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Johnson , who sent in federal troops to keep the peace. As more militant Black leaders such as Stokely Carmichael rose to prominence, King broadened the scope of his activism to address issues such as the Vietnam War and poverty among Americans of all races. On the evening of April 4, , Martin Luther King was assassinated. In the wake of his death, a wave of riots swept major cities across the country, while President Johnson declared a national day of mourning.
James Earl Ray , an escaped convict and known racist, pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He later recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including members of the King family, before his death in After years of campaigning by activists, members of Congress and Coretta Scott King, among others, in President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a U.
Here are some of the most famous Martin Luther King Jr. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
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This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant. If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. Best known for: Campaigning for the rights of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement of the s and s. Black people had different schools, toilets and even sections of the bus to white people. They were also denied the right to vote in elections.
After days of protest, a court finally ruled that such segregation laws should no longer be recognised. His protests used no-violent tactics, even when the protesters themselves were met with violence from the police. But in his junior year at Morehouse, King took a Bible class, renewed his faith, and began to envision a career in the ministry.
In the fall of his senior year, he told his father of his decision, and he was ordained at Ebenezer Baptist Church in February Later that year, King earned a sociology degree from Morehouse College and began attended the liberal Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. He thrived in all his studies, was elected student body president, and was valedictorian of his class in He also earned a fellowship for graduate study.
He became romantically involved with a white woman and went through a difficult time before he could break off the relationship.
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Mays was an outspoken advocate for racial equality and encouraged King to view Christianity as a potential force for social change. After being accepted at several colleges for his doctoral study, King enrolled at Boston University. He completed his doctorate and earned his degree in at age A committee of scholars appointed by Boston University determined that King was guilty of plagiarism in , though it also recommended against the revocation of his degree.
As explained in his autobiography , King previously felt that the peaceful teachings of Jesus applied mainly to individual relationships, not large-scale confrontations. It was in this Gandhian emphasis on love and nonviolence that I discovered the method for social reform that I had been seeking. Led by his religious convictions and philosophy of nonviolence, King became one of the most prominent figures of the Civil Rights Movement.
He was a founding member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and played key roles in several major demonstrations that transformed society. The effort began on December 1, , when year-old Rosa Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus to go home after work. As more passengers boarded, several white men were left standing, so the bus driver demanded that Parks and several other African Americans give up their seats.
Three other Black passengers reluctantly gave up their places, but Parks remained seated. The driver asked her again to give up her seat, and again, she refused. Parks was arrested and booked for violating the Montgomery City Code. On the night Parks was arrested, E. King was elected to lead the boycott because he was young, well-trained, and had solid family connections and professional standing.
He was also new to the community and had few enemies, so organizers felt he would have strong credibility with the Black community. The Montgomery Bus Boycott began December 5, , and for more than a year, the local Black community walked to work, coordinated ride sharing, and faced harassment, violence, and intimidation. In addition to the boycott, members of the Black community took legal action against the city ordinance that outlined the segregated transit system.
They argued it was unconstitutional based on the U. Board of Education After the legal defeats and large financial losses, the city of Montgomery lifted the law that mandated segregated public transportation. The boycott ended on December 20, Flush with victory, African American civil rights leaders recognized the need for a national organization to help coordinate their efforts.
In January , King, Ralph Abernathy , and 60 ministers and civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to harness the moral authority and organizing power of Black churches. The SCLC helped conduct nonviolent protests to promote civil rights reform. The SCLC felt the best place to start to give African Americans a voice was to enfranchise them in the voting process.
King met with religious and civil rights leaders and lectured all over the country on race-related issues. By , King was gaining national exposure. He returned to Atlanta to become co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church but also continued his civil rights efforts. His next activist campaign was the student-led Greensboro Sit-In movement.
The movement quickly gained traction in several other cities.
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King encouraged students to continue to use nonviolent methods during their protests. By August , the sit-ins had successfully ended segregation at lunch counters in 27 southern cities. On October 19, , King and 75 students entered a local department store and requested lunch-counter service but were denied. When they refused to leave the counter area, King and 36 others were arrested.
Soon after, King was imprisoned for violating his probation on a traffic conviction. The news of his imprisonment entered the presidential campaign when candidate John F. Kennedy expressed his concern over the harsh treatment Martin received for the traffic ticket, and political pressure was quickly set in motion. King was soon released.
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In the spring of , King organized a demonstration in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. Gandhi, and credited Gandhi's passive resistance techniques for his civil-rights successes. The sit-in protest movement begins in February at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, N. C: Groups of black and white people ride buses through the South to challenge segregation.
King makes his only visit to Seattle. He visits numerous places, including two morning assemblies at Garfield High School. Kennedy to urge support for civil rights. Blacks become the majority at Garfield High, 51 percent of the student population - a first for Seattle. The school district average is 5. Two killed, many injured in riots as James Meredith is enrolled as the first black at the University of Mississippi.
Police arrest King and other ministers demonstrating in Birmingham, Ala. About 1, people march from the Central Area to downtown Seattle, demanding greater job opportunities for blacks in department stores.
The Bon Marche promises 30 new jobs for blacks. About people rally at Seattle City Hall to protest delays in passing an open-housing law. In response, the city forms a member Human Rights Commission but only two blacks are included, prompting a sit-in at City Hall and Seattle's first civil-rights arrests. At the Lincoln Memorial, King delivers the famous "I have a dream" speech.
The event is highlighted by King's "I have a dream" speech. The Seattle School District implements a voluntary racial transfer program, mainly aimed at busing black students to mostly white schools.
Voters defeat it by a 2-to-1 ratio. It will be four more years before an open-housing ordinance becomes law. Three civil-rights workers are murdered in Mississippi. King's book "Why We Can't Wait" is published. Out of people employed by the Seattle Fire Department, just two are African American, and only one is Asian, account for less than 0.
Biography of martin luther king: Martin Luther King, Jr. (born January 15, , Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.—died April 4, , Memphis, Tennessee) was a Baptist minister and social activist who led the civil rights movement in the United States from the mids until his death by assassination in
By the end of , the department is February: King continues to protest discrimination in voter registration and is arrested and jailed. He meets with President Lyndon B. Johnson Feb. Three men are convicted of his murder. The act, which King sought, authorizes federal examiners to register qualified voters and suspends devices such as literacy tests that aimed to prevent African Americans from voting.