Martin Luther King Jr example essay topic

The United States is world renowned for its pioneers in all fields possible. However, the United States has produced very few moral and ethical pioneers. Very few pioneers influenced America and the rest of the world in the magnitude that both Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Theresa have done. Within the midst of this large gap of ethical leaders, was a man who led a revolution. This man closed an old era, and unveiled a new one.

Arguably, he was the world's most influential activist of the new era. The name of this man is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia. From an early age, Martin was exposed to religion, and, morality through both his father, and grandfather who were both pastors at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. These strong virtues and beliefs that Martin's family imposed on him, helped develop many great leadership qualities that would directly affect his future. (Family Education Network 1) During Martin Luther King Jr.'s childhood, the policy of segregation was affixed on all former confederate states, including his; Georgia.

Segregation barred many interactions between blacks and whites, including; education, romantic involvement, and public facilities. King attended "black-only" schools his entire primary education, and graduated at the age of fifteen. Fours years later, King attained his BA degree from the academically prestigious Morehouse College, an Atlanta-based African American institute of higher learning, that was attended previously by both his grandfather, and father. It was not time for King to decide profession he would like to acquire. King had to only look to his grandfather and father for support on this matter. King ultimately decided on becoming a pastor, studying three years at the Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania.

During his period at Crozer, King excelled as both a student, and a leader, being elected president to a predominately white graduating class. The whole experience at Crozer was a true eye-opener for King. For Crozer allowed King to experience non-segregation, and a treatment by whites which could have never existed anywhere in the south. King knew that the south had to change its mentality, but violence should not be used to cause the change. Upon, graduating from Crozer, King enrolled at Boston University, to receive a PhD, and complete his studies. When King was at Boston, he met a young, intelligent, and artistic woman by the name of Coretta Scott.

After his graduation at Boston, King married Coretta; they would eventually go on to have two sons and two daughters. (Family Education Network 2) In 1954, King accepted his first job as a pastor in a Montgomery, Alabama church. King's sermons were constantly advocating change in the South towards its citizens of color, and stressing equality for all people. In addition, King held memberships in several equal rights organizations.

King's extreme dedication to equality quickly brought him notoriety, throughout the Southern States. Such notoriety led to King becoming the mastermind behind the non-violent demonstrations. The most famous of these demonstrations, was during 1955, in which King boycotted the Montgomery bus lines for unequal policies. The bus lines in Montgomery required that blacks sit in the back of the bus, and whites in the front.

In addition, blacks were required to surrender their seat to a white, if he or she wished to. It was 382 days later, when the boycott ended by the Supreme Court ruling the segregation on buses illegal. For King, this was a great public victory; however personally, it was not quite the case. During the boycott, on several occasions, King was physically abused, arrested, and even his house was bombed. Nonetheless, King weathered the storm and looked ahead to building the next steps for his dream of equality. (Edna 1) In 1957, King was elected president of a new organization called; The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

The purpose of this organization was to be the most influential body for civil rights in the south, which soon became the voice of equality for the entire United States. As president of the SCLC, King was placed in a very powerful position to address civil rights and equalities. King wrote several novels, periodicals, and articles regarding segregation, and civil rights. In addition, Martin Luther King organized the most famous march in US history. On August 8th 1963 some 250 thousand people lined the streets of Washington DC to demand equality. During that protest, King recited his famous speech, "I have a dream".

At the end of that year, Time magazine named King man of the year, and the following year, King was awarded the Nobel peace prize. King donated the $54 123.00 cash prize that accompanied the Nobel peace prize to the civil rights movement. King would continue his fight for civil rights until April 4th 1968, when he was gunned down by a sniper outside a Memphis motel balcony. The sniper was eventually identified as James Earl Ray. The news of King's death sparked large-scale race-riots in L.A., Detroit, Washington DC, and Atlanta, all during the summer of 1968.

These unfortunate occurrences can be attributed to the fact that King was the closest thing to a hero that the African-American community had ever known in history. At the time King was viewed by many African-Americans as an individual who would lead the battle for equality and justice, and ultimately win the battle. The news of King's death was seen as a devastating setback for the African-American community as a whole. (Lorgnette 1) Martin Luther King Jr. would go down in history as the most influential advocate of civil rights in American History. King was the man who literally made the United States "the land of the free".

Through his determination, and his strong beliefs, Martin Luther did not become a hero just for America, but rather the entire world. King's ideas were ahead of their time. Had King not have existed, America, and quite possibly the whole world would still have not have evolved as fast as it has. In 1983, the United States recognized King's birthday as a national holiday during the third Monday of January. As time goes on, King's role will only become larger and more important to the world.