Biography on Dr. Martin Luther King II Dr. Martin Luther King

Biography on Dr. Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King Jr. (or, Dr. Martin Luther King ) was a Baptist minister and social activist. He led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States in the mid-1950s and continued to remain the champion of civil right till his death by assassination in 1968. Martin Luther King jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia (the United States of America ) . He was lovingly referred to as King. King became a civil rights activist early in his career and championed the democratic values of freedom, equality and justice to all. He struggled throughout his life to end the racial discrimination against the African-American citizens to bridge the social, political and economical divisions between the blacks and the whites. It was all because of his efforts, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed for empowering the Black , Americans and placing them at par with the white Americans. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, among several other honors for his activism and struggles. King is considered as one of the most famous African-American leaders in history, often quoted for his 1963 speech, " I Have a Dream" . He was deeply influenced by the non-violent method of political protest adopted by Mahatma Gandhi to free India from the British imperial rule. King perfected the method of "non-violence" while fighting for freedom, equality and justice for the African Americans in the United States of America.

King was a brilliant student right from his childhood and he excelled in his studies. He was a great orator and known  for his debating skills right from his school days. King attended Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta. Martin Luther King Jr. earned a sociology degree from Morehouse College in 1948 and attended the Christianity . King completed the doctoral studies at Boston University and earned his P.H.D. (Doctor of Philosophy ) degree in 1955 for his theological research work.

 

His early experience of Racial Discrimination and Emergence of a Leader

While growing up in Atlanta, King had bitter experience of racial discrimination against the black community. He was returning home to Atlanta from Dublin, Georgia by bus along with his teacher. Suddenly, the bus driver ordered him and his teacher to stand so that white passengers could sit down. King refused to follow the order of the bus-driver but his teacher cautioned him as law did not permit them to continue sitting in front of white passengers standing in the bus. Both of them stood for making white passengers sit. King as adolescent boy tasted racial discrimination so openly and he recalled that incident later in his own words, " The angriest I have ever been in my  life. " King was never allowed to study with whites because law did not permit inter-racial education system then.

 

Montgomery  Bus-boycott

Montgomery bus -boycott protest was the first public protest led  by Dr. Martin Luther King successfully and he emerged as the powerful national leader fighting for the black rights in a non-violent manner. On the evening of December 1, 1955, 42-year-old African American Rosa Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus to go home from a tiring work schedule of a day. She got a seat in the "colored" section in the middle of the  bus. As the bus was on its route, all the seats in the white section filled up and other white passengers were standing in the bus. They demanded to get the seats in which African Americans including Rosa Parks were sitting. Rosa Parks kept sitting and didn't give up her seat while other African Americans hesitatingly stood to make seat for white passengers. Rosa Parks was arrested for violating the Montgomery City Code and was declared guilty by the court of law. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other local civil rights leaders planned a citywide bus boycott to protest against the discriminatory law promoting racial discrimination in public places. The boycott lasted for 385 days during which king was arrested and his own house was bombed. Finally, the racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses was stopped.

 

Non-Violent Method of Protest Continued to Bring Success for King

Martin Luther King Jr. encouraged all his supports and followers, especially students to continue to use non-violent methods during their protest. Non-violent methods of protests were bearing fruits and highlighting the genuine issues of racial discrimination and partial treatment against the African American community in the USA. Inspired by King's commitment to non-violent mode of protest, the sit-ins (protests by passive resistance) were successful in ending racial segregation between the blacks and the whites at lunch countries in 27 southern cities by August of 1960. In another incident on October 19, 1960, King and 75 students entered a local department store in Atlanta and requested lunch-counter service. But they were denied the service because they were black. King and other students protested and refused to leave the counter area. King and his 36 supporters were arrested. Later on, all the false charges were dropped against them. But once again, King were imprisoned for violating the traffic law only to be released later. Martin Luther King Jr. organized another demonstration in downtown Birmingham, Alabama in the spring of 1963. City police set dogs on peaceful demonstrators and used fire hoses to disperse them. Martin Luther king was imprisoned yet again along with his supporters. Thus, Dr. Martin Luther King went through all political harassments, social discrimination, legal charges and imprisonment.

 

Historical March in Washington and Famous ' I Have a Dream' Speech

The historic march in Washington on August28, 1963 drew the attention of the whole world regarding civil rights movement. More than 200,000 people in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial Participated in the March. King made his famous " I Have a Dream" speech here and hopped for a day when all men could be brothers.

Thanks to King's determination and his leadership, the US Government passed and then implemented the civil rights for the blacks (African Americans) and guaranteed them right to vote and outlawed all kinds of discriminations against them. Dr. Martin Luther King became famous all over the world by 1964 for his absolute commitment and loyalty towards democratic values and advocacy of rights for the downtrodden and the oppressed. 

His continuous Struggle to Create Equal and Just Society for all the Citizens 

King's struggled continued throughout the 1960s. On March 7, 1965, a civil rights march from Selma to Alabama's capital in Montgomery turned violent due to rash behavior of the police. King was not in the march but he was the guiding and inspiring for all those who were bloodied and severely injured in the hands of the police. To protest against the police brutality, King himself led a procession of 2,500 marchers, both black and white, on March 9. 1965. Police confronted the protestors but King opted for non-violent method of passive resistance and led his followers to kneel in prayer. Police then turned back, without causing harm to peaceful protestors. Civil rights movement was penetrating into different parts of the country. Martin Luther king Jr. had gone through all the dreadful experiences of marches, going to jail, and living under the constant threat of death. On April 3, 1968, he addressed a labor strike by Memphis sanitation workers. Next day on April 4, 1968, a bullet struck him while standing on a balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel, Memphis (Tennessee, the USA). He was killed, He struggled till his last breath for the rights of the oppressed and downtrodden. A visionary leader who was deeply committed to achieving the social justice through non-violent means was given a violent death similar to Mahatma Gandhi _ an apostle of truth and non-violence.