Martin Luther King Jr. is, without a doubt, one of the most celebrated Americans in history. He was a powerful orator and leader of the African American civil rights movement in the USA and is most famous for his ‘I have a dream’ speech.
Having been born in the southern United States during the inter-war period (between WW1 and WW2), Martin Luther King Jr. had to deal with hardship all throughout his early life. He was constantly the victim of racism.
Martin Luther King Jr. was famously a preacher and man of God, something which connected him with white Christians to an extent. He knew the power of religion to bring people together and show people that they were all humans with the same creator, regardless of skin colour.
Martin Luther King Jr. became a pivotal civil rights activist. In 1957 he and several others found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and his peaceful protests that brought change to India. This is why Martin Luther King Jr. advocated for peaceful civil disobedience and not resistance with force like other extremist pro-black groups like the Black Panthers.
Martin Luther King Jr. is the man who inspired a generation of Americans, black and white, to come together and support racial equality. He is cited as the man responsible for leading the movement that ended segregation and created the Civil Rights Act in 1964. For his efforts, Martin Luther King Jr. won a Nobel Peace Prize.
Unfortunately, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 2 years after the Civil Rights Act was passed. However, his impact has indeed lasted the test of time, and he is always cited as an influence by other civil rights and humanitarian activists to this day.
Michael Carry is the lead editor for Bonanza Magazine. Michael has been working as a freelance journalist for nearly a decade having published stories in the New York Times, The Plain Dealer, The Daily Mail and many others. Michael is based in Dawrin and covers issues affecting his city and global news. When he is not busy writing, Michael enjoys reading books and walking with his dogs.
