Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Need to know ~ People
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur ad
Why current?
2021-02-07
Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the greatest champions of human rights in history. America remembered him this year, as it does every year, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a federal holiday, falling on the third Monday each January. On this holiday, schools, libraries, post offices, and almost all state and federal offices are closed. It is a day to remember the great civil rights leader and also to volunteer and help out in the community. In fact, it is the only national holiday set aside as a countrywide day of service.
As the United States begins Black History Month (February 1 – March 1, 2021), let’s learn more about this courageous leader, whose life and work have inspired millions around the world and whose lessons resonate as clearly as ever.
“No one really knows why they are alive until they know what they’d die for.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
More about Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 15, 1929.
- Both his grandfather and his father were pastors. King followed in their footsteps and became a pastor, too.
- In 1954, at the age of 25, he became the minister of a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama.
- King was living in the Deep South, where racial segregation was not only accepted but was the law in many cases. Early on, he began to fight these laws and the attitudes behind them.
- In 1956, he played a central leadership role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The boycott started in December 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white person. At the time, it was the law in Alabama that Black people had to sit at the back of the bus, while white people got the front seats. On that December day, the white section had filled up, and the driver told three Black bus riders sitting in the back to give up their seats to white riders who couldn’t fit in the front. Rosa Parks didn’t budge when told to move, and for that she was arrested and fined.
- African-Americans made up the majority of bus riders in Montgomery. When tens of thousands of them boycotted the buses for months on end, the impact was powerful. On December 21, 1956, following a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, Montgomery city buses were ordered to end racial segregation. Following this large-scale boycott which ultimately succeeded in achieving its aims, King became one of the foremost figures in the American civil rights movement.
- King started the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, which was behind many civil rights undertakings at the time. The principle of nonviolence guided all protest activities.
- In May 1963, a large, peaceful demonstration was held in Birmingham, Alabama, to protest segregation in the city. King chose Birmingham for the demonstration because it was one of the most segregated cities in the country, a place where police brutality against Black people ran rampant and the Ku Klux Klan was alive and well. On the first day of the demonstration, hundreds of children who were participating in the nonviolent protest, were arrested; some were as young as six. On the next day, the police turned water cannons and ferocious dogs on the protesters. The response of the police was filmed and broadcast into Americans’ living rooms on the evening news. Outrage swept the country. Finally, after days of clashes between violent police forces and peaceful protesters, an agreement was reached. The city of Birmingham would desegregate all lunch counters, restrooms, and drinking fountains.
- The Birmingham demonstration brought worldwide attention to America’s civil rights movement.
- Later that year, in August 1963, King organized the March on Washington, which brought 250,000 people to the National Mall in Washington D.C. It was on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that King gave his celebrated “I Have A Dream” speech, which roused millions to the cause of equality for all and an end to systemic racism. The speech is still stirring today – and more relevant than ever, as we continue to grapple with racial inequity in our society.
- In 1964, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. At the time, he was the youngest person to ever receive the award. In the same year, the Civil Rights Act, which protected all people from racial discrimination in the work place and in public places, was passed.
- The Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965. It aimed to protect the right of all citizens to vote.
- Besides being the leader of the civil rights movement. King was also a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War and worked for the broader cause of poverty.
- In the spring of 1968, a “Poor People’s March on Washington” was scheduled, and King had planned to take part. He went, however, to Memphis, Tennessee, instead, to provide aid to sanitation workers who were striking there. On April 3, 1968, King spoke to the workers, saying, “We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop… I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.”
- King’s “Mountaintop” speech is famous for its beauty and its poignancy. Eye-witnesses said that King had tears in his eyes as he took a seat after speaking.
- It was the last speech he ever gave. The next day, April 4, 1968, King was killed in front of his Memphis hotel, by James Earl Ray.
- King was only 39 when he died. In a mere 13 years of leading the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S., King had brought about a fundamental shift in racial justice in America and had become known as one of the greatest leaders in history, preaching the power of nonviolent protest.
- King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, continued her husband’s work after his death. She established The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (The King Center), which gets a million visitors every year. Its purpose is to promote the spread of tolerance, peace, and nonviolence in the world.
- Today, movements to end racial injustice are still inspired by Martin Luther King’s teachings. The Black Lives Matter movement is a continuation of King’s work.
Sources: The King Center, “About Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,” https://thekingcenter.org/about-tkc/martin-luther-king-jr/; Nationaltoday.com, “Martin Luther King, Jr. Day,” https://nationaltoday.com/martin-luther-king-jr-day/; The Old Farmer’s Almanac, “9 Facts About Martin Luther King, Jr.,” https://www.almanac.com/9-facts-about-martin-luther-king-jr#; officeholidays.com, “Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the USA,” https://www.officeholidays.com/holidays/usa/martin-luther-king-jr-day.