Martin Luther King
Why I focused Martin Luther King
Links and videos
The death
The Nobel Prize
Martin Luther King's speech
The march on Washington
Protests and violence
The meeting with Kennedy
Civil Rights Movement
Life in Montgome-ry
Childhood
Index
The young Martin Luther King
Childhood
Martin Luther King (the extended name is Martin Luther King Jr.) was born on January, 15th 1929 in Georgia, more precisely in the city of Atlanta. His father, Martin Luther King Senior, was a baptist pastor, whereas the mother was a musician. At the age of 14 years old Martin was the protagonist of a racist episode: he was forced to left his seat on a bus in favour of a white person. A few months later Martin signed up for the Morehouse College: here a religion professor made Martin Luther King desirous of becoming a pastor like his dad.
Rosa parks
He decided to go in Montgomery, a city in Alabama where the racism level was high. In the same place, in 1955, a significative episode of the fight for the abolition of segregation happened: Rosa Parks, a black woman, refused to give up her place on a bus. For this action she was arrested. This episode scandalised many black people who boycotted the bus service in Montgomery for an entire year. At the end of the protest in America the bus segregation ended.
Life in Montgomery
A manifestation
The Montgomery bus boycott was also the start of the Civil Rights Movement, a national organization which would stop the racial segregation in the United States. The leader of this group was Martin Luther King. Martin chose the non-violent protesting to get the equality between blacks and whites: he was inspirated by Gandhi, the father of the Indian independence. However, the police believed this movement was dangerous and arrested Martin Luther King many times, but they weren't be able to stop the protest.
Civil Rights Movement
Martin with Kennedy
The meeting with Kennedy
The Civil Rights Movement became very famous 'cause many coloured people joined the protest. White people weren't very happy and especially the members of Ku Klux Klan tried to scare black people with bombs and beatings: for example they placed a device near the house of Martin Luther King. Another threat for King happened on September 20th 1958, when he was stabbed in a library in New York City. John F. Kennedy, due to the importance the Civil Rights Movement was gaining, would meet Martin Luther King at the White House on August 28th 1960.
The police attack demonstrators
In order to make the protest more evident Martin Luther King organised massive demonstrations like pickets or marches. Bothered by the protests the police arrested frequently Martin Luther King and sentenced him with false accusations. For example he was arrested because he was considered the responsible of a pacific protest which was stopped violently. Martin was sentenced to penal labours. The police, sure enough, stopped the demonstrations with the violence: on May 3rd 1963 in Birmingham the police officers used fire extinguishers to stop pacific protesters.
Protests and violence
The crowd at Washington
Birmingham facts became famous and Kennedy granted laws favorable for black people. Martin Luther King proposed a march on Washington D.C. to celebrate this event. Six members of six civil rights organisations joined the march: Martin Luther King, Roy Wilkins, Witney Young, John Lewis, Philip Randolph and James Farmer Junior. About 250,000 afroamerican people gathered for the event but also many people in the entire world witnessed the march on televisions and radios.
The March on Washington
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table ofbrotherhood.I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into anoasis of freedom and justice.
At Washington Martin met John Fitzgerald Kennedy, at that time president of the United States and he is rimembered for his famous speech, named "I have a dream":
Martin Luther King's speech
An event for the deaths of Selma
For his actions Martin Luther King was awarded with the Nobel Prize for peace of 1964. The ceremony was instituted in Oslo. King wasn't satisfied and he organised additional demonstrations. A march is remembered in particular: it was the 7th March 1965 from Selma to Montgomery and it is also named "the Bloody Sunday" for the violence of the police officers towards protesters. There were casualties and injureds and it became very famous, so much that the president Johnson signed a document that extended the vote to black people.
The Nobel Prize
The corpse of Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King continued to make actions to end the racism in America. He organised many protests where often the police intervened violently. The most famous of them was an event named "the poor people campaign" in 1967. For a demonstration Martin flew to Memphis, a city in Tenessee. On April 1968 he was sticking out from the balcony of his room when he was shot in the head. He died a few hours later.
The death
Videos
Links
Links and videos
I did a presentation on Martin Luther King because I appreciated him more than Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela: I was amazed by his courage and his audacity. Should I be jailed one day because of my beliefes I'm not sure I would have the bravery to continue my projects and to support my ideas. I strongly believe a person must have a lot of determination to imitate Martin Luther KIng 'cause he went through agonising events and very important decisions.
Why I focused Martin Luther King
