered as a martyr and as a prophet of racial justice. His name is associated with the struggle for equality and with the power of nonviolence.

See also

• Civil rights movement
• Nonviolence